Elyse Siegel's ultimate experience with Vikes Recreation

March 7, 2024

Hi, my name is Elyse, and I am a student-athlete at the University of Victoria. I am currently in my third year of biology and psychology with a concentration in neuroscience. I play for the Vikes ultimate frisbee club team and am an active member of the Vikes Active Living program through intramurals and a CARSA membership. In my spare time I enjoy hiking, reading, rock climbing, and spending time exploring the great outdoors.

As a busy student, it is nice to use activity to break up my long study days and get moving. Because I’m on campus for the majority of the day, CARSA is a great facility that’s super convenient. Being someone who enjoys weightlifting I’m usually on a lifting platform, but they have a variety of machines and areas for different exercises or workouts.

Being part of intramurals has been a super fun way to meet new people. It’s also a great opportunity to learn a new sport, or play one you’ve already got the hang of. I joined an ultimate frisbee team with a friend at the start of my second year. I knew very little about the sport and having only played like twice ever it was a little intimidating to join a team. Everyone was super friendly and taught me a lot in my first year, and it ended up being a lot of fun, and a good way to destress on a weekday evening. The intramural team I am on now has been so much fun. I’ve made lots of new friends and when we have a game, we really just put our all into having fun, whether we win or lose.

As for the Vikes club team, this is my first year playing with them, and I am so happy I decided to join. With limited experience playing and starting off not that confident in my abilities, everyone was so supportive and willing to help me learn and improve. The team and our wonderful captains and coaches can help teach anyone how to play. If you have a good work ethic and a pair of cleats or running shoes, we encourage everyone to come tryout a practice at the start of a season.

For anyone who doesn’t know what ultimate is, it’s a non-contact, self-refereed sport using a disc. There are seven players from each team and each team has an endzone. The goal is to get the disc into the other team’s endzone to score points by passing the disc up the field to teammates. Because ultimate is a self-refereed sport there is a lot of trust put on players to know the rules and have good sportsmanship and spirit of the game.

Spirit is a huge part of the game and the community of ultimate. I have never played a sport that does such a good job at maintaining a high level of competitiveness as well as mutual respect and fun while playing. While playing in my first tournament, I was surprised to see both teams congratulate each other on scoring or great throws or cuts on the field. It’s a sport that truly feels like everyone is there to have fun in a competitive sport environment. Spirit of the game has been such a great part of the ultimate community as a newbie.

The best part about being on a club team is that 30 strangers at the start of the season become 30 close friends by the end. I’ve truly felt so welcomed and supported by everyone on the team and all those feelings are mutual. Slowly building friendships on the field has also translated off the field, having new friends to hang out with outside of the ultimate world as well.

The practice commitment is three times a week: Wednesdays 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m., Fridays 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., and Sundays 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Those early morning practices can be a struggle to wake up for, but I’m no longer surprised at how much better I usually feel after starting my day with some activity and in good company. Then there are tournaments every so often during a weekend that include travelling, a ton of playtime, and even more team bonding. The Vikes ultimate club is part of USAU league meaning we travel through the US to attend elite level college tournaments. Long car, bus, and plane rides provide a lot of time for team bonding, and multiple games a day leave a ton of room to grow as a player and put strategy into action on the field.

I encourage anyone interested in giving ultimate a try to get in touch with the team and step outside of your comfort zone. Testing out a practice was one of the best decisions I made this year, and I am so happy to be a part of such a great community. There is a women’s matching team as well as an open team so there is space for everyone in the sport. Both teams have a website and an Instagram page where more information is available. If you have any questions feel free to send them an email or send a direct message.