The University of Memphis ultimate frisbee team has begun recruiting players for the fall and is welcoming any interested student to join the team.
Memphis Bluff Ultimate captain and president Tommy Merrill, a 22-year-old health studies major, said the team is working hard to promote itself among students this year. He said the team had about 14 players last year, and he said he hopes to make the roster larger this year.
“Right now, we’re just looking to grow and get our name out there,” Merrill said. “It’s not just Memphis [students] right now. We’re allowed to have other students from other colleges. We’ve got, like, two or three people from CBU, we’ve got maybe one or two people from Rhodes every now and then, and the rest are U of M students.”
Merrill said there are not any requirements students need to meet to join the team. He said joining the team is a great way to make connections and bond with other students.
“For people who don’t have the time or money to do Greek life, we are our own fraternity,” Merrill said. “You build that sense of connection with the team that you would get from being in a fraternity or a sorority.”
Memphis Bluff Ultimate scrimmaged with Rhodes College two weeks ago, which Merrill said the team traditionally does before playing in a tournament. Merrill said Memphis won with an estimated score of 13-4.
“We’re going to Cowbell Classic, which is a tournament in Oxford, Mississippi, here in a couple weeks,” said vice president Rowan Lumb, a 24-year-old mechanical engineering major. “Usually in the fall semester, we just get people out, bond together as a team, do social events to get people who never played before and show them the basics. Spring semester is where it really picks up.”
Lumb said the team features a couple of female players, and he also said they hope to start a women’s team this year.
“The thing I respect about the frisbee community is it’s very inclusive,” Lumb said. “It’s really about having fun. It gets people involved. A lot of athletes who were high school athletes who aren’t playing college sports. They can come to frisbee and still compete and still have that team aspect and make friends.”
While the team is currently focused on gaining players, Merrill said the team’s five-year plan is to compete in sectionals. Their seven-year plan is competing at regionals, which is the next step above, and then in 10 years, Merrill said he hopes the team will compete in nationals.
The team has been promoting itself on social media platforms, including Facebook as University of Memphis BLUFF Ultimate, Instagram as @bluff_ultimate, Twitter as @bluffultimate and even on Tinder as well.
“We have a Tinder account that we’ve just been like, ‘Alright, let’s see how this works,’” Merrill said. “We have gotten a few matches, but the guys don’t want to respond to us, you know?”
Memphis Bluff Ultimate practices on Memorial Field from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday. Students who would like to join the team are invited to come to practice.
