Ultimate Frisbee club preps for upcoming season

If you were to visit the upperfield on a Sunday afternoon this spring, more often than not, you would find junior Samantha Guidry and several other Saratoga High students tossing around a brightly colored disk. However, this is not for extra credit or P.E. It is a club activity.

The Ultimate Frisbee club has been competitive at SHS for three years now, and though it is not very well known, it has been growing steadily under current co-presidents seniors Edwin Chen and Stephen Peng. The team is co-ed, consisting of 20 members from all grades.

The Saratoga team is also teaming up with members from Monta Vista and Lynbrook for their competitions and tournaments. Because all three teams are so small, they occasionally have scrimmages and compete together.

Last year, the combined team beat Bellarmine High School in the Spaghetti Western tournament, a satisfactory win for them on the second day of hard work.

“It was really exciting to see all our hard work coming out,” said Guidry.

As of now, the team has  lost all four games at the King of Bongo tournament in San Francisco on Feb. 21.

The club is preparing for upcoming competitions in the Spring League, which spans several days in March. They lost their first game against the San Leandro Sky Pirates but are anticipating better results for the next few games.

Despite the losses, the team has been focusing on the basics since there are more new members than there have been in previous years. Weekend practices, which last three to four hours, consist of drills and technique practice. At the end of practices, they always try to have at least one scrimmage.

“Having good plays is also a really important part of this sport,” said Guidry. “Just like for football, Ultimate Frisbee requires well-laid out plays.”

The club has been picking up the pace in preparation for the Spring League in March and the Spaghetti Western on May 25 and 26, where they will compete against other clubs from schools around the Bay Area. The competition style varies from Round Robin to the usual tournament style.

“There is not just one person who carries the team; rather, it is more of a group effort,” said Guidry.

She agrees that the team captains, Chen and Peng, do a good job in bringing the team together and helping them to improve.

“With some tips from our coach and team captains, we have been able to get more comfortable with the flow of the game,” freshman Vishal Narayan said.