Artemis wins local tournament

Lewis & Clark’s Women Ultimate Frisbee Team, Artemis, had a successful home tournament on Nov. 5. LC played Reed College, University of Portland and Portland State and won all three games. To accommodate limited field time and space, each game was an hour long instead of capping them at the standard 13 points or 90 minutes. The Ultimate Frisbee team has around 30 players, which is one of the biggest it has ever been.

The sport of frisbee has end zones as in football. The goal is to catch the Frisbee disc in the opposing team’s end zone. Players are not allowed to run with the disc; thus there is a lot of passing. Turnovers happen whenever the disc hits the ground.

The team captains are Liza Bock ’17, Dorcy Jaffray ’17 and Ruby Holman ’19. The team practices three times a week, usually twice on the weekdays in the early morning and once on the weekend. In addition to their big win last weekend, Artemis won five out of seven of their games during their first tournament in Corvallis early October 2016.

According to Bock, being captain is a lot of work. She sometimes describes it as her hardest class this semester. Nevertheless, Bock enjoys the exciting and memorable Frisbee culture. She appreciates how Frisbee players generally know how to maintain a very competitive environment on the field balanced with a friendly atmosphere off the field.

“Frisbee fits my personal style of competitiveness in that I really enjoy being intense on the field, and I like to keep those feelings there,” Bock said. “It is a sport that really values spirit of the game and being friendly with your opponents. [As captain,] it is incredibly rewarding to see how much new players are improving and how much fun everyone has at tournaments once all the planning and logistics are over and we’re finally there playing.”

Jaffray takes pleasure in the community Frisbee offers. Players have the opportunity to bond with students not only at LC, but also with other colleges throughout the Pacific Northwest.

“[As captain, I am] able to advocate for the team,” Jaffray said. “Artemis has always been extremely important to me and it is a massive honor to be one of the leaders of this amazing group of humans this year. Being able to foster a strong community, both on and off the field, is my favorite part. I love seeing everyone become friends and [support one another]. It means so much to me to be able to have even a small part in that.”

The Frisbee community really stands out as a place for companionship and sportsmanship for Holman as well.

“We support each other on and off the field in all aspects of life,” Holman said. “I feel super blessed to have these girls in my life knowing that they always have my back. Being captain is a really humbling experience. I feel really honored to be chosen by my teammates to be someone who represents this amazing team that we all love.”

Team player Dani Witt ’19 also enjoys the team spirit of Frisbee. She values learning new skills, too, as she has never played Frisbee until this year.

“One thing that is unusual is that there are no refs in Ultimate Frisbee,” Witt said. “We have to call fouls ourselves and be honest about it. It is good that most people are.”

For player Rebecca Yant ’19, Ultimate Frisbee can be as chill or as intense as you would like it to be.

“Playing on a team of amazing women gave me a solid group of friends to start college with and I love how it forces me to exercise,” Yant said. “Ultimate Frisbee is also somewhat new of a sport and has been pioneered by college students, so it is also fun to be a part of the larger community of Ultimate Frisbee Players.”