Ultimate Frisbee at Cathedral has grown into a competitive and character building sport that emphasizes teamwork, respect, and personal development. At Cathedral, the sport first began four years ago, but was initially established in the spring of 2023 in collaboration with Bishop Chartard to form a joint team. It continues to grow both in size and competition as more students join.
Ultimate Frisbee is a new and rising sport that has begun to be implemented in many schools around the nation, especially in college settings. Some students remember playing it in their grade school gym classes, while others recall playing it with their friends at the park or the beach. The sport began with small scrimmages and a few practices throughout the week, but it has continued to grow more competitive throughout the years. The team now participates in tournaments and travels for games, contributing to the growth of the program and the sport in the state of Indiana.
Coached by English educator Irene Wilson, the team has evolved significantly over the years. Wilson said, “One of the biggest things that has been really cool to see is the development of players across four years.”
Starting out the team only had 7–8 members from Cathedral so during games, the team only had 1-2 substitutes, but now the team has grown to having about 25 players with more students coming out and joining in the coming years. With four seniors of the team, their development over the past four years, both athletically and socially, has grown astoundingly.
Cole Laniohan, a senior on the team, has been the Ultimate Frisbee captain for the past 3 years, but has been on the team since his freshman year. As captain, Laniohan has noticed that lots of people initially joining the club may be more inexperienced than those upperclassmen. This observation is something that is kept in mind while Laniohan watches his teammates immerse themselves into the sport and continuously grow in their skills.
Laniohan said, “Just being able to see everybody grow and be able to grow into their role and become a better player and a person overall is just, it’s just so much fun seeing how everybody’s able to take these new experiences of joining Frisbee and learning and embracing them.”
Something that makes ultimate frisbee different from other sports like football and soccer is its strong emphasis on teamwork and respect. As a self-referred sport, players must know the rules well in order to uphold them during games. This requires them to hold not only themselves accountable but also their teammates. “Spirit of the Game” is a core principle of ultimate frisbee.
It is rooted in teamwork and respect to the opposing team, setting the sport apart in a unique way.
Wilson said, “The sport teaches a lot about confidence and courage in voicing something when you see it’s wrong and also lifting each other up along with that. I think that the way Ultimate teaches life skills is really cool because it is essentially built into the actual rules to be a good person, and also with the concept of how to treat other people well.”
Back in the earlier years of Ultimate Frisbee, the team had won no games as the joint club was debuting themselves into the program in Indiana. The new club had a record of 0 – 6, being defeated by all other teams around the state. Through the inspiring coaching of Wilson, Laniohan’s encouragement, and the hard work of the club’s members, their current record for this past tournament is 6 – 0.
Laniohan said, “I was really happy, I was so proud of our team and seeing how everybody is able to grow and be able to have the skill to be able to win in a tournament. I never thought that in my four years I would be able to see that, rather I felt that we had it in the future of our team.”
Senior Brandy Isaro, who has been a classmate of Laniohon for the past 4 years has seen how much Laniohan has grown throughout the years. She praises Lanoihan for his growth throughout his four years at Cathedral which Ultimate can take part credit for.
Isaro said, “I have seen how much Cole has grown as a person thanks to all the things Ultimate Frisbee has shown him to grow into.”
Being as the game of Ultimate is based on good sportsmanship, players build and improve their personal selves. Although it was made clear through the team’s record that their skills in the sport has dramatically improved throughout the years, the team has also grown in their own personal ways.
Faith is present in every club, sport, and activity at Cathedral. Like many other teams, the Ultimate Frisbee team prays at the end of every practice and before every game. This helps players stay focused not only on the competition, but also on their purpose and values, including working to reflect God’s teachings.
Wilson said, “One of the biggest things that has been really cool to see has to be the development of the players across their four years. This is now that I’ve been able to see our freshmen are our seniors. Seeing their development across all four years has been one of the, I think, coolest ways of witnessing the growth of the program.”
Ultimate places a strong emphasis on treating others with respect. While many sports promote similar values, Ultimate takes it a step further because of its self-referred nature. It encourages players to grow not just as athletes, but as individuals.
Wilson said, “I get to see my players grow more into themselves and be more confident and courageous in all these things. That’s one of the reasons why I think it should and will continue moving forward in that it forms good humans through the sport itself.
