Love and Ultimate
Ahh... we all know that sparks fly and lifelong friendships form on the field. With Valentine's Day around the corner, we wanted to give you a glimpse of the important role Austin Ultimate has played in relationships in our community.
(photo taken by Marisa)
Jason "Punk" Conrad and Colleen Schmitt met on the beautiful UT Intramural Fields playing Summer League in 2005. Despite her growing crush on Punk, Colleen was oblivious to the affection that he showed her through long walks to the parking lot and iso-calls.
With some help from other Austin Ultimate players like Molly "Donkey" Sandel, Jenna and Tal Martin-Tversky, and Marcus Gavin, the two eventually became a couple. They have since played together on Chewbacca Defense for three years, as well as in many Austin leagues. They were married in November of 2008, where the Austin Ultimate attendees kept the dance floor at the reception full and lively. They still have that Summer League 2005 disc, in mint condition.
(photo taken by Marisa)
Naz Waliany and Cara Crouch sky other prominent Austin players trying to catch the bridal bouquet at Colleen and Punk's wedding while Gina Phillips ducks.
Frankie, Clayton, and Allen
Allen and Frankie Bates met in highschool and she followed him to Texas A&M, where he learned to play Ultimate. After graduating from A&M they moved to Austin together, got married and started playing Ultimate together in Summer League 2001. They've since had a beautiful baby boy, Clayton who is now 19 months old.
Kim and Mattie-O
Mattie-O: Kim and I met downtown during one of our many "ultimate 6th street excursions". She's Mia's best friend from Pennsylvania and we hit it off immediately. She, however, was not an ultimate player and had to be converted. We play Winter League together and find that it's not only a great way to make new friends, it also helps us understand each other and our competitive nature.
Bagger and Leah
Bagger (Pat Lee), and Leah Lee have been married just over 20 years. It was the summer of 1986 and KU hosted a Savage 7 tournament. Leah was living in Kansas and of course offered to host a team at her house. Bagger's team decided to come a day early from Austin and stayed with Leah. They swam, threw the disc, ditched their friends and watched the sunset on the campanile the evening before the tournament. They were attached at the hip the rest of the weekend. Leah remembers the visits during their long distance romance, "After a tough practice, the three of us would ride out to Lake Travis on Bag's motorcycle. I was on the back, Bag in the middle and Max, the German short haired pointer rode on the tank. We were in love!" Leah moved to Austin and they were married a couple years later in 1989. "Ya-Yaugh!"
Bagger played in the first 6 college nationals ever for UT beginning in 1984. He has since played at Open Nationals 15 times. Leah began her Ultimate career with Betty and won the first Women's College Nationals in 1987. She has since been on many high powered Austin Women's teams and played in 7 Nationals. They have two kids, a boy, Gabe Lee, and a daughter, Chloe Lee, who both play for the McCallum High School team and are hoping to win the Texas High School championships this spring!
Jenna and Tal Tversky with their first baby at World's
Jenna: I came into town to visit my ultimate player college roommates and dear friends and Tal spotted my hot self across the room ( I am pretty sure I was saying something smart :) ). Tal approached me on the IM field six months later, plopped himself down while I was putting my cleats on, and said, 'hi, I'm Tal, I am really good at frisbee.'. I was thinking, 'weirdo, freak, not impressed.". I went on to play my first summer league game who was led by people who became some of my dearest friends. I finally went [on a date], fell in love shortly thereafter, and before I knew it, was knocked up with two hairy little ones. Little did I know, I wasn't just marrying a great guy, I was marrying ultimate as well.
Ultimate for me is a lot about the costumes and community; ultimate for Tal is a lot about the game and community. It is amazing that I love ultimate as much as I do given some of the arrangements we have made around it to make it work in our lives, but it has all been worth it; I love the people, I adore the community, I love the lessons it teaches me and my middle schoolers and I love my husband dearly. I also particularly love the joy he gets while running around in those hot athletic shorts chasing a plastic disc.
Ella with Veronica (Cisco not pictured)
Francisco "Cisco" Puga: Ella and I met in 2001, but it wasn't until the 2002 Austin Spring League in Webberville when the combination of disc, mud, grass, and sweaty tech fabric brought us together. We married in 2005, traveled to many tournaments together, and participated in all of the year-round Austin leagues. Veronica was born on October 26, 2009. Even at this early stage she is already being trained in the disc-arts. She practices gripping the disc at least one hour per day, and she will continue to eat all her meals out of a disc until she is out on her own (sometime after college). We look forward to taking Veronica out to the fields soon to visit our extended Ultimate family.
Marisa and Banjo
Jeremiah (Banjo): Marisa and I met at Midnight Rodeo, the one and only time we have been to a country bar, while I was coaching Graze and Marisa was playing Melee. Austin's competitive scene has given us a chance to play at a high level on separate teams: Showdown and Chewy of recent years. But, we have equally enjoyed Austin's year round Ultimate scene (winter, spring, summer league, and Celebracion) which allows us to play on the same field and make many love connections for scores.
At our wedding we were thankful of three things: Banjo's Kentucky family, Marisa's Thai community, and the drunk Ultimate folk at the back table who were obviously having the most fun.
