Lion’s Ultimate Frisbee ended their fall season with a bang this year. Coming off a 4-3 season they managed to go undefeated at State and return home as the Division II State Champions. In previous years, the team has played Division I, but they opted to play Division II for the 2019 season. This season brought in a lot of new players, both seniors and underclassmen, giving the coaches a desire to focus on team development and chemistry rather than playing in a more difficult division.
“Although it was DII, [the championship] was still a great understanding of how our coaching staff was and far players have come,” said team captain Logan Ralph.
Ralph has played for the team all four of his years at Littleton. As captain, he took on a greater responsibility for the team, but also gained insight into what made what the big win meant for the team.
“It was a great ending to our season as a whole. All of our new players grew a lot and came a very [long] way…It was an overall good day for everybody just to kind of realize how far they’d come,” said Ralph.
Ralph has dedicated a lot of time to the sport of ultimate frisbee, and would like to see it recognized as that–a sport. The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA), which is charged with regulating high school athletics, lists eighteen official sports. Ultimate frisbee is not one of them. Colorado is not alone in this shortcoming. In fact, nearly three years ago, Vermont became the first state to recognize ultimate frisbee as a varsity sport, and remains the only state to do so.
“I think that anybody who doesn’t think that frisbee is a real sport just because CHSAA doesn’t recognize it is obtuse. It’s ninety to a hundred minutes of running and trying to beat your opponent to a certain position. It’s very intensive.”
Despite not being officially recognized, ultimate frisbee provides the same benefits of any other high school sport, including a sense of community.
“The Lions are just kind of a big family, so everyone is out help each other whether it be through criticism or through other positive methods. We’re just one big family that loves each other.”
All photos credited to Dave Rosenberg
