Marquette women’s club Ultimate Frisbee team Moxie Ultimate is flying high in spring tournaments as the popularity of the sport continues to grow.
Grace Zucchero, a junior in the College of Nursing and team captain, said she was proud of her team for the effort they displayed in the Illinois Invite March 26-27.
“Our team has not won a tournament in a long time so it was a big accomplishment to win in Illinois,” Zucchero said.
MJ Watson, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said she played the sport before coming to Marquette.
“I played in high school and my dad played when he was in college so it runs in the family and I am excited to continue the tradition playing for Marquette.” Watson said.
Zucchero said that athletes do not usually start playing Ultimate, but come from other sports.
“I was athletic and played many sports growing up, but nothing stuck until I started playing Ultimate,” Zucchero said. “No one really starts playing when they’re young. It’s something that you start when you’re older. It’s a unique sport because it combines multiple sports.”
In addition to playing the sport, several team members pointed out various aspects of the club and why they joined.
“Moxie is a big family, our motto is ‘trust, resolve, passion,'” Watson said. “The passion is really there for everyone, and it’s not just for Ultimate, it’s also the people that are on the team, we all care about each other and are invested in each other’s lives.”
Mackenzie Stack, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said sportsmanship is a big part of the club and drew her to the sport.
“After learning about Ultimate Frisbee and the emphasis on teamwork, community, spirit of the game and sportsmanship, I felt like it was the right team environment for me,” Stack said.
Olivia Casper, a first-year student in the College of Health Sciences, said that the sport is more than just physicality, it is creative too.
“A lot of Frisbee teams have unique names, we played a team called Women Scorned, I think that’s from poetry. It’s not unusual for teams to have weird names,” Casper said.
Zucchero said the club offers individual teams for men’s and women’s in addition to a combined team for specific tournaments and they have their own unique names.
“The women’s team is named Moxie Ultimate and the men’s have an A and B team named Birdhouse and Birdfeeder and when we combine we are called Moxie House,” Zucchero said.
Casper said that the pace of play varies between each team.
“It is a different game between men and women because the men train for a faster pace game while we train for a slower pace game but emphasize the technical skills,” Casper said.
Stack said the difference between the men’s and women’s teams is strategy; the men’s team goes for longer and deeper passes while the women’s team focuses on short, faster passes.
Although there’s differences between the two teams, Watson said that practicing together is vital to the women’s team’s growth.
“It’s unique to see the different things that you can learn from their (mens) styles of play,” Watson said.
Watson broke down the basics of the sport.
“There are seven people on a team; three handlers and four cutters,” Watson said. “The handler throws it to the cutter in 10 seconds or less. The goal is to score by catching the disc in the end zone.”
There is no set time for a match, letting teams decide how many points to play for the win.
“It can last an hour or more. It is like soccer because the game clock never stops and the players on the field cannot sub out until a point is scored,” Casper said.
Watson differentiates Ultimate Frisbee from other sports because it is a self-regulated game by the players themselves.
“You’d think people would try to cheat their way through because there’s no ref to call anything but the teams that we’ve played have cared about the game and wouldn’t make bogus calls,” Watson said.
Stack said this aspect of Ultimate Frisbee speaks to the importance of players’ characters during the game.
“When a call is made, there’s a discussion about it and you can either contest the call or accept it. Calls happen on both sides so you have to work together like a democracy so sportsmanship is very important,” Stack said.
Inclusivity is a goal on campus and it is important to the Ultimate Frisbee Club.
“While there is a men’s and women’s club team as well as the occasional combined team, the club allows anyone to play regardless of how someone identifies,” Zucchero said.
Casper said Ultimate Frisbee looks to continue to grow and on its wins and represent Marquette.
“It’s not as big of a commitment as some other clubs but it is a good balance of competitiveness and having fun. We look forward to building from our recent tournament win,” Casper said.
This story was written by Catherine Fink. She can be reached at [email protected].