ACHS students are joining the team rapidly again after the pandemic temporarily stymied growth.
Maxwell Tankersley
The Ultimate Frisbee Club at Alexandria City High School endeavors to set itself apart from other school sports by focusing on both including and lifting up all their members while still staying competitive. The current ACHS team was started in spring of 2019, but it started gaining traction in the fall of 2020.
Ultimate Frisbee, like other sports at ACHS, is competitive, with the team participating in United States of America Ultimate (USAU) state tournaments. The team prioritzes the importance of inclusivity and improvement, notwithstanding the hostility that competitive sports can bring. “One of our major team rules is being inclusive…when we see someone on our team being too competitive, or bringing other people down, we call them out for it,” said Andres Huenneke, one of the team captains. “One of the best things is seeing how people can improve; it really does show.”
The club has been off and on at ACHS since the 80’s. “This is the most recent iteration of it…it was just started by a couple of students who were really interested in Ultimate Frisbee, and wanted to spread it further,” said Virginia Arnold, a member of the team, “[Those] students have now graduated, but the team keeps going on.”
Another thing that makes Ultimate differs is the universal experience threshold. “You don’t need to have experience with Ultimate to really learn and do well on our team,” said Arnold. “There’s a learning curve, because people aren’t used to throwing…but if you’re willing to stick through that…curve, it’s really rewarding.”
One of the things that impacted the growth of the club was the pandemic. At first, it was hard for them to hold practices. “Through the summer, we didn’t practice,” said Arnold. However, the pandemic also gave them new opportunities. “It was almost convenient that the pandemic existed, because we were able to use these field spaces that traditionally the [other] high school teams would get access to,” she said.
“After Covid started hitting, there was a hiatus for a while…and October 2020, that’s when the team really got popular…that’s when it kinda blew up.” said Huenneke.
The Ultimate Frisbee club continues to grow, and is always open to new members. “We allow anyone to come in, whoever wants to come out and play,” said Arnold. “Ultimate is very accommodating of people of various gender identities, so whoever you are, you can find a place in Ultimate.” Ultimate Frisbee is a mixed sport, which means that both guys and girls play together on the team.
Team practices are usually held Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-sunset, and Sundays from 10-1. Weekday practices are held at Chinquapin, and Sunday practices are held at GW. Students are welcome to join at any time. “We’re always taking new members,” said Huenneke.
