The start of spring marks the beginning of the ultimate frisbee team’s 2023 season.

On April 4, the co-ed team held their first practice and is showing signs of another promising year.

The team is coached by Mason Challinor who has had experience playing and coaching ultimate frisbee since he was in high school.

Coach Challinor was drawn to the sport due to its required integrity and sportsmanship.

“My favorite thing about it, especially in high school, was that it was a co-ed sport so it was a good way to emphasize fair play and sportsmanship both because all genders are represented on the field and there are no referees. It’s built into the game to be a good sport,” Challinor said.

In addition to being a member of the history department, Challinor is closing in on his fifth year of coaching ultimate frisbee at the high school.

For novices, the basics of ultimate frisbee are similar to that of many other sports.

“The simplest way to explain it is it works kind of like football, except you can’t run when you have the disc. You have to stay still when you have it but you can pivot, sort of like in basketball. You’re passing back and forth, like in soccer, and trying to catch the disc in the endzone to score a point.” Challinor explained.

Returning players Leo Kepic and Lucas Edmond both expressed their enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

Senior Kepic gave many sports a try but did not feel a bond with her team until she began ultimate frisbee.

“The team is the most fun about it, because we grow together. The team gets really close; we get a lot of inside jokes,” Kepic said.

In addition to the close-knit team, ultimate frisbee incorporates a well-known aspect of a sport – competitiveness.

“It’s a good blend of competitiveness and fun,” said junior capatain Edmond.

The ultimate frisbee team existed for roughly three years prior to Coach Challinor stepping up; however, no consistent advisor was present.

“For the last four and a half years it has been more of a legitimate team,” Challinor said.

The legitimacy of the ultimate frisbee team has drastically increased over the years and has continued to become more competitive under Challinor’s mentorship.

In order to maintain their competitive edge, ultimate frisbee meets every day after school for the first two weeks of their season. After the second week, their season will consist of two practices and two games a week.

Edmond’s favorite aspect of the program is competing in these games.

“They’re all promising because we’re building a program. We got a lot of new members this year. We’ll see how those new members turn out,” Challinor said.