Sports
Offbeat Athletes: Ultimate Frisbee
By Alexandra Orlov '13, Sports Columnist
September 22, 2011
No ref, no ball, no problem. Since 1981, Hamilton students have come together to play Ultimate Frisbee, a noncontact sport where self-officiating players attempt to score points by passing a disc into an end zone similar to a football or rugby end zone.
Christened “Hot Saucers” in 2005, the Hamilton Ultimate team, a club sport, has grown into a powerhouse of solid play. Last spring the men’s team won the sectional tournament and then put up an impressive fight at the regional tournament. The smaller women’s team continues to grow and improve as a flood of new underclassmen talent learns the game this fall.
“The team has improved over the past few years because of the dedication of its players,” said David Hibbard ’12 (team captain). He explained that players used to slack off at practices until previous captains Alexander “Africa” de Moor ’10, Andrew “Bodds” Boddorf ’10 and Brandon “Brando” Kline ’11 took charge and transformed the team into “a force to be reckoned with.”
“It wasn’t even a team back then,” said captain Ben Schwartz ’12 of the club during his freshman year. “We just came out and scrimmaged and occasionally went to a tournament with a random smattering of people.”
Now, players put in the time and effort to increase individual physical fitness, learn strategy and theory and improve the level of team play. The team practices on the grass fields beyond the athletic turf fields for two hours a day during the week.
Depending on whether preparation is necessary for a mixed or single-gendered tournament, the men’s and women’s teams will practice together or separately.
While other club sports have coaches guiding their teams, “Hot Saucer” captains Hibbard, Schwartz and Sara Miller ’12 take initiative in directing practice and in motivating the team to work on improving daily. During a practice, players work on running and throwing drills for an hour before scrimmaging for the remaining hour.
“This is only a club sport, and we only have two to three big tournaments per season, yet somehow everyone comes out every day for two hours and gives 100% which says a lot about the character of the team,” said Schwartz.
Approximately one third of the 40 Hamilton “Hot Saucers” played Ultimate in high school, meaning that the vast majority of the team has three or fewer years of playing experience. At fall practices, returners greet newcomers with enthusiasm and happily demonstrate throwing technique and explain defensive strategies.
Though players have a serious commitment to improvement, the team has a goofy side that one might expect from disc throwing, tie-dye wearing college students. Tight-knit players joke amongst one another during scrimmages and create witty and ridiculous cheers, sometimes featuring the beat boxing of Sarah Sidford ’13, during tournaments.
Commented Hibbard, “Jackie (Specht ’12), Sara (Miller ’12) and Jill (Kizielewicz ’12) convinced me to come my sophomore [year] and it was the best decision I made while at Hamilton.” He admits that it’s a great way to relieve stress with some of his closest friends on campus.
Similar to Hibbard, some of the best “Hot Saucers” played other sports in high school but decided to try something new at Hamilton.
Even after graduating skilled players during the past few years, the team has continued to attract new talent and maintain a high level of play. This year, the team hopes that a high level of play in the spring will translate to success at the regional tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the USA Ultimate Collegiate Championship.
“As a senior captain, [advancing to the national tournament] would be my dream come true for this year, and I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility,” said Hibbard.