By Brandon Feivor
The 2013 season ended abruptly for the men’s ultimate Frisbee team, Sub Par, last weekend. The waterlogged fields were eventually covered with snow and the players were battered by gusting winds in Delafield, Wis., the site of the Division I sectional playoffs, but the teams played on.
Sophomore Kyle Aarestad said the conditions were, “the worst,” he had ever played in.
Eight teams made the trip to earn the right to advance to regionals, including Wisconsin, which is ranked No. 1 in the country by usaultimate.org.
The weekend began with pool play and UW-Whitewater finished 1-2, defeating UW-La Crosse 11-8. The teams were then seeded and Whitewater drew UW-Steven’s Point in the first round, and lost 9-15.
Sub Par fell to the lower bracket and won its next game against Northern Michigan 15-9, but lost 6-15 against Marquette in the fifth place match and came in sixth. Only the top five teams from the sectional were given bids for the regional tournament.
Although the team went into the weekend without several starters, the players said it was most difficult adjusting to the conditions.
Aarestad said the weather forced his team to play conservatively. Rather than loft passes down the field, the players were forced to rely on short exchanges on offense, but he said his team prefers the short game.
Senior Austin Patty agreed the environment was awful but not unplayable, and that the focus was on patience.
“We had to make the short throws until we could capitalize on a long throw opportunity and we missed a couple of those,” Patty said. “Most rookies catch the disc and want to instantly throw it, but you get 10 seconds so we had to wait.”
On a roster of 31, about half of Sub Par’s lineup consisted of rookies. In fact, the team only had five seniors this season and the rest were all underclassmen.
Aarestad said it was disappointing to see the season end, but that it was considered a “rebuilding year.” He said the experience gained by the younger players laid the ground work for next season.
“The guys that are leaving each played for four or five years and they were important cogs on the field, but they were also coaches and we will miss that next year,” Aarestad said.
Patty said when he was a rookie the team went through a similar situation when it graduated a handful of seniors and returned everyone else. By staying in the program together and developing team chemistry over time, Patty said the team became, “unstoppable.” Two years ago Sub Par climbed to 17th in the national standings.
Aarestad said the team is also like a family off of the field.
“My life revolves around ultimate, we take what we do seriously, but we’re also out there to have fun,” Aarestad said. “When we hit the road it’s like going on a trip with your family.”
The ultimate Frisbee team has never packed Perkins stadium, and it has not given the university an All-American to enshrine on a banner in the Williams Center. What it has done, is it created a competitive environment where students can create life-long friendships.
Patty is among the group leaving and said while not everyone gets along; when it comes down to it the guys are there for each other. He is already planning to attend the team’s annual alumni scrimmage next spring.
“It was kind of depressing to see it end last weekend and I’m going to miss hanging out with these guys, but I’ll always be part of the family that’s how it works,” Patty said.
