For many summers now, Shannon McFarland(11) and Kristen Martin(11) have attended a week long summer camp through their church. It is from this camp that they found the inspiration for starting a new spring sport at OHS: Ultimate Frisbee.

The two juniors both enjoy Ultimate at camp and found out a lot of their fellow campers played in clubs and leagues at their schools. McFarland was not only influenced by other frisbee players, but by a fundraiser project she organized in Honors English II.

“Kids at camp really inspired us because many of them started the programs in their school,” Martin said.

Getting the team started was easier than many people would think. The girls just had to find a teacher sponsor, fill out some paperwork, and get enough people to say they were interested in joining the team.

The first teacher they approached was Mrs. Anne Hodges, whose class was part of their inspiration for starting the team. Unfortunately, Hodges moved out of OHS at the beginning of the year, and McFarland and Martin had to start over in their search.

“We were disappointed about Hodges leaving, but in the Prowl I saw the piece about new teachers and noticed one listed Ultimate Frisbee as an interested,” McFarland said.

That teacher is Mr. Brett Wildhaber, who not only enjoys frisbee but has extensive experience with it.

“I played Ultimate Frisbee in high school and with my fraternity in college,” Wildhaber said when asked if he is comfortable with the sport.

McFarland described getting Wildhaber as a sponsor was luck and he said it was a big surprise. The hardest part of starting this team is finding people to sign up and finding a time and place to practice.  The three are using word of mouth to spread the news about the sport and are all excited for the many possibilities Ultimate Frisbee offers.

Ultimate Frisbee will be a club sport which means there will be no cuts and it will be player funded. So check out this new sport, coming in the spring!