Bad boys of Frisbee are back

From winning back-to-back championships to falling off for multiple seasons, the East Carolina University club ultimate frisbee team is looking to get back to its winning ways.

The ECU ultimate frisbee team, known as the Irates, has a rich history after being founded in the late ‘70s. The club team dominated its opponents with its physicality and that’s what the squad became known for back in the day, according to Ben Landry, the current captain of the team.

“We won two national championships that were back-to-back in 1995 and 1996. The Irates were known then as a physical, and high intensity team,” Landry said in an email interview. “In more recent history, the program lost some of that edge that made us so successful earlier on.”

The ultimate frisbee team at ECU was one of the top club sports program in the country in the ‘90s. They were known as the “bad boys of the college ultimate world, because we talked a lot of smack and our play style backed it up,” said current club team member, Hunter Gibbs, a sophomore majoring in economics.

“No one wanted to play ECU because they would beat you and embarrass you at the same time because that's the way they acted, they were rough during the game and could beat you in anyway,” Gibbs said in an email interview. “They were cocky but could back it up on the field.”

After the team had a short disagreement with the school, early in the 2000’s after winning the two championship titles, the new generation of club ultimate frisbee began.

“When they became a club organization again, the players decided to drop the ‘P’ from Pirates and become the ‘Irates’,” Gibbs said. “This was because the players were irate about being disbanded.”

The club organization also lost key parts to the team and has been rebuilding ever since.

“Our team then lost some of its structure and focus as a result. But we have worked very hard to build back a team of people who are dedicated, hungry to win and eager to work hard,” Landry said. “We have also worked just as hard to restore our relationship with the school and get back to good standing with them. It has paid off and now we can use the full benefits that ECU has to offer its club sports.”

Due to the lack of success for the Irates over the years, the team fell off the map, ending up last in the conference in 2013. Last year was the first time the Irates won a game in almost three years, and the first time the team had double digit wins in a season (10).

“Finally having a double-digit win season means the program is on its way back to the top,” Gibbs said. “Hopefully we will regain the attitude that ECU ultimate once had and be a national contender again.”

This standout season for the Irates was critical for the club and its main goal of reaching its former glory, according to Landry.

“It is important that the Irates get back to winning because of how historic our program is. Eastern North Carolina was the hotbed of college ultimate in the ‘90s,” Landry said. “We want to bring back winning at the level it was then, and to once again be a competitive and relevant program.”

The sport, as a whole, has grown steadily across the country. Now in 2017, these ultimate frisbee athletes have the opportunity to play professionally in the sport they love.

“Personally, I love ultimate because it brings together some elements from other sports into one unique game,” Landry said. “My competitiveness drives me to try and be the teammate I can be, the best captain I can be, and work to be the best player I can be. It's a beautiful game that can be quite chaotic, but when it all comes together, (it) is a blast to play.”

Gibbs says he grew attached to the club ultimate team after witnessing the great sportsmanship amongst others in the sport.

“One of my favorite things about this sport is everybody is very friendly,” Gibbs said. “Even players from rival schools are friendly, all players on the field show amazing amounts of sportsmanship.”

The sport is something the two players take seriously and sometimes they feel the sport can get underappreciated around campus because students don’t know the Irates’ journey.

“Ultimate definitely still is not known by everyone at ECU. We have worked hard to get our name out there, to recruit, and to just get the sport (that) me and all of my teammates love so much out there,” Landry said. “We look forward to spreading the word more and hopefully people become interested and want to come and check us out and consider joining the team.”

Information for the ultimate frisbee club team’s tryouts will be released the last week in August on the ECU Club Ultimate Frisbee page and the club teams’ twitter account.