Gung-Ho, the Northwestern women’s club ultimate Frisbee team, had high expectations heading into the Great Lakes Regional tournament on April 26. Considering how well they did the year before, finishing fifth at the UPA Ultimate College Championships, they thought they would repeat their past success.
But NU’s youth and the absence of key players caught up with the team as it lost to the University of Illinois and Loyola-Chicago in this year’s regional tournament.
“We just weren’t mentally there,” sophomore Afsaneh Talai said. “It’s not good for a team to live in the past. But it was hard for our young team to get to that intensity. Although they went from ground zero – they barely knew each other – to working together for a common goal.”
Gung-Ho’s optimism and unwillingness to accept defeat was understandable after such a remarkable season.
The team walked into last year’s regional tournament and stunned heavily favored rival, Michigan, advancing to nationals as the No. 16 seed – the lowest-ranked seed.
As an underdog yet again, NU surprisingly won its pool to advance to the quarterfinals. Nevertheless Gung-Ho finished fifth in the nation with a 15-13 loss to the University of British Columbia.
“We are a seriously competitive team that can hopefully stay competitive for the next couple of years,” senior Sarah Kong, a former captain, said. “After (last year’s success), I don’t see us falling backwards again.”
The success came from the team’s commitment to excellence in the fall in the winter. After recruiting “rookies” – any player, regardless of age, who is new to the squad in the fall – Gung-Ho practices three times a week during the winter for three hours.
The players work on their strength and conditioning outside of practice. They expect each other to toss a Frisbee on a daily basis, especially new players so that they can get to the veterans’ level.
“Last year, I noticed a big difference from my first two years on the team,” Kong said. “We stepped it up in practice, which set the tone.”
This season Gung-Ho had a harder time sneaking up on their opponents. NU needed to rebuild after 13 players graduated from last season’s team.
Due to Gung-Ho’s recent success, and the rising popularity of the sport, they attracted nearly 30 new players in the beginning of the season. They filled that vacancy with 13 rookies, joining the 15 returning players on the roster.
With nearly half the roster inexperienced at the club level, many on the team had some catching up to do.
“This year was like a rebuilding year,” freshman Sarah Hong said. “I got to learn the level of intensity this game should be played at. At the sectional tournament, it was the first time the rookies played on the strongest team possible. We realized what it was all about.”
But because of the team’s youth, and the challenge of learning the intensity and competitiveness of the sport, Gung-Ho could not repeat last season’s success.
With added experience, the team expects to turn heads again next season.
“Our team has a strong junior and sophomore class going into next year,” Talai said. “Our rivals, Illinois and Michigan, have something to look out for.”
