Frisbee relishes athletic independence

With upwards of 40 players, three teams, yet no coaches the Vassar Ultimate Frisbee club melds mainstream athletics with club sport convention. The club features three squads--the men's A team, The Swinging Monks; the men's B team; B-love; and the women's team, The Boxing Nuns--that compete interscholastically.

In an e-mailed statement, Boxing Nuns Captain Michelle O'Brien '11 described how leadership works on the club. "We've always been a team that focuses on learning and teaching as well as playing competitively," she wrote. "The teams' captains, who are elected by the team at the end of each school year, act sort of like coaches, in that we run practices, register the team for tournaments, deal with paperwork and schedule events and practices with the College's administration."

But Vassar Ultimate looks at this lack of official administration as a freedom rather than a curse. "Because the ultimate frisbee teams at Vassar are run by peer leaders rather than an authority figure, a wonderful thing happens, where everybody has a say in the development of the team and the choices we make on the field," O'Brien wrote. "On the women's team, there's a lot of discussion, and every player gets an opportunity to share what they saw and what they think we can improve on, which I think bonds us as a team."

While not an official NCAA sport, Vassar Ultimate does play in a nationwide league, USA Ultimate, a league with more than 40 years of history. Every year a College Series is sponsored at the conference, regional and national levels for both Division I and Division III teams. O'Brien commented on the success of Vassar Ultimate at these levels. "Our teams typically do very well in the College Series. The men's A team regularly makes it to Regionals, and the men's B and women's teams are very competitive at Conference. In 2008 and 2009, the Swinging Monks competed at Division III Nationals in Versailles, Ohio. In 2009 the Boxing Nuns also competed at Division III Nationals, coming in second."

In addition to competing in the USA Ultimate series, Vassar Ultimate participates in a number of other events. "Each team typically goes to four or five tournaments each semester, at different colleges around the East Coast," wrote O'Brien. And frisbee tournaments feature more than just sheer competition. She continued, "[Tournaments are] a great chance to foster relationships with teams from other colleges. We go to weekend-long tournaments with anywhere from six to 14 other schools, and compete in both pool and bracket play—usually adding up to between six to nine hour-and-a-half-long games over the course of the weekend." They will next play in the upcoming High Tide tournament in Savannah, Ga. during the first week of Spring Break.

In preparation for this tournament and the rest of the spring season, the teams have had morning practices at the Walker bays from 6 to 9 a.m. three times a week. O'Brien explained the reasoning behind the early time: "Morning practice originally came about from practical concerns; because we're not a varsity sport, we have low priority for scheduled time in Walker."

However, the team has made the most of its situation. She added, "It's become a great way to ensure that all members of the team can come to practice. There are no other activities at that time! And while getting up at 6 a.m. isn't ideal, because we're all there, it becomes a shared experience and a great time to pump each other up and condition for our spring season."

"It's rough to get out of bed. And when you get there, it's still pretty rough. But once your blood starts running through your system you're instantly energized," Lily Meade '14 reflected. "After practice we have breakfast together, which fosters the team dynamic."

And the frisbee club is always open to more members. "We're always looking for new [members] to get involved in and learn the sport! Most of the current members of the women's team, myself included, had never played ultimate before college. I began playing my freshman year, was taught the game by my teammates and totally fell in love with it," O'Brien wrote.

Meade echoed O'Brien's claim: "Joining Frisbee was probably the best decision I made last semester. The people are awesome, you get to stay in shape and most important it's a lot of fun."