By Mattie Stinson, Stentorian Staff Writer
One sunny afternoon, I was studying on Blawn with some friends when I saw a mysterious group of people gathered on the field across the street. We quickly decided to investigate by asking them what on earth they could be doing on a hot Thursday afternoon. The response: playing ultimate frisbee of course.
The “CornDogs” is NCSSM’s own Ultimate Frisbee team which works in collaboration with the Durham School of the Arts, where the name is a combination of the two mascots (Unicorns and Bulldogs). Through our brief, impromptu interview of the team captains gave us a basic history of the Frisbee space at NCSSM. For the past 20 (ish) years, NCSSM has always had an Ultimate Frisbee team, with the most activity being the five years before Covid. The pandemic hit the frisbee team hard, as it did most things, leading the team to be smaller and lesser known than before. Despite the varying levels of membership, the CornDogs have had a very successful history with them winning States last year.
But we kept on coming back to the same question: why frisbee? Some students choose the sport because they got introduced through friends, which is especially accessible through gender inclusivity as it is a co-ed sport. Others were more interested in the physical activity aspect of it. One of the biggest aspects highlighted was the way that it promotes conflict resolution. Ultimate Frisbee has no referees, meaning that each player gets to make calls on whether or not a rule was broken and then all the players have a chance to agree or not.
“Frisbee is for everyone,” one of the statements frequented by everyone we talked to. Whether it is your first day or 15th year holding a frisbee, the team will take anyone and help them grow to meet their frisbee goals. They have two different teams for different levels and encourage all types of beginners to join. Looking for a community that combines the mental and the physical? Well, do we have a team for you!
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