The UW-Whitewater men’s club ultimate frisbee team, Subpar Ultimate, had an exciting weekend for their first tournament of the year called No Wisconsequences. For this tournament’s sixteenth year, it was held at Milwaukee Ultimate Fields Oct. 4-5.
This tournament was created back in 2008 after a discussion between Ben Feldman of the Wisconsin Hodags and Cultimate, and weeks later, numerous strong, enthusiastic supporters. In 2019, Yogosbo Enterprises was formed and helped the tournament continue to this day.
Over 50 teams participated in this competition, ranging from other Wisconsin colleges such as UW-La Crosse, their team called the Bad LUC, to teams coming from Illinois and North Dakota, such as Carleton College, who has has made it to national championship finals eight times and won five, one of which was this past season.
Although more than half of Subpar’s team consists of rookies, they still have their eyes out for a winning record. On the other hand, whether or not they won, the tournament still provides a chance for all members of the team to go out and build as a team.
“We’re a solid team, and if we can get a win, I’ll take it, but as long as we’re having fun and we’re playing the best weekend, that’s a win in my books,” said Jared Fuls, the Subpar’s treasurer.
However, despite being such a young team, they still hopped right into training on the first day of school. Though the veterans already knew the basics of ultimate frisbee, they still had some learning to do.
“We actually completely changed how our offense works this year, so even our returners are relearning how to play this new offense,” Fuls said.
As the No Wisconsenquences tournament approached, the entire team worked hard in their practices three days a week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the coach gives the team drills to work on. Meanwhile, Wednesdays, which is the team’s captain-led day, the team works on anything that needs to be touched or improved on, or learn new things.
“We got guys showing up to practice consistently; they’re wanting to learn, wanting to play, wanting to come hang out with all the other guys, build those connections, and just having fun playing frisbee,” Subpar’s president Ethan Winkelman said.
In a way, this first tournament is seen as another chance to practice and improve the team’s skills and chemistry, especially since their main season isn’t until spring.
“With any sports or anything that you do, your first time is not going to be perfect, and so it’s just getting us into an actual game setting and not just a scrimmage where you know everybody on the other team and everything,” Winkelman said. “You’re actually playing for something. You’re playing to win instead of just ‘oh, if we lose, it’s not that big of a deal…’ It’s more of just seeing how we play together.”
Despite it not being long since their practices started, their bonds and teamwork have already grown exponentially.
“It’s just a great group of guys that are a lot of fun to hang out with,” Winkelman said. “It’s basically like another family. We’re just trying to get anybody who wants to join Ultimate or who has already joined Ultimate to include them in that family because. This group of guys is great, and I wouldn’t want to play frisbee with anybody else.”
