Do you know what sport uses a flick, backhand, hammer, scoober, and huck? If you said “Ultimate Frisbee,” you are correct (those terms are all types of throws). Did you also know that Holliston High School has had an Ultimate Frisbee (UF) team since 2007? The team is currently coached by Chris Levasseur and Jefferson Wood, who have built a very strong program. Although technically listed as a “club” at Holliston High School, the team enjoys all the privileges of any other varsity sport and plays a full spring varsity and junior varsity schedule. The UF team is the only Division 1 and co-ed sport at Holliston High School.

For those readers who may be unfamiliar with UF, the following excerpt (from the USA Ultimate website) describes the sport:  Although Ultimate is sometimes stigmatized as a "tree-hugger" sport, in reality Ultimate is a legitimate sport with a national governing body. Ultimate is a real sport, with official rules, leagues, and competitions at all age levels. Ultimate demands extraordinary fitness, endurance and skill; an intellect which understands the physics of the disc and strategies of play; as well as an honest and trusting temperament committed to the Spirit of the Game. The concept of the Spirit of the Game is something that differentiates Ultimate from other organized sports. The concept is summarized in the following excerpt from the Introduction to the Official Rules of Ultimate, 11th Edition:  Spirit of the Game: Ultimate relies upon a spirit of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate unsportsmanlike conduct from the Ultimate field. Such actions as taunting opposing players, dangerous aggression, belligerent intimidation, intentional infractions or other “win-at-all-costs” behavior are contrary to the spirit of the game and must be avoided by all players.

In 2011, the team played a challenging Division 1 schedule, resulting in an 8-10 record and finishing in 14^th place overall at the state tournament, held in Sudbury over the Memorial Day weekend. Two players from the 2011 team (Nick Varrell and Marcus Rexach) were named to the league all-star team.

The 2012 season is expected to be a good one. According to Coach Levasseur, “we have an extremely athletic and hard-working team this season.  With 10 seniors, 8 of whom are returning athletes, we expect to have a very competitive team in Division 1.”  Led by seniors Ben Hart, Ryan Mullens, Mike Reid, Marcus Rexach, Alex Trotin, Ben DeSnyder, Ryan Meltzer, CJ Duross, Dan Norton, and Tom Waterman, the Panthers will play a 12 game league schedule and two tournaments against a variety of teams, including Abington, Sharon, Newton-North, Weymouth, Lincoln-Sudbury, Milton, and Lexington.

If you are looking for some great sporting entertainment in a fun atmosphere, feel free to come out to the high school and root the Panthers on to victory! The full 2012 UF home and away schedule is available on the Holliston High School website.