Ultimate Frisbee team is back with some major changes
The BSM Red Knights huddle during a game as senior captians Jonathan Paquette and Drew Coulombe motivate the X team. There are two teams this year, the X and Y teams, which are led by two senior captains each. Y team captains are Matt Wolf and Mack Nevells.
The Benilde-St. Margaret’s ultimate frisbee team was already unique compared to the more traditional sports at BSM, but heading into their third season, they will be setting themselves apart even more. Classified as a club, not a sport, this is just one of the things that makes the team so special.
When the ultimate frisbee team was started in 2012, the team was mostly made up of seniors and had just enough students for one team; the following year the team had so many newcomers that they were able to make a varsity and a junior varsity team. This has been beneficial to all players because it has allowed everyone to play with other kids at their same skill level. However, the BSM ultimate team coaches looked at the bigger picture this year and separated it into two equal teams.
The cancellation of the varsity team and junior varsity team meant a few things. It may seem a little absurd but in the end it’s a pretty smart decision. “It’s so all of the new kids get playing experience with more experienced players; it will help the team as a whole become more experienced,” senior captain Jonathan Paquette said.
Both Ultimate Frisbee X and Y teams only play a certain number of league games or actual games, and in tournaments, both teams are combined. Basically, the teams were separated so the less experienced players could get better so when the tournaments came around BSM could be prepared the best they could.
Ultimate Frisbee is a team sport, but its also team officiated. Every part of the game is self officiated which means that it is up to the players to call their own fouls and out of bounds.
The coaches are there to coach and that’s about it, as they don’t have any say in the calls. “What happens most of the time is someone will call a foul and we will agree with the call or we can contest it; if that happens, we talk about the call and it will usually go back to where we were and pretend like the play never happened,” Paquette said.
In ultimate, there are never any fights or skirmishes because everyone is out there to have fun. “Everyone respects each other out there, and a more experienced team won’t use their knowledge of the sport against you if you’re new to the sport. This is called spirit of the game.” Paquette said.
Due to the weather this season, they have only had a few games and one tournament. This weekend, the Red Knights participated in the Chris Goeke Memorial Tournament which was round robin style. They plyaed a total of six games on Saturday and Sunday. The player-voted MVP was senior Drew Coulombe. The team is hoping for some more enjoyable weath and they are excited for the rest of the season as everything leads up to the state tournament, which takes place on May 31.
