The Ultimate Prize
Students, coaches find camaraderie through club Frisbee team
After a self-funded and lengthy road trip, members of CMU’s club Ultimate Frisbee team are exhausted by the time each game they play has ended.
However despite the long hours, the bonding that goes on between the members of the team is usually inevitable, they say.
“We play a full day of Ultimate on that first day. Everyone is dirty, sweaty, and tired to the point of hating everything. Then we go to the hotel and make the most of it,” said player Garren Salk. “We are all a huge group of friends it’s like a huge family. Then the next day we do it again. We go out there and give it all we can. Then we drive home all together as a family again that night.”
Each time Johann Britting watches a disc thrown by one of the players he coaches on the Ultimate Frisbee team fly through the air, he is filled with a sense of satisfying fulfillment.
“I really like seeing the development of all the guys,” said Britting. “When guys start playing they have a hard time throwing. But by the end of the year they are making good throws in games. In one year somebody who knows nothing about the game (can be) a really good player.”
A group of CMU’s least known yet just as passionate student athletes have begun a season that allows them to bond both on and off the field.
The Notorious B.I.D. is Central Michigan University’s club Ultimate Frisbee team, participating in the club division of USA Ultimate.
Led by Britting, Salk (the club’s president), and Vice President Jose Hernandez, the year-round group’s name is based on the rapper Biggie Smalls, or the Notorious B.I.G.
The term bid refers to laying out for a disc during gameplay.
The groups “ultimate” goal is to become a cohesive unit. This, Britting says, starts with fundamentals.
“For practice, we jog,” Britting said. “We do some dynamic stretching. We run through some drills that work on fundamentals that make us better as a team. Then we finish up with a 20 to 30 minute scrimmage.”
The team carpools to a variety of destinations across the country each season. Most recently the team traveled to a tournament called “Glory Days” in Rockford, Ill., which included 60 disc-tossing teams.
The team typically competes against the other Division I universities in the state of Michigan such as: Michigan University, Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, and archrival, Western Michigan University.
Britting said gameplay is far from complex.
“It’s played on a soccer field and is seven versus seven,” Britting said. “It’s a lot like soccer where there is continuous gameplay. The point is to pass the Frisbee to your teammate in the end zone for a touchdown. You advance down the field by passing it. After you catch it, you can’t run.”
The team has played in one unsanctioned tournament so far this season. The majority of the tournaments the group will participate this year are not sanctioned by USA Ultimate.
One of the top events this year for the squad is a tournament that will take place over Spring Break 2015 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“It’s called High Tide. That is one of our most fun tournaments,” Britting said. “It’s one of the largest tournaments in the country. There are more than 70 teams just in our section.”
Two standouts on the team thus far are super-senior Matt Western and rookie Ben Danforth. The freshman has been playing ultimate Frisbee since high school.
The team usually plays outdoors in the fall but will move inside CMU’s Indoor Athletic Complex in the spring, where they hope to host a tournament of their own someday.
“We’d like to get four each semester,” Hernandez said.
The team began the year with a barbeque social. Throughout the year, the team mingles with friends and family to keep chemistry at productive and enjoyable levels.
“We especially try to incorporate freshmen into different things,” Salk said. “We have movie nights or throw the disc around for fun. We try to keep that friendship going outside of practice.”
The group holds practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. at CMU’s IM fields. Those interested can contact the group via OrgSync.
