Nicole “Sprout” Beck

Throughout the history of Nicole’s career, the sport, athleticism and quality of women’s ultimate completely changed. From 1991 on the Maine-iacs through 2000, she was a handler. The top teams played dump swing strike offense with minimal long isolation looks until 1998/99 when the game started opening up via inside outs and broken marks into long throws. In the early/mid 2000’s, the game changed and some teams started playing spread. Fury converted in 2005 when she became a cutter, playing to her strengths of being able to read her defender and get open on isolation, as the dump swing handlers were required to do.

On defense, she covered handlers or other quick players. On man-to-man defense, she was gritty when her team needed to get blocks. Herself, Coach Bob Pallares and Team Captain Jennifer Donnally changed the way women played zon,; creating many subtly different but very specialized looks. Fury is still leading women’s defensive strategy to this day, continuing Nicole’s, Bob’s and Jennifer’s legacy. Throughout her career she played wing in the zone and got many blocks there using her instincts, knowledge and athleticism.

Top Ten in chronological order.

10. 1992 Won her first National Championship with the Maine-iacs

9. 1994 Felix never lost a game, usually in completely dominant fashion

8. 1995 Townies missed qualifying for Nationals by a few points under the lights in the Northwest with about 12 active players

7. 1997 Fury missed qualifying for Nationals by a few points under the lights in Eugene with about nine active players

6. 1999 Fury at Tune Up and Coach Bob Pallares’ gutter speech after losing to Women on the Verge (Seattle), again

5. 1999 Fury finally beat Women on the Verge in the semifinals and went on to win their first title and our first tournament all year

4. 2006 Fury crushed all opponents in the finals, playing like they were at the park with friends

3. 2008 Fury came back from 2-10 to take their third title in a row with a final score of 15-12

2. 2008 “That just happened” Fury won Worlds (FUSA), Nationals and Spirit Award

1. Watching Fury dominate on ESPN today

I always strove to peak at regionals, then Nationals. I love the trophy. If I was 100% healthy at Nationals, I think I typically played like a “stud”. On the Maine-iacs, I was a starter and key defender. On Felix, I was one of many “studs”  and we rolled over the competition. On Fury (1997-2003), I likely played over 70 percent of the points all year, and I think only in 1998 did Fury underachieve as a team. In 2004 I lost my mom and played exceptionally well for her, but the Fury team chemistry was off. The finals at nationals in 1999, 2002 and 2006 may have been my best performances on the big stage. I have not even played pick up since Nationals 2008.

From 1997 to 2003, she played on 70 percent of the points all year. These resulted in two national titles as well as a second place finish at Nationals.

Nicole was a dominant player with outstanding leadership, charisma, work ethic, vision and innovation. She was the most committed player on championship teams that spanned the early 1990’s to the later 2000’s. Her influence on the game is still felt today in the way teams prepare, how the practice and how they strategize.