Seven players, one flying disc and the love of the game; ultimate frisbee has been welcomed into Edwardsville and it’s not going to leave any time soon.

In 2014, then-sophomore Sam Bledsoe wanted to start a new ultimate frisbee club within the school so he could share his love of the sport with his friends.

As time went on, more students decided to join the group’s pick-up games and many of them were caught at love at first throw.

By spring of 2015, they formed their club into a recreational league at the local YMCA. The team called themselves Edwardsville Elite.

The team ended up improving so much that they wanted to compete in a more challenging league. That’s when now-senior Matt Nuoffer found a local St. Louis league called the St. Louis Ultimate Juniors (SLUJ) for the group to compete in and a fellow player/YMCA worker to coach them.

This new coach of Edwardsville Elite was 23-year-old Trevor Spohr.

He [Nuoffer] asked me to coach and I just said ‘yes’, not really knowing what was in store,” Spohr said.

Ultimate frisbee is not known for its money or competition involved; it is known for its unnatural honesty and sportsmanship.

This is mostly because ultimate frisbee has no referees, which means it is self-regulated.

“In all the games I’ve been in, all of the guys were honest about calls,” senior Ryan Marsteller said. “It’s such a good environment… I’m always happy when I play ultimate and that’s why this sport is so unique.”

And because it is so unique, the team was well prepared for their first meeting and start of their new season in January 2016.

Through the games, Edwardsville Elite played well with a 14-6 record and won the state championship for the 2016 year.

“The best part was seeing the team grow with each other,” Spohr said. “We made a complete 180 from when we started to where we finished.”

Now with a fresh season coming up, the players have new goals in mind.

Their first goal is to become connected to the school by getting a school sponsor so more underclassmen will join and promote longevity of the program, Nuoffer said. Their second goal is to become nationally ranked in this upcoming season.

Tryouts for the 2017 season are on Nov. 10-11, 2016 and the Edwardsville Elite would like as many participants as possible.

“Everyone will make the team at tryouts,” Nuoffer said. “We will just make more teams if we have a lot of kids.”

Although Nuoffer may be a veteran of the Edwardsville Elite now, he said curious players don’t have to be pros or extremely athletic to be successful in the game. As long as the players are willing to work hard, then they should be successful—and Spohr agreed.

“I want to see more people come out and experience ultimate for what it is,” Spohr said. “If I can get a disc in your hand, I can make you love the sport.”