A group of female students gathered on a Tuesday night at the SRC field on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. They were there to hustle and show they have what it takes to be a part of Caliente, ASU’s Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team.
Journalism senior Kaetlynn Daoust, 21, has been with Caliente since her freshman year when the team was started.
She remembers picking up a flyer promoting the men’s Frisbee team at Passport to ASU. One of the guys on the team told her there was a women’s team starting up.
“I went out for practices and I fell in love,” Daoust said. “Ultimate Frisbee is so much fun. It’s a great way to keep in shape and you meet really cool people.”
To many who play Ultimate Frisbee, a big part of the game is respecting teammates and opponents. This respect is often described as the “spirit of the game.”
“Be competitive but also respect the other players,” Daoust said. “It has become a really big part of my life and now I also play for the Phoenix competitive team called Spitfire and it’s really fun.”
19-year-old junior Mary Erklauer is entering her third year on the team. She also believes in the “spirit of the game.”
“Ultimate has always had this atmosphere of just being really relaxed and the people are really cool and friendly,” Erklauer said. “The ‘spirit of the game’ basically embodies that whole atmosphere. It’s all about being respectful towards one another while still having a really fun time playing.”
The team gets to display this spirit as they travel to tournaments in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and all over Arizona. At the California, Colorado and Nevada tournaments they encounter teams from all over the United States.
Sophomore Shelby Leach, 19, is a biology major who said she enjoys going to the tournaments the most.
“I like meeting girls from different states and different teams,” Leach said. “And just being able to hang out with my teammates outside of Frisbee is really cool.”
Last year ended up being a successful season for the team. They made it to regionals for the first time since the team’s inception.
The determining game in the last bid to make it to regionals was what Daoust described as a “crazy game.”
“We went point for point the entire game with NAU,” Daoust said. “I think we were tied at 10. It was the next point that won and we scored. It was absolutely incredible.”
The victory was an emotional one for the team, especially for the players who had been there since the first year. Daoust admitted she and her co-captain at the time, Erin Donahue, both cried tears of joy.
The team did not do as well as they would have liked to at regionals. This year, their goal is to go back and win some games there.
Caliente is expected to get stronger because of the large turnout of girls they have seen so far.
Daoust estimated that about 50 girls have shown up at each practice.
If this large turnout stays consistent, it will allow the Caliente to have an “A team” and a “B team.”
This year’s team will be coached by John Eric Francisco. The team calls him “Cisco” for short. He also plays for Sprawl, a men’s competitive Ultimate Frisbee team in the Phoenix area.
Caliente’s practices are held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 p.m. till 10:30 p.m.
Daoust and Erklauer believe the club fee this year will be about $40 to cover the cost of new jerseys. Each player is also required to pay a $25 SRC fee each semester for using the field.
“I really encourage people to look into Ultimate because it is a very fun sport and there are opportunities to play all over the place,” Daoust said. “Get out there, grab a Frisbee and try it out. It could be what you were looking for all along like it was for me.”
If you’re interested in joining the team, e-mail Daoust at kdaoust@asu.edu.
I’m Jose Zavala, and I’m here to tell the untold stories of ASU sports teams, clubs and athletes. Did you know ASU has a bowling club? Did you know we have both a fencing and curling club? While I’ve played and been a fan of baseball, basketball and football, I’ve always been drawn to stories about athletes and teams that receive little media coverage, yet still put in a tremendous amount of work in the pursuit of greatness. Get in the huddle. Reach me at jlzavala@asu.edu.
