To many students at Choate, spring term means one thing: Ultimate Frisbee. The team is made up of about 40 students, and is run by three coaches- Mr. Warren, Mr. Cobb, and Mr. Peard. The team is open to anybody who enjoys great exercise, the fast pace, and the spirit of the game. However, the team is usually made up of mostly seniors, with a few juniors, very few sophomores, and almost no freshmen. This is mostly because the springtime opportunity to stay in shape, enjoy the great outdoor weather, and have fun usually appeals especially to seniors. When asked how he would describe Choate’s Ultimate Frisbee team, Seamus Connolly’07, returning for his third year on the team, described Frisbee as, “The meeting of both athletic and non-athletic students to have fun and improve their frisbee skills.” Additionally, Coach Trevor Peard states this about Ultimate Frisbee: “All sports are the irrational pursuit of a meaningless goal. Ultimate’s superiority over other sports is that we embrace rather than deny that fact”
Every Monday through Thursday, from 3:30-4:30, the team meets behind the Winter X for an hour of Ultimate Frisbee. The daily practice routine starts with 5-10 minutes of warm up throws, after which the team is randomly divided into 6 smaller teams. For the remaining 50 minutes each team scrimmages against another.
The rules of Ultimate Frisbee are relatively simple, though they become much more detailed at the college and professional level. Basically, there are two teams of seven players each, and the way to score a point is to catch the Frisbee at your opponents’ end of the field, also known as a touchdown to many football players. However, the underlying rule of Frisbee is that once a player has caught the frisbee, no matter where on the field, that player can no longer move and can only advance the frisbee farther up the field by throwing to his orher teammates.
The Ultimate Frisbee program at Choate started about 25 years ago and was coached by a faculty member by the name of Bill Glick. About 20 years ago Mr. Peard took over the program and together with Mr. Cobb and Mr. Warren have shaped the program into what it is today. The interscholastic aspect of the program, however, began with NMH, which was initially the only New England prep school to play competitively. Over the years more and more high schools and colleges have created their own interscholastic Frisbee teams. Choate’s Frisbee team remains unique in its casual blend of both intramural and interscholastic aspects. All members of the team have the option to play in the inter-school games, and those who do decide to participate in the games take a light hearted and positive attitude with them. This year the team is playing against Watkinson School, The Chase Collegiate School, NMH, and Cheshire Academy. Additionally there is the possibility of a game against Hotchkiss and an all-girl game against Miss Porters.
When asked if he sees the Choate Frisbee program becoming a completely interscholastic sport Coach Peard responded, “I would like to see, in a couple of years, a young faculty member who played Ultimate Frisbee in college turn Choate’s team into a completely interscholastic sport.”
Coach Trevor Peard looks to distribute the frisbee while John Aloian ’08 plays some tight defense. PHOTO/Nina Tarnawsky '08
