A new Ultimate Frisbee club makes its way into WS, but there are some complications with its upbringing. 

Sophomore Tyson Denny is the brains behind the idea of bringing ultimate frisbee to the school. He asked sophomores Brendan Talbot, Andrew Kasky, and Noah Walls to aid him in consummating the club into a reality. 

“We decided to create The Ultimate Frisbee Club because we noticed the lack of athletics when it came to Interest Clubs,” said Denny. “Ultimate Frisbee is a fun, easy, and safe activity that everyone can participate in, and we wanted to encourage our participants to play the sport outside of school.”

The club has had a few unofficial meetings, which are not affiliated with WS since FCPS requests that all athletic activity be unrelated to the county or the schools. 

“Unless the county changes [its] policy in regards to physical activity, all unofficial practices will remain that way,” said Denny. “I hope that FCPS sees the interest from the student body in regards to athletic clubs. A lot of our members are out-of-season athletes or people who want something fun to participate in after school.”

The club has had one official meeting so far where they have discussed the rules of ultimate frisbee, including various tactics and throwing methods. Overall, the goal of the meeting was just attempting to gain interest in the sport. There have been a few games of ultimate on the school football field, but none of those games were deemed official club activities. 

While the club’s progression may be hindered, Denny and the other members still believe the club has considerable potential. 

“We want to take this as far as possible, [and] we plan to play against other schools, although it will be completely unofficial at that point. We’d be playing as students and representatives of West Springfield rather than as the WSHS Ultimate Club. We like our practices to be casual, and we never want to create a hostile environment for beginning athletes, but we will bring competition and effort to every single unofficial meeting and game,” said Denny.

Denny encourages anyone to come and join the club, regardless of some of the restrictions it may be facing. 

“It’s a fun activity that anyone, regardless of athletic experience, can participate in,” said Denny. “You’re allowed to join the club whenever you’d like, and we highly encourage coming to at least one meeting if you’re on the fence.”