By Jessica Booth

To some, Ultimate Frisbee may not sound like a real sports team, but it most definitely is-and the girls of the University’s women’s Ultimate Frisbee team are here to show you that they are just as legit as football or basketball.

Ultimate Frisbee as a team has been at the University for about six years, but it was just recently changed from a single co-ed team to two teams separated by gender. In the beginning, there were only about seven girls involved, but the team now has about 18 players. The women’s team unofficially began about two years ago, but it was not until last year that became official. Since then, this relatively new team has been working hard to get their name out there, going to tournaments and just basically enjoying the sport. They call their team M45, after the constellation Pleiades. Pleiades came from the Seven Sisters, which they chose because there are seven players on the field.

Ultimate frisbee is a combination of basketball and football that uses the high level of endurance and non-stop movement of soccer. “A lot of people call it ‘Frisbee football,'” says Naomi Brender, a graduate student and player on the team. “You score by catching the disk in the end zone, like football. You can’t run with the disk in your hand, like basketball.”

The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. It is played with two seven-player squads and uses a high-tech plastic disc. According to upa.org, ultimate frisbee is governed by the ‘Spirit of the Game,’ a tradition of sportsmanship that gives the players the responsibility instead of referees. This is one of the big things about ultimate frisbee-it is un-officiated, so the players make the call.

“I think it’s really cool that you can have a sport where you have an awareness of the rules and take responsibility for the stuff you do during the game,” says Emily Miethner, the club’s president and a junior graphic design major. “I think that’s what brings the chill and fun attitude to it.”

The women’s ultimate team has a great time playing. “It’s a fun sport,” says Lauren Anker, a freshman player and dance and video major. “With soccer and stuff, it’s really competitive-you go and it’s for the sport; that’s the whole focus. With Frisbee, you have kind of another mindset. It’s still competitive, but it’s a fun attitude.”

M45 practices three times during the week and sometimes on weekends. They go to about three or four tournaments a semester, playing schools of different levels from all over the region. They also have smaller scrimmages. The team has had the opportunity to go to places such as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island to play. Their biggest achievement to date was winning the Brisk Wins tournament in Rhode Island last semester, where they were undefeated.

The players are happy with their team, which they say does very well considering many of the girls are new to the sport. Right now, they are ranked 35 out of a little over 100 schools and are in about the 28th percentile. “Not all of the teams are ranked yet, since it’s so early in the season, but it’s still pretty cool,” says Brender.

“We’re all really excited because we’re a really, really young team-we have mostly freshmen,” says Miethner. “We’re really lucky because our freshmen are really good and very athletic. To have such a young team that is doing so well is pretty awesome.”

On March 14 and 15, they hosted their first tournament at the University, called The Long Island Classic. The tournament consisted of eight different teams, including schools such as Yale and Harvard and even one school from Canada. It was a big success.

“It was our first ever attempt at having a women’s team tournament, and it went really well,” says Miethner. “We hit a few bumps; we had about four teams drop out, but it worked out.”

Other than practicing and playing, the team participates in various fundraising activities in an effort to get their name out there. In the past, they have held a fundraiser at Coldstones Creamery and have co-sponsored the Progressive Students Union’s Art of Healing: Healing Through Art. In the coming weeks, they will be participating in Relay for Life.

“We’re trying to have the team be more of a community and a family, instead of just go to practice, go to games, go home,” says Miethner. The players made themselves tie-dyed shirts that they wear to practices but are excited to say that they will soon be getting some fancier uniforms. They were recently sponsored by Five Ultimate, one of the top Ultimate jersey companies that has a growing team sponsorship program. M45 had to write a letter saying why they deserved to win, and they did.

The team also made up Frisbuds, a type of buddy program to help out their freshmen members. They have paired each upperclassman on the team with three or four freshmen, just so that they had someone to call with questions and such. It helps allow everyone to get to know each other.

“We love the name,” says Miethner. “I love saying, ‘go Frisbuds!'”

The team has another big tournament coming up during the last weekend of March in Maryland. After this tournament, they go to sectionals, which Miethner says is “the Ultimate version of the playoffs.”

“If we do good at sectionals, then we can make it to regionals,” says Brender.

Miethner is quick to correct her. “We will make it to regionals.”

Brender agrees. “Pretty much, we will make it to regionals.”

Miethner encourages anyone interested in playing to sign up by emailing them at [email protected]. “Anyone can play Frisbee no matter what; if they’ve never played before, it’s okay. Doesn’t matter how old you are, doesn’t matter if you’ve never even played a sport before. We’ll teach you, and it’s a lot of fun.”