As best friends and captains of the boys’ ultimate team, juniors Erik Haroldson and Jacob Raatz said they share a love for ultimate that allows them to be successful leaders.

Raatz said his close relationship with Haroldson allows practice to run smoothly.

“We are very close friends so a lot of the time it is very easy for us to work together and manage things individually in practice,” Raatz said. “It is very easy for us to cooperate and manage the team together. It helps that we have such a close bond.”

Boys’ ultimate head coach Marc Pedone said friendship benefits the team members and allows them to communicate effectively.

“Friendship is very key in a lot of different sports, even more so in ultimate,” Pedone said. “You should be able to go to your friends with any issues in life and in ultimate you can go to them with issues you have on the field or with the team. That openness with each other really allows you to communicate effectively.”

According to Haroldson, he and Raatz are successful as captains because they appreciate and enjoy the sport.

“(Captains) need to love the sport. Ultimate is our life; look on (Raatz’s) Instagram and there are pictures of him eating his food off of Frisbees. We love the sport; we have a great time,” Haroldson said.

Haroldson said he enjoys ultimate because of the laid-back team atmosphere during practice.

“(Ultimate) is so chill compared to other sports. Some sports you show up and the coach is screaming all of the time, but ultimate you show up and you just hang out with your friends,” Haroldson said.

Raatz said as captains, he and Haroldson possess leadership skills that complement each other.

“Erik is a very strong leader,” Raatz said. “If it is something he is passionate about, which is ultimate, he won’t be afraid to let you know what he wants to see you do. That is something I really admire about him because sometimes I get a little lazy.”

According to Haroldson, building the team presents a challenge, especially after several seniors graduated last year.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get a group of guys to stay committed to the team. It’s a new team; we have no seniors, almost,” Haroldson said.

Pedone said the captains work effectively because they have developed their skills together and learned to love the sport.

“(The captains) work well together. They all started their careers in ultimate at the same time. They’ve grown up in the sport together,” Pedone said. “They are all very hungry to be better, not only as an individual but as a team.

Raatz said he and Haroldson are constantly considering their own room for improvement and leading the team to help it become better.

“Knowing that we as captains also have room to improve, not that we are at the best we can be but that we are improving along with the team,” Raatz said. “We are willing to put in the time so that we can get better at what we do and that (the team) can do that too.”