A disk arcs across the field, a white streak flying against a bright blue sky. The sound of cleats thunders as players rush towards the end zone. As the disk floats, there’s a calm silence until it’s caught by a player who has just barely reached the goal line, and the sideline explodes. Cheers, shouts and whistles fill the air as players celebrate the win.
Whitman athletes consistently compete for state championships in a wide variety of sports, earning the school widespread athletic success. Yet, some of its most successful programs continue to fly under the radar: for example, ultimate frisbee, a successful but deeply underappreciated sport.
Known casually as “ultimate,” the sport isn’t nearly as popular as some of its contemporaries at Whitman. With roughly 20 players, the team cuts it close for 7-on-7 games. Both Whitman and Walter Johnson High School (WJ) offer a mixed-gender ultimate club called the Poets & Pitchers during the fall and spring seasons. The Poets hail from Whitman, while the Pitchers are from WJ. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the teams meet for a joint practice.
Ultimate is a non-contact disk sport that shares many elements with other common sports, including American football. In both games, teams score by passing to a teammate in the end zone. Though it’s similar to many traditional sports, certain factors result in its classification as non-traditional or alternative — ultimate has a unique set of rules and equipment. The most notable difference in ultimate is its distinctive focus on self-officiating; unlike most sports, ultimate games, even at the highest levels, don’t have referees. Instead, the game requires its players to make calls and decisions and to be aware of all the rules.
The Whitman ultimate team functions differently from most other Whitman sports teams. As a club, they don’t compete against other MCPS schools for one-off games outside of scrimmages. Instead, they travel to regional and state tournaments, competing against multiple teams across Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These tournaments often include other MCPS schools.
Ultimate is also unique because it’s a joint-school club. Sophomore Jasper Benke, who joined the Poets in his freshman year, said some differences make ultimate special compared to other sports.
“It’s technically a joint-school program, but Whitman and WJ have separate teams,” Benke said. “The Poets & Pitchers practice on the same field and scrimmage against each other, but at tournaments, we compete as two separate teams.”
The team started in 2015 when a group of passionate students from Walter Johnson and Whitman wanted to take their pastime to the next level. They had been playing ultimate for fun and wanted an opportunity to compete and explore this interest through their schools.
Throughout their existence, the Poets have been very successful. They won the 2015 and 2017 state championships and, most recently, finished as the state runner-up in both 2022 and 2023.
The team’s impact goes beyond the field on which they play. The Poets & Pitchers have also inspired a sense of community among the players. Junior Isaac Gilgoff, who leads the team in goals this season, said the team offers a blend of camaraderie and focus.
“The team community is super positive while also staying competitive,” Gilgoff said.
The Poets’ team culture has fostered a strong bond that has benefited their performance on the field. The Poets have come a long way to become the formidable force they are today. Since ultimate is not a mainstream sport, it can be difficult to recruit enough members to form a team, so they’ve relied on current members to recruit their friends or peers who may be interested, and also advertise on their social media accounts.
Though recruitment efforts have increased, the team still has trouble with player and coach availability. Coach Andrew Nguyen has been an ultimate coach for over 13 years. As a student from 2004-2008, he played for the club Whitman offered before it became the joint school club it is today. Nguyen said the team’s underrated nature has posed an obstacle.
“It’s also hard when half the players play other varsity sports,” Nguyen said. “It would be nice to have a couple of players that primarily play ultimate frisbee.”
In the face of these obstacles, the team has found solutions. The players took the lack of coach availability into their own hands, organizing captains’ practices. Practices run without coaches by the team captains take place most Mondays.
Though the numbers remain small, the team has since established a consistent group of players and an uplifting community that has inspired people.
Throughout their history, the Poets have leapt to the occasion, taking charge to organize practices and lead the group. The team they are today would not exist without the initiative and perseverance of the founders and participants who took a chance on a lesser-known sport. The Poets exemplify Whitman’s values: student leadership and self-advocacy. Their success is proof that such values are worth striving for.
