Last Friday, the ultimate frisbee team had a match against Grant. The team held their own throughout the first half and scored the two first points of the second, though they ended up falling short.
“I really liked the way we played in the second half,” head coach Derek Bondurant said. “We did a good job picking up the intensity.”
During the game, the team showcased their teamwork and communication skills.
“We had great teamwork and spirit out there,” sophomore Benjamin Bower said.
Sophomore Jake Jinnah also spoke out about other things that the team excelled in. He talked about the aggressive movement that the team had and how the team had good movement around the field.
The ultimate frisbee players around Portland are a tight-knit group, with kids playing together during both the club season the high school season. Jinnah talked about the rivalries and competitiveness that can come when playing against their friends.
“In a way, it can turn on intensity when you know them and you want to beat them. It’s a little more personal,” Jinnah said.
A main goal of the team is to get more kids into the program and develop further. With schools Rose City Park and Vernon not having ultimate frisbee teams, Bondurant has to be creative in the way he recruits players to the team. One way the program does this is by inviting middle schoolers who are interested in playing for the team to come to practices and games. This gets them involved early on so when they move on to high school, they are already committed to playing for the program.
Another one of the team’s focuses for the season has been to develop the program’s freshmen and sophomores.
“I’m really impressed with the growth of our sophomore class. They are super dedicated, and I think over the next few years we can build off of that,” Bondurant said.
Bondurant also spoke about how he thinks the team has more fun than the rest of the teams and how they are focused on the winning aspect of the game.
“We play just as hard as everybody else, but we just have more fun,” he said.
During the season, there have been some players who have performed well, including senior Miles Greene, sophomore Ben Bower, and eighth grader Cory Italiano.
Bondurant had a few words about Greene.
“Miles Green played awesome today, he is definitely the leader of the team, he’s got unbelievable stamina, ” Bondurant said.
He also talked about Bower stepping up in the team.
“Ben’s shown a ton of leadership, as he’s growing into a real leader for the team,” Boundurant said.
The team still has one more game left against Franklin.
