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Breakout player Tyler Chan

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If you happened to attend the Whitecaps game against the New York Rumble two weeks ago, you may have noticed a raucous group of college-aged kids (and one proud mother) enthusiastically cheering on a rookie.

That rookie is none other than breakout player Tyler Chan, and he made his fans quite proud. In eleven points played, he recorded four goals, one assist, 10 completions, and 14 receptions – without throwing a single turnover.

Originally hailing from Needham, Massachusetts, Tyler is now a senior at Tufts University studying clinical psychology and pre-medicine sciences. Tufts E-Men nominated him for the Callahan Award this year (#CALLACHAN), and he serves as their captain. He has been to Nationals twice with the team so far, and was nominated to First Team All-Region.

When he’s not playing in the MLU or at college, Tyler plays for and captains the club team Big Wrench Ultimate, and he also helped coach the BUDA YCC Open team in 2013. We sat down with Tyler to ask him some questions about his first season in the MLU and his experiences with ultimate as a whole.

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What’s your history with the Whitecaps?

I’ve been a fan for the past two years, but this year is the first time I’ve been able to tryout. I’m stoked to be on the team! Now that I’ll be done with college, I’m looking for a new stage to play ultimate. The MLU is a great change of competition and helps to promote ultimate as a legitimate sport.

How long have you been playing ultimate?

I’ve been playing ultimate for eight years, ever since freshman year of high school. I mistakenly went to the ultimate general interest meeting instead of the science team meeting. I still joined the science team though. I actually ended up being the captain of both the science team and my high school’s ultimate team!

What are your strengths as a player?

I think my biggest strength as a player is definitely being able to run fast and catch frisbees. Sometimes my team lets me throw hucks…but yeah, mostly running after frisbees. You can get the best frisbees and keep having fun with your family and friends.

What are your expectations for the season?

As this is my first year on the team and I missed the double-header weekend, I’m not really sure how to gauge us for the long haul of the season. What I do know from playing with my teammates at practice and at workouts is that we are group of total ballers looking to make huge plays and crush some flatball. Based on our more recent victory [against the Rumble], this season is gonna be big.

Why do you play ultimate?

It started because I was too embarrassed to admit that I went to the wrong meeting, but now it’s because it’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing a sport. Of course there’s a high level of competition and athletics and excitement and huge plays and all that other good stuff, but I’ve also found that the ultimate community is super fun and unique. To this day I’ve met some of my best friends from playing, and I hope to meet many other great people in the future!

Why the signature bandana?

One of my teammates who graduated last year left it with us when he left school and I felt that it would be cool to sort of represent him on the field. Also it conveniently protects my neck from the sun. Also I think it looks cool. Mostly that last one.

Who has your favorite Callahan nomination video so far this year – aside from yourself?

Definitely Stanley Peterson’s. First of all there’s a goofy reference to a video game called League of Legends in the beginning which I can respect. But more importantly the video is just of him running rampant and making ridiculous play after ridiculous play. Super impressive.

What virtues do you try to exhibit the most on the field?

It’s interesting being tossed into a team with some of the nation’s finest ultimate players and being asked to contribute in my own way. This season I’ve been playing offense so I’ve been trying to really work the field as a fill cutter and time my cuts off of the veteran guys. Basically, I like to run, and they throw well, so I hope to embody a spirit of teamwork and collaboration.

What’s your favorite part about playing on the Whitecaps so far?

My favorite part about playing on the ‘Caps so far is playing with the old guys. Even playing with my club team Big Wrench (Brrbrrbrrrr), the players have been generally around my age. It’s cool to get advice from the veterans who really know their stuff.

Do you have any predictions for the game against the D.C. Current coming up on May 9?

I didn’t get to play against these guys three weekends ago, so I’m super excited to see how this matchup is going to play out this time. I think we’re going to be coming off hot and rested after our win against the Rumble and then the bye weekend off, so they’d better be ready to play – or else they might just “get absolutely pounded by the best team in the league” (Josh Markette, 2015).

Come watch Tyler Chan and the rest of the Whitecaps take on the Washington D.C. Current this Saturday night at Hormel Stadium! Tickets are available here.

 

via Weekly Whitecap – Tyler Chan #44 –.

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