Ultimate Frisbee ‘touches down’ on their first season

Juniors+Baird+Hruska+and+Ben+New+celebrate+after+their+team+scores+a+touchdown+in+Ultimate+Frisbee+practice.

Hanna Schiciano

Juniors Baird Hruska and Ben New celebrate after their team scores a touchdown in Ultimate Frisbee practice.

Hanna Schiciano, TBN Associate Producer

The ultimate frisbee team, founded this year by seniors Ethan Rosenberg and Andrew Mitchell, is the “ultimate” way to spend time after school. The fall co-curricular meets on Mondays and Wednesdays on Evans Field and has even had the opportunity to compete against other schools. 

“Andrew and I both really like frisbee. Neither of us are very passionate about a fall sport so we thought it’d be a good idea to form this club. We love being outside and we love running around,” Rosenberg said. 

The process for forming the team required meetings with Athletic Director Logan Condon. In addition, a minimum of 10 people were needed for the co-curricular to run. 

Rosenberg reached out to his fellow baseball teammates and encouraged them to participate.

After gaining approval, Rosenberg and Mitchell then sought out a faculty advisor. 

“We sent out emails to a bunch of teachers who we thought would be good advisors. Thankfully, the Almighty, the great Mr. Shear responded and he’s been awesome ever since,” Rosenberg said.

Shear said he was very excited to advise the team after having played ultimate frisbee in college and has been impressed by the students’ initiative. He also said that he taught the team frisbee skills at the start of the school year and has enjoyed watching their improvement.

“Since I’m no longer a dean, I wanted to contribute to the school in other ways and I thought this would be a great way to have fun, especially for the kids, and I really enjoy playing,” he said. 

Rosenberg and Shear said that the supportive environment is what makes the team so special. 

“I think this has been an awesome experience for the freshmen on the team. They’ve become integrated with some upperclassmen who have looked after them and made it fun for them, too. It’s not just a bunch of juniors and seniors playing, they really try to include them,” Shear said. 

Shear added that competition was helpful towards creating a strong connection between members of the team.

 “It brought a level of focus, they learned more about the game, and I think it united the team. We mostly just played against each other, but it was nice to have a non-Masters common adversary,” he said.

The ultimate frisbee team has had three scrimmages against other local teams, including Scarsdale and Hastings. The games were coordinated through social media, according to Rosenberg. 

“I reached out to the other teams’ Instagram accounts and DMed them. And Charlie [Cooper] has a friend that plays for Scarsdale so he got me in contact with their captain. We texted for a little bit and we figured out a time and a place to play,” he said.

On Nov. 2, the team beat Hastings 15-8 and had an interesting experience prior to the start of the game. 

“Hastings offered to host us at their field, and then [when we arrived] we got kicked off their own field so we had to carpool with them to a different field. It was nice to connect with another team,” Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg said that although he will be graduating this year, he is sure that the team culture will continue and agreed with Shear that the ultimate frisbee team is a great opportunity for those who are unsure about a co-curricular in the fall.

“If you want a great way to have fun around, have fun, meet some people, and be with a friendly group of folks, this is probably the best way to do it and for all levels––we taught people who had never thrown a frisbee before.”