Five Fridays down, 2 to go until the Championship Tournament. Tensions and excitement rose as senior Ainsley Walter and her team, Whizbang, made their way into the parking lot at Melas Park, home of Prospect’s Ultimate Frisbee Club. With ten fields reserved for competition, thumps of music could be heard in almost every direction, as they prepared for their biggest rival, the Orchachicks.
“It’s an escape on Fridays after school,” Walter said. “You have all of your work throughout the week and it is, you know, stressful from basic school stuff…your classes, your homework, and then Friday you just get to let go [and play] frisbee with your friends. And that’s the only thing that matters, I love it.”
Now in its 21st year, Ultimate Frisbee Club (UFC) is the biggest program in all of District 214, involving 14 teams with just under 300 members, according to one of the founders of UFC and College World Religions teacher John Camardella.
Despite the large number of participants today, the club has been bigger before. In 2019, UFC had a total membership of 319 kids, almost 15 percent of the student body at PHS.
“I don’t know if there’s a better way to start the weekend in the Fall,” Camardella said. “School gets out, you come right out with your friends, it’s nice, it’s beautiful — everyone is from different parts of the school, and they get along. I love it, I think it’s one of the better things Prospect lets me do.”
As a first-year teacher back in 2003, Camardella started the club with two of his students, Ellen Brault and John Van Greem. Camardella spoke of how both of them were always curious about how he stayed in shape when he played college basketball. During the offseason, he told them that he played a lot of Ultimate Frisbee with friends as a way to have fun, but to exercise as well. From that point on, they were hooked on what opportunities frisbee could bring to students at Prospect.
As a result, in the Fall of 2003, Brault, Van Greem, and Camardella were able to establish the club with just 24 students. And as time has gone on, it has grown to be the most popular club to join in the entire district.
One of the most well-known chants and hashtags in all of PHS known as “L.G.K.!” short for “Let’s go Knights!” actually came from a team’s name in UFC: L.G.K. Back in 2011, when L.G.K first joined the club, they would always yell out their team’s name during frisbee matches, in the Underground during football games, and in the halls.
Soon enough, and before anyone could realize, L.G.K. (who had won four straight UFC championships in a row) was hearing the football team and the rest of the Underground yelling “L.G.K.!” back at them.
In the past, there were many co-ed teams which prevented Camardella from establishing two divisions for girls and boys, but that has changed in recent years. Camardella said the best development to the club was the number of all-women’s teams who were interested in joining UFC.
“I think that’s the biggest thing…I think the best part was creating a space where literally everyone could belong,” Camardella said.
As the season has gone on, Camardella has kept an eye on numerous teams that he thinks have a chance to win their division in the Championship Tournament. Looking at the all-girls division, the team that looks the most intriguing is Whizbang.
“… I have been watching Whizbang since they were freshmen; they are positioned to win the women’s title this year, and I know that means a lot to them,” Camardella said.
It is very easy to see why Whizbang are favored to win the women’s division of the Championship Tournament: Walter and her teammates are always cheering each other on.
“My team has great chemistry, I will tell you that,” Walter said. “We are one big happy family. We are always supporting each other, coming up with new plans to knock out other teams, but it’s like we really always come together so close on game day. I love my team.”
One thing many members love about UFC are the power rankings Camardella posts every weekend on social media. Senior Roman Demstrom, a member of the league-best Green Onions, says the power rankings motivate his team to play better, in order to maintain their top spot.
“It really is a little bit more competitive than you would think,” Demstrom said. “You do have to really try, it’s not really something you can just go and mess around with. You have to show up and actually put some effort into it.”
However, Camardella uses a unique strategy to put together his list of the best teams in the club. In order to determine which team he should rank above the other, he writes down the names of two teams, and puts one treat on top of each card, and whichever treat his dog, Marcus Aurelius (named after Camardella’s favorite Roman Emperor), decides to eat, he will rank the “team” his dog chooses over the other.
It is not all about winning, though. Yes, UFC is competitive, but it is also a nice “preview” to Friday Night Football and the rest of the weekend. It is a great way to hang out with friends, while also meeting new people from different grade levels too.
“I’d say it’s different because, yeah like I said it is a little competitive, but it still has that casual feel to it,” Demstrom said. “So, [the way it’s different] is you really do get to enjoy your time playing the sport, and kinda just getting to hang out.”
For Camardella, seeing all of the students in a club he started 21 years ago makes it even better to run. He trusts in everyone involved to be respectful to each other, while also having fun. The atmosphere of UFC is truly a positive experience every student should be involved in.
“I think of it this way: how many clubs could have hundreds and hundreds of teenagers, and never have a problem?” Camardella said. “I think that is proof that you give young people structure, and you give them an opportunity to have a place to belong with some basic rules and responsibilities, they do it.”
