Ultimate Frisbee team freshens up for season
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POLSON — Ultimate Frisbee teams are polishing their discs and getting ready to propel forward with a flick of the wrist. Although ultimate Frisbee is not a well-known sport around this area, it has been growing, according to Sting Head Coach Dan Slack.
“It has been fun to see this program get bigger over the years,” Slack said. “We started with just one team and now we have enough athletes to make a Varsity and JV team.”
“Sting” is the local Ultimate Frisbee team made up of 38 area athletes that wanted an alternative to other spring sports. The main playing field is 70 yards long and 40 yards wide and points are scored by tossing the disc to a teammate in the opposing end zone. The Frisbee must be passed down the field because players cannot run while in possession of the disc.
“There are various techniques teams can use in this sport,” Slack said. Sting will be practicing a zone defense, where athletes cover one area of the field rather than one opponent. “This helps us make sure all areas of the field are covered … this is something we will be working on early this season,” he said.
Along with covering defense, this co-ed team will be working on their endurance. Running up and down the field is a huge part of the game, according to eighth graders Isaac Stene and Bridger Smith. “The hardest part of this sport is making sure you can keep running,”
Stene said. “It is hard during the game to catch my breath, but at the end I feel good that I just worked out that much.”
The team is in its sixth season and Stene and Smith are hoping that other schools in the area join the Ultimate Frisbee bandwagon.
“It would be fun if more schools could get teams together,” Smith said. “I would love to be able to play against teams closer to us.”
Despite the lack of teams in this area, Sting travels to Plains, Bozeman, and Seattle for a majority of their tournaments. The tournament in Seattle is the biggest youth Ultimate Frisbee tournament in the United States and is by invitation only.
“We are really lucky to be invited to that tournament,” Slack said. “There are a lot of competitive teams there.”
The team will play a majority of their games in May, but for now will be enjoying competing against one another for practice.
“It is like a spirit sport. Everyone is nice and just good company,” Smith said. “It’s like a big family that likes Frisbee.”
