With the sun shining down on the veloway field behind Bowie, ultimate frisbee players sprint back and forth skillfully passing frisbees to each other. Junior Jacob Ploeger has been playing frisbee for a majority of his life and is a figure of leadership on the team.

”I’ve being playing frisbee for 11 years and I started this club when I was a freshman at fish camp,” Ploeger said. “I also played at Kealing in middle school with a couple of my friends who helped me recruit other people so we could expand our team.”

While the team is deemed as a club, they value their sport very highly and put in a lot of effort to be the best team possible.

“Frisbee is a team sport like soccer where each person has their role, but it’s also different in it’s own ways,” Ploeger said. “You have to know your teammates and they way they play. Each person has a different position, like a cutter or a handler, so that each person can work together and make a good team.”

It is quite common for members of the cross country team to join the frisbee team due to the similarities in physical requirements. Varsity cross country runner Erik Atwell is currently on the frisbee team.

“When I transferred to Kealing in seventh grade my English teacher was the coach of the team so I decided to join and once I started playing I got hooked,” Atwell said.

During practice the athletes are constantly running all over the place so they can make efficient and great passes. Atwell finds the practices to have a similar amount of mileage to that of a cross country practice.

“You definitely have to be an athlete because there is a lot of running and stamina involved, but really as long as you’re willing to put work in and become a better frisbee player it’s pretty easy to become a decent, if not great frisbee player,” Atwell said.

If a student is thinking about seeing what it’s like being on the team, Ploeger gives advice about a few things they should know about and do.

“For someone who is thinking about joining the team I would advise them to come out to a practice, we are open to everyone and whether you know some skills or not we will teach you,” Ploeger said.

New skills will  currently be taught by team mates.

“Practices right now are pretty laid back, but when the actual season starts in spring we will have our coach come out to teach us specifics like throwing styles and game-play strategies,” Ploeger said. “As well as having some team vs team scrimmages with other schools for practice.”

It can be common for a school club to die down after a few years due to the departure of the leaders. But according to Atwell this is not the case for the ultimate frisbee.

“We are getting a lot more under class men which is good because we want the team to continue years after we graduate. Most of the years it has been our grade level, but this year we are really happy to see many underclassmen joining the team,” Atwell said.

The team is still currently preparing for their first tournament and Ploeger feels that their performance this year will be even better than the previous year.

“We have not gone to an official tournament as bowie yet, but on November 12th and 19th we are doing some tournaments, last year we got second in state though,” Ploeger said.

During a game, Ploeger describes how the team is very uplifting to one another and how the game creates a very inspiring environment.

“In a game it is very intense and everyone is feeling good especially if we are scoring,” Ploeger said. “It’s a very fun environment and a little more serious than a normal scrimmage, but once you’re in the game you see a smile on pretty much everyone’s face.”

Atwell has lots of hope for the success of his team this year and he believes they have a good chance at winning the championship.

“I hope that at our state tournament in May we will be a much improved team and we can go out there and win the championship,” Atwell said.

Atwell finds the team to be a place of joy in his life, and he is very appreciative of the people on the team.

“The comradery is really good on a frisbee team, because there is this thing called the spirit of the game where everyone has good attitudes towards everyone on the team and the teams you play. It’s really awesome getting to play on a team with your friends, they are pretty much like family,” Atwell said.