As the girls’ ultimate team prepares for the start of the spring season, it’s been focused on recruiting new members. After a large number of seniors graduated last year, according to senior and captain Tashia Johannes, they are hoping to encourage underclassmen to join.

“We have been trying to do a whole bunch of different recruitment things,” Johannes said. “One thing that we did this year that was new was we went to the freshman gym classes and presented about it there. We figured that it would be a good way to reach out to underclassmen since most of our team is upperclassmen right now,”

Junior captain Molly Horstman-Olson said she hopes to continue to bring in members and introduce them to the sport she loves. 

“I really want to get more recruitment and get more girls to join the team because our numbers are a little thin right now,” Horstman-Olson said. “It is a wonderful sport and a great community. I really want to be able to show that and for other people to have that same experience in the same welcoming and amazing community that I had freshman year when I first joined the team.”

Even in the winter, Johannes said the team is holding Friday Frisbee to connect the team and will be looking into even more opportunities for team bonding as they approach the season. 

“We do try to usually do a team bonding event, we will try it to make sure whatever we’re doing is COVID safe, of course, with all the cases. And then we also start our pre-season practices in January, right after winter break,” Johannes said. 

According to junior Rachel Katzovitz, ultimate has provided her with unique experiences that she hopes to share with new members. 

“When I finally joined ultimate in the spring of last year, it was almost a completely different environment from my other sports because everyone was so welcoming,” Katzovitz said. “Truly when you go to practice it doesn’t feel like you’re going to practice it feels like you’re going to hang out with friends. It makes it so much more fun to play the sport and learn the sport with other people — it’s so welcoming, inviting, fun and just a great environment.”  

As the spring season comes closer, Horstman-Olson said the team is welcoming to any new members, regardless of commitment level. 

“It’s definitely a unique sport in my mind, because you don’t necessarily have to be great at it to enjoy it, and have fun,” Horstman-Olson said. “It’s really a good sport for the new people to try because you can just come and everyone will be willing to help you.”