Amidst the numerous Bison student athletes competing in weekly action stand the lesser-known teams, which fall under the recreation clubs category. There are currently 11 groups, which play either competitively or leisurely. One of the groups that perform competitively is the ultimate frisbee team.

Jesse Greenberg, the current president/captain of the University of Manitoba’s ultimate team, has been around since the club resurfaced a couple of seasons ago.

“There was a team a while back which ran for a few years and just kind of ended once players graduated. I started playing in 2011 when the team first started up again,” said Greenberg. “We only became affiliated with the U of M last year. The team is made up of a solid mix of veterans from 2011 and the past two years.”

The process of trying out for the team is relatively simple. It occurs at the end of August and beginning of September every year.

“We typically see a lot of graduates from the junior provincial program come try out for spots, but as of recently we’ve been seeing more players who haven’t taken the formal provincial team role trying out,” said Greenberg.

“After tryouts we announce players who will be coming to nationals (also known as the Canadian University Ultimate Championships) with the team. This year we started up a B team with a mix of veterans and new players to attend the Canadian Prairie University Ultimate Championships in Regina as well.”

As Greenberg mentioned, 2013 was the first year the team became officially affiliated with Recreation Services, which affected the protocol for who was able to attend nationals with the club.

“In previous years we simply got as many players as possible together to send a team to nationals. We would receive funding from the Manitoba Organization of Disc Sports and an Ultimate Canada subsidy and headed off to nationals – otherwise we had no affiliation,” Greenberg said.

“We had combined our players from the U of W as well and got consortium status, which allowed us to compete as “Manitoba” for 2011 and 2012. In 2013 we registered as a club in Recreation Services and only allowed U of M players to compete with the team.”

Manitoba has had a fair amount of success at the CUUC since their rebirth in 2011. They placed first in 2011, second in 2012, and seventh in 2013, before recapturing the gold just a few weeks ago in Montreal.

Greenberg was quite thrilled with the way the team responded one year after an unfortunate finish.

“It felt good to be on top again. This is my second time winning gold in the university series. Especially after last year’s seventh place result, it felt much better redeeming ourselves and having the chance to rematch the teams we lost to last year in Ottawa,” said Greenberg.

“The last time we placed first was in 2011, which was my first year playing for the university team. I’m looking forward to next year as well, since no one will be graduating or leaving the team.”

When asked what the most enjoyable part about being on the team is, Greenberg was quick to emphasize the competitive aspect.

“The best part about playing university ultimate is the competition and good times had at tournaments. We put in a lot of effort during practices to perform well at the tournaments we attend and it’s always great to see everyone wanting to win and making it happen,” said Greenberg.

“There’s something about university sports that adds an extra level of enjoyment and camaraderie when trying to win a national championship.”

 If anyone has any questions about potentially trying out for the ultimate team next season, they can contact Greenberg, at jesse_greenberg@hotmail.com, or visit the team’s Facebook page, which can be found under “University of Manitoba Ultimate Club.”