The MSU Ultimate Frisbee team is hitting its stride in an attempt to top their 2012 campaign, which resulted in a 17th place finish at Nationals, an end of the year tournament for ultimate frisbee.
But for the Ultimate Frisbee players at MSU, strategy is key. Michael Giles, a fifth-year senior and two-year captain for the team, knows the ins and outs of the game better than anyone.
“I was captain last year, and last year we had more of a coach, and he kinda took the lead role,” Giles said. “I’m kinda taking up the reigns as the main field general on the team, so I’m in charge of all the strategy.”
Giles is looking to be a catalyst for MSU as they make their way back to the top of the Great Lakes region. The team has talent, and being one of the chosen leaders of the team, Giles has formed a strong bond with many of the teammates who look up to him.
“In terms of actually being elected, it’s all about just building relationships and having the trust of your teammates, and also being a big part of the team on the field,” Giles said.
The positions in Ultimate Frisbee resemble that of football. Giles, who is an offensive line cutter, said his position resembles that of a wide receiver. Handlers, or the throwers of the disc, would be the “quarterbacks”.
Jay Andreani, a general management senior and fellow captain, is one of the most versatile players on the team. He has big roles as both an offensive and defensive player, and despite the high amount of responsibility and workload, Andreani does everything he can to help lead his team to victory.
“My main job is to get open down the field, catch the disc, get it back to the guys who throw it more and then go back to cutting.” Andreani said. “On defense especially, my job is also to guard those guys downfield and take away what I want.”
For those who don’t believe frisbee is taken seriously, or that it is just a fun activity to pass the time, Andreani has a different opinion.
“It’s not what people think when they think of disc golf where it’s a lot more just go out and have fun,” Andreani said. “It’s a real sport. We practice as much as we can being a club sport and having players who are doing totally different things in their life.”
And just like any other collegiate sport at MSU, the bad blood between rival schools is always at a boiling point.
“In the Big Ten and in our region, it gets very competitive,” Andreani said. “The rivalry between us and Michigan is pretty intense, it’s gone on for years back and forth trying to win our region.”
For the MSU ultimate team, the competitive nature comes natural. However, the men know how to keep it light, even having animal nicknames for each player, which can be seen on their club website
“The best thing about it is that while we are very competitive and work very hard, we also can have a lot of fun with it,” Andreani said. “We know at the end of the day we’re throwing around a ten dollar piece of plastic. We know how to have fun but we really do work hard and try to win.”
According to the USA Ultimate website, MSU currently sits at 10-11, and is ranked 99th nationally.
