By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Prior to Covid-19 ravaging the area the Holliston Ultimate Frisbee team was thriving. Unfortunately, since the pandemic, numbers have been down for the program. In the past the Panthers were able to field not only a varsity team, but a junior varsity team as well. Nowadays Holliston has not been able to secure the numbers to be able to field more than one team. 

“In general, ultimate frisbee is a small sport on the high school level with every team making the State Tournament,” Holliston Coach Jefferson Wood said. “Not only are there limited number of teams, but they are also on either end of the spectrum - your opponents are extremely better or significantly worse.”

Leading the Panthers into the challenge are senior tri-captains Max Cote, Ethan Umlauf and Liam Jensen. Jefferson is looking for his captains for leadership on the field and expect them to be the head cheerleaders of the squad, in addition to fund raising and providing the communication needed between the players and coaching staff. Cote and Umlauf are both second-year captains and know what they need to bring to the table.

Cote, who has been playing for Jefferson for the past four seasons, was the Panthers MVP last season and the coach is grateful for what he brings to the team.

“We’re lucky to have him; he’s a great athlete that also plays other sports, but it’s ultimate that is his heart and soul,” the Coach said. “Primarily he’s a handler, but he’s an athlete that can do it all. He’s fast and can jump so we like to send him deep as a receiver.”

If the Panther had enough players to run a set offense, Umlauf would definitely be a defensive line captain, but with the team’s lack of numbers he’s the teams deep, deep in a zone defense. Umlauf is Holliston’s last line of defense and it’s his job to make sure that no one gets behind him. According to the Coach, he patrols his area like a shark; unfortunately, he’s had a rough season so far with injuries so he hasn’t been able to play consistently.

The third captain, Liam Jensen, is another athlete that has been with the team since his freshman year. Although an extremely talented handler, Jensen will do what ever is needed for the team to have success.

‘’Liam is a Swiss army knife of a player,” Wood said. “He’s tall and can jump and is our fastest player on the team.”

Some schools are able to field both a boys and girls team, but unfortunately Holliston is not at that luxury and although playing in a boys division, girls are allowed to be part of the team. Last spring the Panthers had three female frisbee players on the team, this year only one graces the roster. 

Penny Durling is not only a wonderful addition to the squad according to the coach, but she is not intimidated in the least by the male athletes.

“Offensively she’s what we call a cutter, but recently we have been running her on defense,” the Holliston Coach said. “She is a very smart player that is able to stick with her offensive counterpart and is able to cover them seamlessly.”

Other members of the Holliston team are seniors Ben Kaufman, Louis Masiello, Hayden Monty, and Jimmy Ryan; juniors Zach Godfrey, Wyatt Listewnik, Ryan Raffi, and Jack Ryan. Sophomores making the squad are Zach Bolton and Kevin Whynot; with Quinne Listewnik as the team’s only freshman player.

Coming into the season each year Wood and his coaching staff’s number one focus is spirit of the game, which is something that is built into the rules of ultimate frisbee. 

“We try to install this into the players right from the start. A lot of the kids are playing ultimate frisbee for the first time when they enter high school,” Wood said. “We’re hoping that they learn all about the sport and can then go off and continue playing the sport in the future whether it be for a club team, at college or just for fun.”

While winning is always a benefit, it is not the bottom line for the Holliston ultimate frisbee team. Wood wants them to learn how to play the game properly, teaching them every aspect of the sport and allowing each and every player learning all positions, not just one.

As a team, he tries to put together a competitive schedule so that the athletes can improve their game each and every day. 

“Winning, especially with such a small team, is not necessarily our top goal,” the Panther coach said. “We would like to make the States with a high seed, but we’ll take whatever they give us and then attempt to break that seed and move deep into the tournament.”