Current and former players and coaches of the Hotchkiss Ultimate Frisbee program reunited on Saturday May 25 to celebrate the team’s first 20 years as an official school program.
The day provided a festival of reconnecting and reminiscing for all those who attended, including a tribute film by Bonnie Dana ’19, an alumni game on Taylor Fields, and a dinner for alumni and guests at the Fairfield Farm.
“We had a perfect day for the event, and it was great to see alumni connect with current players, and to re-connect with the campus and Hotchkiss in general,” said varsity head coach and program founder David Thompson.
The list of alumni spanned three decades, from recent alumni like Nate Moore ’18 and Alan Wong ’17 all the way back to Alex Blanton ’88, who participated in a special project in Ultimate Frisbee while a student, began playing interscholastically at Middlebury, and has played for teams in Seattle since 1994. Several alumni parents and friends of the program also attended the event.
The program began after lunchtime with a screening of Dana’s “20 Years of Hotchkiss Ultimate” documentary (linked below) in the Science Lecture Hall.
Current and former team members then played a mixed game on Taylor Field. “I felt like I saw all 20 years of Ultimate on the field - Jack McGlinn ’22 and Will Burke ’22 were throwing to Colin Campbell ’01 and Liam Fleming ’15 and the cuts were good, the throws were good, and they were playing great ultimate,” said former varsity and current JV coach Bill Fenton.
Afterwards, the alumni and guests retired to Fairfield Farm for a tasty dinner and some more reminiscing. Thompson gave kudos to team parents Qing Yu (mother of co-captain Theresa Yu ’19) and Cecilia and George Cintrón (parents of Brian Cintrón ’12 and Cody Cintrón ’13) for the dumplings and empanadas they contributed to the meal.
“I loved hearing from the alumni what Ultimate has meant to them at Hotchkiss and beyond,” said Thompson. “Several alumni mentioned that Ultimate was the one place at Hotchkiss where they felt like they could be themselves, and many commented about how the larger ultimate community is so welcoming and provides opportunities to play around the country and the world.”
Click here to watch Bonnie Dana’s Hotchkiss Ultimate Frisbee documentary.
