When 16 Pioneers parked their cars at Kirkwood Park for the first practice of the ultimate frisbee [Ultimate] season, only one of them knew what was in store.

Almost every player from the 2010 team graduated except for Audrey Quirk, junior, who was left to try to teach the game of Ultimate to the new comers. That is if it were not for coach Rich Finley who has been playing the game since 1979 and has played in a summer league and a club team in St. Louis following his years in college.

“Last year was a pretty good year to say the least,” Finley said. “We had basically all seniors, and most of them had been playing for three years so we were pretty experienced. This year is a little different.”

Finley realizes his team is not going to be top-notch because of their lack of experience, but can already see the improvement rapidly increasing by most, if not all of his players.

“You can’t ask for more than what these guys and girls put into the game,” Finley said. “They are consistently improving their game and are looking very good after only a few games.”

The Ultimate team has scheduled practices every Tuesday and Friday at 4:30 p.m. As a team, the 16 Pioneers decided to practice every day instead. Josh Levine, senior, would not let anything take him away from the game that he is already starting to fall in love with.

“My thumb is broken, but I still play every single day,” Levine said. “I love Frisbee, and I don’t want this stupid injury to take me away from it.”
Emilie Willingham, junior, is also new to the game of Ultimate, but loves not only being around her friends while playing, but also enjoys playing the game itself.

“I wouldn’t say I’m the secret weapon of the team, but I am a little bit of a decoy,” Willingham said. “The team has me act stupid before the game starts during warm ups, and when the worst player on the other guards me for the first play it’s an easy first touchdown for us.”
Finley agrees having Willingham is a plus to the      team because she is well-rounded in all areas of the game and can be underestimated because of how ridiculous she acts prior to game time.

“She won’t throw it the farthest, but her field sense is incredible,” Finley said. “She’s always in the right place at the right time, she has great hands, great disc skills, and she’s also a leader when she steps out on that field. She has plenty of potential.”

So far the team is defeated, holding a 0-4 record entering the second week of April. But even in defeat, the team‘s goal is not always to win, but to get better at playing the game of Ultimate, and at the same time have as much fun as possible.

“We practice every day of the week not because we have to but because we want to,” Levine said. “We have fun being competitive, and we love  this game.”

The team has won its past two games against CBC and SLUH and will play in the state tournament May 7.