Frisbee Makes an Ultimate Return
Jasper Everingham | September 8, 2022
Ruby Jane Moser
After a 14-year hiatus, Ultimate Frisbee has returned to Warren Wilson College (WWC). Coach Brett McCall — a WWC alum and a player on the original team that started in 2000 — said he couldn’t be more excited to start coaching and to start community and team building again.
“The aspirations that I have initially are that the community begins to build itself like a family would, where the members of the community feel confident that it is something that they can share,” McCall said. “That they feel both confident in the game itself [and] then also like this belongs to them. That if they want to know where Ultimate Frisbee is going at Warren Wilson, they need to ask themselves, ‘where do I want it to go?’”
That sense of community extends onto the field and between teams as well. For example, Ultimate Frisbee games are self-refereed by the players on the field.
“The important thing is to recognize that your team is your set of allies,” McCall said. “You are a community, that when it's difficult, you help you ask for what you need.”
WWC alum and Hunger Corps VISTA worker Sam Colston stated that community building and support as well as inclusivity are an integral part of Ultimate Frisbee. Colston said that they have been involved in sports like soccer and cross country but gravitated towards frisbee because of its different atmosphere.
“Most of the sports that I've been involved with have been very binary, very exclusive,” they said. “It seems to be that many of the genderqueer students on campus just don't play a sport and if they do they get assigned a gender to play for and there's a lot of language around that that's not very inclusive. I think the Ultimate Frisbee team has an opportunity to have something for students who are genderqueer and feel more comfortable playing a sport that's just not separated, not part of the binary.”
Isaac Fields, a first-year student and member of the team, said that he also feels like the Ultimate community is much more welcoming than other sports, especially for newer players.
“I think the community is a big part of it for me because it's not very toxic or competitive and everyone's welcome regardless of skill level,” Fields said. “Like I know for myself, I have a lot of improving that I could do and it's a lot less intimidating to join a pickup (game) and play ultimate with people who are better at it than I am than it is to do that with another sport.”
Coach McCall’s daughter and leader of the team, Eden McCall, also shared that inclusivity created a different environment for players that matches the WWC spirit. While familiar with the sport, this season will be her first time on an organized team. She expressed excitement about sharing a sport that she is familiar with.
“(Ultimate Frisbee is) a really great environment and just feels in flow with what WWC represents and what they want for the school,” McCall said. “I love that Ultimate Frisbee has never been a sport that brings people down. I think it's always best when it brings people up and encourages people.”
In that spirit of encouragement and support, both McCalls, Colston and Fields all also encouraged anyone interested in Ultimate — even without any skills or experience whatsoever — to give it a shot.
Team practices are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:11 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:11 a.m. Community pickups begin immediately after team practices and are open to everyone.
“Right now, we've got a lot of inexperienced players who have a lot of potential,” Fields said. “If people are interested, definitely come out. You don't even need to know how to throw a Frisbee. We'll teach you how. There are definitely people who don't know how to throw, how to play, and it still works great. Everyone has a great time and it's just good energy and a good time.”