Ultimate Frisbee

It is unbelievable to think that such a massive part of my life once meant so little to me. Playing ultimate frisbee is a hobby of mine, but I would argue it is even more than that. The significance of ultimate frisbee in my life is almost frightening. Ultimate frisbee is what gets me up in the morning, and it's on my mind even as I fall asleep. I was introduced to ultimate frisbee in elementary school, but it took me couple years, and the help of some friends, for me to truly fall in love with the sport. Two years ago, when I was in the eighth grade, my friends and I tried out for Sutherland's ultimate frisbee team. To say the tryout was an eye opener would be an understatement. There were over seventy people trying out for the junior team; however, that wasn't the shocking part. My friends and I were shocked at the calibre of the players; they could do things we had never seen before, and were more athletic than we could have ever believed. Up until that tryout, I had never thought that people took ultimate frisbee as seriously as any other sport. I never realized that people trained for ultimate frisbee; I never realized that people flew to other continents just to compete.

I didn't make the ultimate frisbee team that year, and just like that my ultimate frisbee journey had almost ended before it even began. Three months later, in mid May 2018, my friends and I made a tiny decision that would change the next 2 years of my life. None of us got onto Sutherland's ultimate frisbee team, but we heard about a tryout a couple blocks away from the school for a summer team named "Wildfire". I was hesitant to tryout, but my friends convinced me that it would be fun to tryout together, and, "What's the worst that could happen?" After two grueling tryouts, we had all earned a spot on that team. That summer, our love for ultimate took off. practices were held only two blocks away from my house, but we played in regional tournaments all across Vancouver. The feeling of sitting down and eating a snack after playing in an ultimate tournament for the past six hours is a feeling that cannot be described in mere words. That summer, I met some incredible people through ultimate, and made some of my closest friends.

In spring of 2019, I played on Sutherland's ultimate frisbee team. My close friends and I had so much fun in the summer that we convinced even more of our friends to play. As summer 2019 neared, I decided to try out for the touring ultimate team named "Bonfire." I became one of the youngest members on that team, and in August I went to the Canadian Ultimate Championship in Edmonton, Alberta. At the Canadian Ultimate Championships, I learned that "Bonfire" was more than a silly ultimate team: these people were my family. The players bonded like brothers, and after battling against the best athletes in Canada day in and day out, we learned to rely on each other; we learned to trust each other. Our team not only bonded together, but we bonded with other teams. We bonded with people who lived across the country. In Edmonton, I started to understand that ultimate frisbee meant more than just a hobby or sport.

After only two years of playing ultimate, I don't know how I would live without it. I'm not sure what my friends and I would do on sunny days at lunch. I am past the point of just playing to have fun. I want to be constantly improving. I need to be better than I was yesterday. Even in the off-season, I train four hours every weekend, and spend 2 hours in traffic trying to get to and from Vancouver. In November, I attended my first Team Canada tryout. It was a challenging four hours, and I didn't make the team; however, even as the youngest player there, I felt like I belonged. As I age, people will tell me that I cant play ultimate frisbee forever; I'll look those people in the eye and I'll say, "Watch me."