Matt Gad – Contributor
The ultimate frisbee club, the SCSU Mighty Hucks, have been pushing through. They are 4-3 right now and recently played a tournament at Connecticut College.
“This is the best we’ve looked in five to six years,” Vice President and co-captain Carter Antaya, a junior, said. “We’ve beaten Central Connecticut State, New Haven, UConn and Sacred Heart and our main season is in the spring.”
Antaya said that this could be the first year in history that the Mighty Hucks qualify for regionals.
“The team is a family and the reason we are doing so well is because there’s truly a bond among the members” he said. “We have fantastic chemistry.”
The club plays in Division I of the Metro East Division of the Hudson Valley Conference.
“Our team chemistry is a big reason for our success this year,” President and co-captain Harrison Stoffel said. “Not only are we having a good time on the field but we all also hang out outside of practice and games.”
Despite him and Antaya being the two lone captains of the team, he said they take “constructive input” from anyone on the team so they can all keep improving.
“I would love to attract some more students to come through and watch our team play during home games,” Stoffel said. “Ultimate is a great spectator sport because it is easy to understand and it’s pretty exciting.”
Scoring and the play in ultimate frisbee is similar to that of football. At the start of a game, each team lines up near their end zones and the defense throws the frisbee to the offense, comparable to a kickoff. But unlike football, each time you score you just get one point.
Also, when you are in possession of the disc, or frisbee, you cannot run with it. There is a 10-second time limit to throw the disc once you gain possession and if you fail to do so it is a turnover. There is also no physical contact allowed in the game; you are just simply playing the frisbee, not the man.
The sport was developed in 1968 in New Jersey and has a large base in the United States.
However, that has not translated to fan support on campus.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a fan base,” Antaya said. “Up until this season ultimate frisbee has been seen as some sort of joke. We’re hoping to gain much more recognition and gain the respect of other club sports teams and sports alike.”
In the spring the Mighty Hucks will play Yale University, UConn and Central Connecticut State before they go to sectionals and attempt to reach nationals. Some of the players on the team had not played frisbee prior to joining the program. The team encourages those who are interested but have no experience to come and learn.
Like men’s and women’s rugby, they practice several times a week on the practice football field, right near Jess Dow Field. Twice a week they go for two hours each and on Friday afternoons they are together from 2:30-5 p.m.
Photo Credit: Carter Antaya