I get really excited about things every once in a while. When that happens, I make things happen. Right now, I am very excited. I have plans, I am preparing, and planning; Trying not to get ahead of myself like I always do when I get excited. This post is premature but I can’t resist.
Ultimate is a passion of mine. It is a sport that brings together a very high level of athletic competition and a great community of players off the field. Without one of the two it wouldn’t be the same, ultimate would not be ultimate and I would not have fallen in love with this sport.
My excitement comes from the ways in which I can advance the community and competition which effectively compose the sport of ultimate. I reside in Columbia Missouri, where I got my ultimate start and have since continued to play. It is this community that I want to begin with, where a good portion of my motivation comes from.
We need to rekindle the community bring our game back to life! How? Those are my plans that aren’t ready yet but that is my goal. The return of this community would be a huge boon for ultimate in the surrounding area. I see an unprecedented (to my knowledge) opportunity at this time. We know ultimate is lurking in the shadows around our town. Every year we see teams emerge from the woodwork to compete in the Show Me State games (Including a juniors team with never before seen players!). Our Mizzou Men’s team is on the verge of breaking back into the truly competitive arena building off the hard work of Alumns of our program. And the community is quietly but discernibly snoring, not dead, but waiting to be awakened.
If you don’t know:
Our Mizzou women’s team is struggling to gain footing. I see a new group of freshmen women who bring more amazing people into the community; A group I see as poised to form that core necessary to build a good program and bring the women’s team back to life. You need to know this young players, you can make your tradition as great as you want to, and I expect to see a lot come from you.
The Men’s team consists of some of the most amazing players I have experienced, both athletically and spirited. We are a team of athletes and win with that mentality. Vets, whether we know it or not, we are actively building and improving our program with every email we send. Rookies, whether you know it or not you are the most important aspect of our program and you bring the future of our program closer with tournament you attend and every practice you come to.
The community is the quietest I have ever seen it. When I first came out I walked onto Epple with snow on the ground and a group of crazy people bundled up running around and throwing a disc. Those players still exist but in the shadows. 573? I want a club team.
So why is this? Why are all these groups so poised to blossom yet don’t? Community, lets fix that.
All three of these groups tie into each other, feed off each other. The main relation I am certain of is how our college teams can feed off the community. The community can offer our teams experience and leadership we otherwise have no access to, and that is something i see a need for, some experience to take our athletic game to the next level.
How? I’m thinking. Start thinking.
My thoughts don’t stop there. The college Ozark Section. We have a love hate relationship with these teams. They are our rivals on the field, but still we love the players who score on us. The Ozark Section came together to watch Harding face off North Texas at regionals. It was a sight, the cheer, that certainly exemplifies the level of community this sport can display. I love this. I know our freshmen that weekend saw that game and cheered along with us and thought about how awesome this sport is. More strength for our teams. I know Harding played their hearts out with all eyes on them. More strength for our section. I know that cheer let me see just how great this sport was yet again. I am thinking about how we can increase communication, banter and the friendships we make, and involvement in our section, not just our communities.
To sum up.
All of this isn’t something I expect to do myself. All I can do is build frameworks that allow the members of the community to make their impact.
I want to do so in two areas: the community and the competition.
I see a need for better communication flow, allowing people to easily get involved in the community (college, open and pickup) and extend the realm of community beyond the city we live in.
I see a need to rekindle the game in Columbia Ultimate and effectively build the competitive level of our community and our college teams.
But all of this is premature as I said. It is all hopes and dreams, I know this, but they aren’t empty, details are coming. They are the first step. I am excited, switching between typing this and emails and forum posts. The ball is rolling, just a little bit.
See this as a call: if you have input offer it; Offer your advice and services, ideas and excitement. Leave me comments, email me. Roll the ball.
