As the ultimate frisbee season started up this year, I was debating about joining. Ever since freshman year, I’ve been eager to be a part of the team; however, soccer has held me back from playing. 

Freshman through junior year, I always regretted not joining ultimate. I’ve been envious of others playing since they got the opportunity to play. Even though I had to stop playing, there was always something inside that wanted to still play ultimate. 

With the circumstance of COVID-19, my other responsibilities were less demanding and since it’s my senior year, it was the right time to finally play frisbee.

Compared to playing soccer, ultimate is a completely different experience on and off the field. The concepts of both sports are similar because we’re cutting all the time and making runs, but the environment of frisbee is positive and laid-back. Everyone is supportive of one another, even players from the opposing team. For example, if the other team scores a point on us, we congratulate them. I have never experienced this once in soccer, so it was a bit of a surprise to me when people were congratulating my team on winning the point. It creates a positive culture that includes everyone no matter what. 

Balancing both sports can be a bit tricky and sometimes the schedules conflict with each other, but somehow I make it work. Having the chance to do ultimate during my senior year has been the best choice. Throughout the season, I’ve met so many new people and reconnected with a lot of players from the team. It’s also been fun learning how to play and trying something different. Branching out helped me step out of my comfort zone.  

Although I love playing, sometimes it’s hard to have the motivation to go to both practices. Practicing for three and half hours a day can be exhausting and I usually don’t get home until 9 p.m. Getting my school work done can be a struggle, especially if I’m tired from a long day of school and sports. I solved this by doing most of my work at school so I don’t have a lot to do late at night. 

Even though the sports are complete opposites, I love the adrenaline from soccer and how easygoing ultimate is. Though it was hard to adjust at first, I feel fortunate that I was able to play this year and be a part of the ultimate family.