Portland Stags Announce 2014 Roster


Portland Stags Ultimate Frisbee Roster

Maybe you’re a football fan, maybe soccer, maybe you’re old and love baseball.

If you are a supporter of any of those sports you probably have thought from time to time about the nostalgic good old days when the game was new and fresh and the sport was superlative to everything else. No commercials, no gross ticket prices, nothing but pure sport. This is the state of Ultimate Frisbee today.

I was lucky enough to attend the open tryouts for the Portland Stags professional ultimate team and the experience was a constant reminder of how great sports can be in their purest form.

There was a great mix of competitive professionalism and careless enjoyment in the atmosphere. Hard running and roaring commands mixed with cheese hats and friendly banter. With the exception of this prying author’s presence, everyone there seemed to know each other and the exchange of high-fives kept pace with the exchange of discs flying from one player to another. It was a truly enchanting atmosphere and I found myself wanting to set the camera and pen down and jump into the midst of the action. However, within thirty minutes these wishful imaginings fatigued as I watched each player run a personal marathon.

It was non-stop movement.

The opening drills sent players on perpetual sprints, cutting and moving, catching and passing. The visual was reminiscent of electrons constantly revolving around the atom and just as confusing to the untrained eye. The drills tested the fundamental abilities of the players and measured their passing, pivoting, and defensive talents.

Although the drills would have sidelined me with a hamstring cramp and dire fatigue, the show went on. A brief water-break gave way to mini five against five games and then ultimately full sized matches.

If you’re not familiar with ultimate then understand it is a sport Frankeinsteined from parts of other sports. There are end-zones and passes like football, pivoting and travelling violations like basketball, and play is continuous and points are singular, like soccer. To my surprise, however, I was informed that many of the players were not falling back from other sports. Many of the athletes out there grew up playing competitive ultimate as early as junior high.

That background served as a welcome explanation for their ability to throw an effortless fifty yard flick and hit the receiver in motion. Throughout the match players were breaking long, cutting short, checking to and all while the handler’s seven second play-clock was ticking away. If you think the Oregon hurry-up offense is impressive then this style of action might overload you. Imagine if Marcus Mariota after dishing out a twenty yard pass immediately made a cut and became a receiver then if his pass was intercepted he is instantly the corner back and play beats on. That’s Ultimate Frisbee.

This year’s tryout was at Delta Park on earlier this month. Just under fifty participants showed up. The open tryout is an annual event and will occur around the same time next year.

Whether you are a veteran saucer tosser or a Frisbee novice I recommend catching a game and a glimpse of how great sport can be in its purest form. Below is the newly released roster, decided as a result from the combine tryouts.

Portland Stags 2014 Roster

[table colalign=”left|left|left”]
NAME, COLLEGE
Jeremy Norden, Whitman College
Raphy Hayes, Portland State
Grant Cole, Lewis & Clark College
Aaron Adamson*, Oregon State
Vinh Bui*, University of Oregon
Chris Beach-Rehner, James Madison
Eli Blackman, Tufts University
Peter Woodside*, Dixie State College
Dan Suppnick*, Michigan State
Breeze Strout, University of Oregon
Adrian King, University of Oregon
Tyler Cable*, University of Oregon
Steve Kenton*, University of Oregon
Adam Ferrea*, Cal Poly
John Thornton, UC Santa Barbara
[/table]*Rookie

Tags:
0 shares
Previous Post

7 Reasons to Watch the Rose City Rollers All Stars

Next Post

Winterhawks Push Record Streak to 20

X