If you’ve ever had Mrs. Yackey as a math teacher, than you most likely know that Ultimate Frisbee can be an extremely intense sport. I had never really heard about it before coming to Magnet, but right away I began to hear all about how fun the game is.

Ultimate Frisbee is an outdoor sport and takes place in a large field with a little bit different dimensions from a regular football field. During game play, seven people play on each team at a time. At Magnet, there is somewhere around 30 team members, but it varies because it’s a club sport. There’s a group of 15-20 people that stick around the whole season (tournaments usually happen in the spring, but the team practices during the whole year). As far as game play goes, Asher Wallen, one of four captains, described it as a “mix of football and soccer” and said that it contains “elements of each different sport.” Game play is continuous, with each person having ten seconds to make the next throw once the frisbee has been caught.

Possession can change by an interception, foul, or stall (the time to throw runs out). If the disk is turned over to the other team, play continues when the other team picks it up. The goal is to get it into the end zone, worth one point. Gesturing to his fellow Captain Grant Goldsmith, Asher said “there’s nobody I want more to throw the disc a single turn into the end zone” meaning that Grant is a reliable played and can seal the scoring deal with his assists. The game is generally won by a certain number of points scored, but sometimes there are time caps of 1.5-2 hours and you must win by two.

The team is travels to participate in many spring tournaments, such as the one just outside of Charlotte they recently returned from, but their biggest tournament takes place the third week of May in Columbia, States. They’re working to get in another scrimmage or two before the big games.

When asked about his favorite part of the game, Asher replied, “I guess part of what makes the game so special is the spirit of the game. There aren’t any referees- we ref our own game. We call our own fouls and settle them with each other.”

“The feeling of being able to shred a defense is always super satisfying” Grant added, to which Asher agreed.

After talking a bit more, I asked “What’s something that you think people often don’t understand about Ultimate Frisbee?”

“It’s a less popular sport in general. People don’t understand it’s a real sport. It has physical benefits, a lot of conditioning, great team spirit. There’s less recognition, but the same fitness benefits,” Asher shared.

Both Asher and Grant plan to take their Ultimate Frisbee careers to the next level at NC State and Duke respectfully. North Carolina is a big Ultimate Frisbee state and both colleges have good programs.

If you want to join the Magnet team, do it!  The other two captains are currently Bryce Getsinger and Ava Peterson. Ava will be a Senior Captain next year, so if you have any questions, reach out to her or Mrs. Yackey and they’d be happy to help you get started.