The Game That Has Taken Over Hamber: A Guide to the Five Ultimate Teams
David Zhang
Eric Hamber Secondary houses the biggest ultimate program of any high school in British Columbia, with five teams ranging in opportunities for ultimate players of all grades and skill levels. With ultimate being a fairly new sanctioned school sport, Hamber has a thriving program.
The ultimate teams at Hamber op- erate within Senior and Junior sections, each divided into subteams. There are three junior teams and two senior teams. They are divided into A, B, and C teams, based on age, skill level and competitiveness, with A being the highest rated. This year, the Junior C team is made up of all Grade 8’s. The Junior A and B teams are made up of Grade 9’s and 10’s. The Senior A and B are made up of Grade 11’s and 12’s. Those team then go on to compete in different tiers, depending on their skill level.
Most schools have only a couple ultimate teams, usually one for junior and one for senior. Hamber has an accessible program for ultimate, because it lets students of all skill levels have a chance to play.
“At the moment, we are the most accessible school in the province for ultimate,” stated the head of Hamber’s Ultimate program, Mr. G. Dunne (Physical Education), “We’ve won at every level. So pretty much everyone gets a chance to compete at the pro- vincial championships, and a chance to play the game.”
Hamber’s teams all vary in experience and skill. Senior A and Junior C will both play in a competitive environment, but with different experiences from both teams. “It’s a very competitive environment. But at the sametime, it’s really fun because a lot of the teammates are our friends. And we’ve been playing with them for the past five years. It’s really nice to see how much all of us have grown as players and as a team.” Shaelyn Woo (12), a player on the Senior A ultimate team revealed.
While Junior C is the youngest team at Hamber, consisting of solely grade 8 athletes, they play in the same division as the Junior A and B teams. “The Junior C team currently plays in Tier 1 of the Junior Divison. It is the most competitive for the Junior division but there usually is a second tier. Because of COVID there aren’t enough teams to participate” shared Junior C coach, Colin Carino.
“The game is a beautiful game, people love playing it.” Dunne said. “They love the fact that it’s co-ed. And because that creates not only excellence, but it creates a social thing that kids really enjoy.”
Interest was very high this year for the Junior C Ultimate team, with over 40 kids trying out. “It’s a much bigger turnout, in the previous years we’ve barely had enough players and we’ve had to mix some Grade 9’s and 10’s into these Junior C and Junior B teams. It is really nice to see a large number of kids coming out to play” Carino expressed.
The ultimate season has only just started, but teams have been able to compete in games and tournaments. “We won a tournament in South Surrey,” Jacob Wong (12), a Senior A ulti- mate player revealed.
“We played six games in one day,” Woo shared, “which was really tiring for our bodies. We were able to push through all six of the games.”
Coach Carino’s team is unique in the way that it hosts only the youngest members of Hamber. “Our team is built entirely out of Grade 8’s, so they can’t expect to win every game they play against Grade 9’s and 10’s. But we defi- nitely have the skill to win some games this season.”
Hamber’s Ultimate Program will continue to run throughout the re- mainder of the school year. Teams are currently working to qualify for Cities, which is scheduled to take place in early to mid May.