During the 2013-14 school year, Williston student body President Matt Freire ’13, along with passionate Ultimate Frisbee players Ben Thompson, Williston’s Director of Psychological Counseling Services, and science teacher Paul Rutherford made a proposal to Athletic Director Mark Conroy to make a Williston Ultimate Team.

Now, in the spring of 2014, Williston Ultimate Frisbee is in its inaugural season with a co-ed team that is led by Head Coach Rutherford and Language Teacher Eugenio Garcia competes against other New England prep schools and public high schools in Western Massachusetts.

“After considering all the variables, the decision was made to move forward with a pilot ultimate program this spring. I am happy to say that twenty plus students have enjoyed a very positive team experience this spring,” says Conroy.

While this is the first year the school has fielded an interscholastic-competitive team, Thompson has organized weekly pickup games for the past several years. About this informal competition Conroy says, “This helped to generate student and faculty interest in ultimate on campus.”

While the team got off to a slow start this spring, losing its first three games, the team placed 2nd in the B Division at a tournament hosted by Northfield Mt. Hermon on April 26th. The team played five games that day, winning three of them. Since that tournament, the team has won six of nine games.

About the team’s improvement, Rutherford says, “Once we realized which throws we can and cannot make, it helped keep our turnovers to a minimum. We [now] have a better understanding of where we need to be on the field and what an offense/defense should be doing during the game.”

Rutherford played club Ultimate for three seasons at Kenyon College, which competes at the DIII collegiate level. Rutherford says that the team did not have any formal coaches, so veteran players organized the team and helped new players learn the game. Now, Rutherford is teaching the sport to those on the Williston squad, many of whom are playing the sport for the first time.

Williston senior member of team Nick Pattison says, “I have played pick-up ultimate…But before this year, I had no idea how to actually play ultimate. I have gained a much larger understanding of the strategy and rules in ultimate. I learned that there are actually positions in ultimate – not just people running around catching and throwing the Frisbee.”

Another senior on the team, Ethan Kimball, says that members of the team have bonded while learning a new sport. “Our team is like a family and there are many close friendships.  Everyone pretty much already knew each other before the season even started.” About becoming better at the sports, Kimball adds, I’d say our progress has been tremendous. We’ve become skilled at running various types of offense and defense, and our gameplay has become more fluid and organized,” says Kimball.

About team chemistry, Pattison says, “I love our team spirit – during games, we are always cheering for our teammates. Practice is always filled with laughter and Ultimate jokes. There is no better feeling than being on the playing field and hearing your teammates cheering for you and your friends.”

While Rutherford believes this team is a good starting point for the program, he would like to see it grow in the upcoming years. He would like to see Williston create separate teams for men and women. “From there we would like to build the Ultimate program to perform its best every year,” he says.

However, Rutherford says he believes that this first season will be the most challenging due to the fact that the players are so new to sport. “The most challenging part has been teaching everyone a new sport at the same time.  You realize how challenging it can be to an entire team new concepts rather than just a few players. Next year it will be easier to have the experienced players demonstrate the concepts of the game to the new players,”Rutherford says.

Conroy says, “I hope that the Ultimate Program becomes just another great opportunity for our students to enjoy the benefits of a team experience playing a sport that they love.  I hope that it becomes a strong program with a steady stream of student interest.”