“Reuss!”
The frisbee soars through the air, and Junior Andy Reuss takes off in pursuit. He slops across the muddy quad before losing his footing and splashing into a mud puddle. Everyone laughs. Undeterred, they play on.
The Ultimate Frisbee Club started a competitive Frisbee league to increase involvement.
The club runs loosely structured pick-up games throughout the year for simple recreation. The new league, however, is designed to add an element of competition and intensity that is lacking within the club.
“With this league we wanted to achieve a little bit more,” Reuss said. “We wanted to have something a little more established; something people can look forward to throughout the week”.
The league does not replace the existing pick-up games that are sponsored by the Ultimate Frisbee Club. This league only provides a more serious alternative for playing Frisbee.
“We want to run this in tandem with the Ultimate Frisbee Club,” Junior Wes Wright said. “We do not want this league to supplant the pick-up games.”
The Hillsdale College Student Federation approved $575 in funds for the Ultimate Frisbee Club on Sept. 5, enabling the club to buy jerseys and other equipment for its members.
“I think it’s a good use of money because there are lots of students involved,” Student Fed Representative Arielle Mueller said.
Mueller also said she did not see a problem with the Student Fed giving the club more money for jerseys in the future since senior players will keep their jerseys after graduation.
At the meeting, the Ultimate Frisbee Club proposed each member pay $5 for his or her jersey while the club uses the proposed funds to cover the remaining $7 fee. Members would then keep their jerseys throughout their college career and after they graduate. Future freshmen members would also pay the $5 fee for jerseys.
“Everyone is just really excited because this gives people a time and a place frisbee will always happen,” Reuss said.
The league started off with a Frisbee combine on Aug. 31st. This combine was intended to assess the skills of the players before the league draft Sept. 4. The club tested the different skills of the players.
“We power paired some people, we did some scrimmages, we used some of the better throwers and had them throw to people if we wanted to see them catch” Wright said. “Everyone said it was really well run.”
There will be 11 teams of 6 due to the high interest shown by the student body, especially freshman.
“I am really excited about where the Ultimate Frisbee Club is going because there are so many new freshman this year,” said senior David Graber, President of the Ultimate Frisbee Club. “Of all the years I have been here, this is by far the most people in any class.”
The season will consist of eight regular games followed by a postseason tournament. The games will be played, rain or shine, on Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. on the quad.
Reuss emphasized that even though the combine and draft are over, they are still open to interested players.
“Whether you have played Frisbee your entire life or it is a first time thing, we want to encourage people to come out and play.”
