When Sabrina Morris showed up on campus in the fall of 2020, amid a pandemic that reshaped the sports world, she did not know all that competitive ultimate frisbee entailed. The freshman psychology major had played pickup games in high school. Until a friend invited her to frisbee practice during her first spring semester, she had no clue that organized frisbee had positions and established plays.
Although the pandemic meant the women’s ultimate frisbee team, called Westwind, was not allowed to play tournaments, she continued to practice with the team. That hard work paid off the following year, when the team made it to the national championship in California. As she wraps up her fifth season with the team as a graduate student studying marriage and family therapy, she said the team has been like a family to her.
“This is a welcoming group. This is a fun place to grow. A lot of my very close friendships are because of frisbee,” she said.
The men’s ultimate frisbee team was founded in 2002, and the women’s ultimate frisbee team was established shortly after. Morris said the men’s and women’s teams together form “Shagon,” a cross between a shark and a dragon, which has existed for several years.
The team has experienced fluctuations in the amount of players on its roster, and currently has eight consistent members. “The women’s team has had random periods where we’re really big, and then we’re really small because we lose a lot of people when they graduate,” said Morris.
Abby Karls, junior math and secondary education major and co-captain of the team, had only played ultimate frisbee with her youth group before coming to Wheaton. She met a player on the men’s team at Passage her freshman year, who then told her about the women’s team.
“He connected me with some of the female captains and I showed up to practice and have loved it ever since,”she said.
Senior economics major Caroline Hanna serves as the team’s other co-captain. She had played ultimate frisbee in gym class before, but it was not until she met the then-captain in her statistics class that she considered competing more seriously.
The team usually practices for about two hours on three days a week on Lawson field, located a block north of Fischer Hall, and moves indoors to Chrouser sports complex during the winter. During the regular season, they typically play two to three tournaments of four games each a semester, with the chance to go to regional tournaments and then nationals.
During these tournaments, the team plays other Division III schools, usually club teams, such as Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and North Park University in Chicago. They have also played in open tournaments, in which a team from any division can compete.
“In the frisbee world, we’re playing big-name schools, but we’re often at similar levels, which is interesting,” said Karls.
Although they only need frisbees and cones to play, the team recently changed the way their finances are managed, transferring funds over to a school account rather than their personal bank accounts.
“It wasn’t super difficult once we figured out the system, but it’s been an adjustment this year,” said Hanna.
The team also continues to be financed through team dues, where players chip in to help cover the costs of tournaments and gear, which the co-captains try to keep to a minimum. During the annual Wheaton Gives fundraiser event in 2024, in which students can nominate a Wheaton club to win extra funding, Westwind secured additional funding by winning second place in the club category. “It’s been cool seeing different ways that we’ve been able to raise resources so that we’re not having as big of a cost for individual players,” said Karls.
Going into this season, Karls and Hanna talked about having it be a season of growth. “We’re focusing a little less on the actual performance of the sport and more on the team community and culture,” said Hanna. “It’s been a place where I think a lot of girls who have maybe struggled with finding friends or struggled finding their group at Wheaton have really found their place here.”
Morris emphasized the tight-knit nature of the team, regardless of skill level. “If you’ve never picked up a frisbee or if you’ve played for years, the sport is such a beautiful way to step in to a community,” she said.
In addition to growing the quality of the team’s community, the co-captains have been excited about the opportunity to grow the size of the team, in part through campus advertising. “We have had a lot of recent interest since we’ve put up posters. It’s been really exciting to see some new freshmen interested in the team. And we even have a new junior recruit,” said Karls.
The co-captains see team dinners, which take place after practice, as a vital part of building community. They have hosted movie nights, and their tournaments also help them bond as a team, through driving together and grabbing dinner on the way back.
Another important aspect of the team’s community is Thursday morning prayer, which is led by one of the team members. “One of the girls on the team started last year and has carried it through,” said Hanna.
Playing her final season with the team, Morris says her teammates have become some of her closest friends. “We hang out outside of frisbee, we throw birthday parties for each other,” she said. “My hope for the rest of this year and the years to come would be focusing on that community, as we have in years past.”
She has played with the team under several different captains but noted the leadership has always been strong, regardless of how big the team is or who was leading it. “Everyone has something to contribute, in one way, shape or form,” she said.
Morris was playing with the team when both Karls and Hanna first joined Westwind and said it has been a joy to watch them serve as co-captains. “Watching how they have grown into their leadership role and how they were fit for it from the start… it’s really beautiful to be a part of and to be able to call them my friends.”
