The McAnderson ultimate Frisbee team, a team combining Anderson and McCallum students, played its first game of the season on March 23. As the season comes to a close, players coached by Paul Lowe have been putting into play strategies and skills they have been working on since the beginning of the school year. Lowe says these weekly practices have helped much of the team adjust and get used to the new team dynamic since they lost many seniors players after last year’s season.
“So far the team is looking good, but we still have a way to hit our potential,” Lowe said. “We have a really talented team, but we just have to put all the pieces together to get where we want to go, which is competing for a state title. Practicing has allowed us to focus on the areas of immediate needs, such as how to move the disc down the field and play good defense, but playing games will allow us to get reps that we are lacking in practice to take us the rest of the way.¨
Lowe has around 13 years of experience with the sport and has played at the college level at the University of Tennessee. He credits much of his previous experience with the game to helping him continue to build a team community, especially with many new players and the team being a mix of Anderson and McCallum students.
“It is one of the most fun sports I have played because you need to be able to do a little bit of everything from all other sports,” Lowe said. “And the sport is centered around the Spirit of the Game, which is boiled down to respect for your opponent, team and game. That leads to high levels of sportsmanship and competition.”
As coach, Lowe says he is hoping to direct the team to a successful season, while also incorporating in new players and helping them set a foundation for their future years on the team.
“My goals are to be competitive, but I’m focused on the long term development of the team,” he said. “Last year, we were in the semifinal game for the local league, and we were unable to get that last point to win the game. We had an older team with a majority of the team being seniors. This year, we have a lot of underclassmen who will be looked at to make an immediate impact, so the focus is giving them as many points on the field as possible to get them comfortable in the offense and defense.¨
One of those underclassmen, freshman Marley Colberry, says that weekly practices that the team has held since the beginning of the school year help her and other new players learn the skills to the game, as well as improve their mastery of them.
“Ultimate Frisbee is a newer sport so not a lot of people know about it and not a lot of people know the terminology or how to throw a Frisbee,” Colberry said. “And because Frisbee is newer, anyone can just start. You could start in college and be fine, so it’s very opening and welcoming to the sport. We’ve learned how to throw better, how to catch better, how to do offense defense, that sort of thing.¨
The Spirit of the Game, like Lowe mentioned, leads to unique opportunities for players to compete against different ages and skill levels, like a tournament that the team will compete in later in the season.
¨I’m really excited for the tournament. Tusc organizes a big tournament for the middle school and high school teams, middle schoolers play together, high schoolers play together, so you can play against your friends at other schools, it’s really fun,” Colberry said.
As new freshmen like Colberry join the team, returning players like junior Alastair Dorsett are adapting to new players and team dynamics to make the season a successful one.
“We only had a few people showing up to the practices in the fall,” Dorsett said. “So it definitely helped, but a lot of the team is still learning how to play with each other. We have a lot of practice to do, but we have the potential to be really good.”
Throughout the season, the team will be able to test its skills against competition from all over the city and state.
“I’m looking forward to getting better at Frisbee, and seeing the progress of the team as the season progresses,” Dorsett said.
The regular season has come to an end for the McAnderson team, as they competed in their final Tusc spring league tournament on Saturday April 27. The team placed third in the tournament, losing to Lake Travis in the semifinal game after beating Westlake. The team finished their Tusc season with a 5-4 record and plan to play at the state tournament in Austin on May 18-19.
