EDSS throws itself into Ultimate Frisbee competition
WITH NEARLY AN ENTIRELY new group of athletes this year, the EDSS Ultimate Frisbee team has been working on learning the basics of the game since their season began in April, and just returned from their OFSAA meet where the coaches saw great improvement all around.
Erin Thaler and Amanda Pileggi are the coaches again this year, with Thaler noting they’re encouraged by the team’s progress. Most of the Grade 12s from last year’s team graduated and a number of Grade 9s joined this year, which means they’ll have a couple years to work more on skill development.
“It’s been really neat. One of the cool things that happened at OFSAA was watching them really come together and play as a team. The points that we were getting were points that everybody on the field had touched the disc at least once. They were using all of their players and being consciences of who was on the field and where and when and really communicating with each another,” Thaler said.
In practice they’d been focusing on making good decisions when you’re on the field, and making short passes, which was evident at the meet. She says they’re encouraged by the community aspect of building the team and watching leaders develop, while embracing the spirit of the game. And it’s educational, too, because the sport is self-officiated, and they learn how to settle disputes on the field.
“Right now we’re just at the strategy development phase where they’re getting a hang of the rules. One of the big things we were trying to focus on at OFSAA was exposing them to highlevel play, so that they see what other teams are doing and then want to learn how to do those plays or how do you defend against this specific play, so building that sort of the desire to want to learn more. So right now it’s basic skills, but we’re building on those basic skills,” Thaler said.
They practiced basic throws and the mechanics of the game in the gym over the lunch hour until the fields were ready to be used for scrimmages. The sport isn’t officially WCSSAA sanctioned yet, but the participating high schools work together to typically organize one game each week for the teams.
“There are more teams and it seems to be growing and spreading. The challenge right now is just coordinating who’s playing who when and making sure everybody has a chance to play games,” she said.
The sport also tends to bring out some students who wouldn’t normally join a team sport. She says many of them had played it at summer camp or in gym class and enjoyed it.
EDSS played against Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute and Kitchener Collegiate Institute on Tuesday at Victoria Park.
This year was the second year EDSS has had an Ultimate Frisbee team.
“We focused mostly on having fun, we were learning the rules of the game and starting to learn some plays as well. It’s a fun group of kids. We have a lot of fun. It’s been really nice because the weather’s been cooperating this season,” Thaler said.