Walking onto the field, the players took deep breaths, looked at their opponents, and visualized what they needed to do in order to win the game.

That’s exactly what members of the Bowie Ultimate Frisbee team did on November 16 when they attended their first pre-season tournament. 

“This [was] the first competition with our 2019 – 2020 team, so our goal for the weekend is to get familiar with our competition and to find areas which we need to work on over the next couple of months,” senior captain Caroline Myers said.

The tournament was held in Waco, so Bowie had the opportunity to play teams from outside of Austin.

“Overall, the tournament went well,” Myers said. “We lost all of our games, but not by much, and played against competitive teams from the Dallas area: Marcus, Highland Park, and Plano.”

The other captain, senior Luke Broderick, enjoys ultimate frisbee since he gets to be athletic with his friends.

“My favorite part of the team is being able to meet new people and playing with my friends,” Broderick said. “Each tournament helps the team grow.”

Although they lost the tournament matches, Myers achieved her goal of being competitive and learning about the team.

“Each person on the team improved throughout the tournament and we learned about our strengths and what weaknesses we should focus on at practice,” Myers said. 

Spanish teacher and ultimate frisbee sponsor Kelly Tagle always supports the team and believes many benefits can be gained from playing ultimate frisbee.

“Ultimate frisbee is co-ed [at Bowie],” Tagle said. “I think that is really unique because I don’t know of another sport that does that. I think the kids get a lot out of that. I think they gain a lot of respect out of that, and it kind of forces them to put aside their differences.”

Both Broderick and Myers encourage people to join the ultimate frisbee team for its inclusive environment. 

“My favorite part about the Bowie Ultimate team is the team culture,” Myers said. “They are a group of people who will always better your mood just by being around them, and are inclusive of every grade and skill level.”