Monday’s decision by the Club Sports executive committee to terminate the men’s ultimate frisbee season is a tragic loss, not only to the students involved in this highly successful and nationally renowned program, but to the University of Oregon and wider Eugene community as a whole.
The sport of ultimate frisbee is based on community. We self-officiate our tournaments, playing a highly competitive sport without referees, to uphold one of the founding principles of ultimate: spirit of the game. This principle is laid out in every rule book and every tournament packet. All teams across the nation, regardless of the competitive level of their play, train their members to play hard, and play with good sportsmanship. Teams that do not follow the tenet of spirit of the game are known throughout the ultimate community as having bad spirit – the worst reputation possible in this sport.
The men’s ultimate frisbee team at UO exemplifies the spirit of ultimate. It exhibits good sportsmanship while maintaining an extremely high level of play and a program that is consistently considered one of the best in the country. Team members practice year round, regardless of winter weather. These men train together, live together, study together, and most have devoted years to the sport of ultimate frisbee. This team has such a reputation as an upstanding group of students that when faced with the decision to end their season, they were able to assemble numerous letters from players and coaches around the country attesting to their character and team behavior within 48 hours.
Losing such a renowned and respected team is a great loss of future members of this community and current and future participants in UO’s Club Sports program. There is no higher stage for ultimate frisbee than collegiate regionals and nationals. Unlike Club Sports teams such as soccer, tennis, and sailing, there exists no other venue for ultimate players at the University of Oregon to participate in a committed and competitive manner. This is our highest stage. This team certainly does not deserve to lose its chance at a national title because of the decision of five executive committee members, especially over such a harmless incident as the one in question.
The men’s ultimate team is an exemplary athletic program unlike any other the University offers. The loss of the remainder of its season is devastating to the national ultimate community. I cannot urge the members of the executive committee strongly enough to reconsider their decision.