When someone says they play ultimate frisbee, most people have at least a basic idea of what the sport is. However, ultimate is still not a very widely known sport, but in recent years its popularity has grown exponentially, becoming one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation. This same phenomenon can be seen in our own LM ultimate frisbee teams, within both the teams themselves as well as the community they’ve built.
At LM girls’ ultimate frisbee team, everyone is welcome. Even with no experience, they teach girls how to play, building their strength and endurance to become better players. In their practices, their drills not only build technical skills but build a community where every player feels welcomed and valued. On the boys’ team, they do much of the same, instilling the same value of community in their players that makes the team strong.
Ultimate is played with seven players from each team on the field at a time, and there are no referees. While this may seem absurd to some, it actually means the game is very reasonable, with players using the honor system and being able to decide amongst themselves about whether or not something has been done against a player. In the U.S., for the most part, boys’ ultimate leagues and teams have gotten more recognition in the past than girls’ ultimate, although it still wasn’t much. The sport was developed in 1968 but has recently grown a lot, with a 20 percent surge in youth players since 2012. This is partly due to its low cost and openness to many players, but also because of a large growth in media presence using platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Through the internet and these platforms, ultimate has reached more people around the world than ever before.
Ultimate frisbee came to LM over a decade ago, yet it didn’t start growing and competing in championships until more recently, when the girls’ team notably won states in 2023. However, community is something that has always been a priority to the girls’ and boys’ teams. They hold spirit dinners, spend time in practice helping each other, cheer each other on when someone does something right, and still uplift each other if they make a mistake on the field. According to Addison Heasley ’28, the team has “spirit buddies” at tournaments, where players bring gifts or snacks for their buddy and spend time with them.
Within the past few years, girls’ ultimate has grown so much that the coaches are considering adding a JV team so that everyone can play more often in both games and practices. This is a testament to how hard the team has been working to grow the team. They have a roster size of about thirty this year. While this roster may seem large, the games are so long and tiring that it really is helpful to have that many players. Their hard work and dedication have led them to significant wins, and their community has continued to grow along the way. Even at the start of the spring season, they won multiple games at a multi-day tournament in DC called YULA without even half the players that are currently on the roster for the season, and with multiple injured players. At the local Hip Hop tournament on the weekend of April 11, the team added more wins, again without the whole team. They continue to do well in games and tournaments, with each new match bringing players more experience and the team more wins, such as placing 5th in the annual coconut classic tournament.
According to Ethan Stoddard ’28, the boys’ team has grown a lot this year as well after losing some of their best players after last season. While they don’t do all of the same community bonding that the girls’ team does, they do try to build up their team during practices, and they have team dinners after tournaments to improve bonding.
All of the LM Ultimate Frisbee teams work hard to improve and build a sense of community inside their practices, games, and tournaments.
