By: Edir Coronado
Ultimate, which was originally known as Ultimate Frisbee, has been gaining a lot of notoriety lately from the public and even the International Olympic Committee in 2015. This is the vision of local Ultimate superstar Jessie Sun, who was part of the Watchung Regional High School championship victories – 4 out of the 6 consecutive championship victories. With the team’s mountain of success, Jessie still managed to be a bright spot in a team full of stars.
Jessie’s history with the sport dates back to elementary school, but it wasn’t until her freshman year in high school that she began to take the sport seriously and even then she joined with no intentions of pursuing the commitment and the success in the sport that she has amassed thus far. Jessie began, like most of her teammates, as a multi-sport student athlete, playing volleyball, fencing, and Frisbee. Due to the caring, yet intense nature of the game, Jessie dropped volleyball and decided to participate in the fall and spring seasons for Ultimate.
“Frisbee was a better choice for me because the game emphasizes equal playing opportunities for everyone, whereas in volleyball, no matter how much effort you put in, favoritism would leave you benched an entire season,” expressed Jessie.
This is one of the main attractions to the sport for Jessie. “Ultimate Frisbee is a game of spirit and mentality,” Jessie stated; she applauds the sport for relying on honesty when it comes to making calls on the field. Self-officiating is a very big part of the game, but while the sport is not well advertised, due to the growing popularity, especially on higher levels of competition like college, observers or referees are often a part of the game. Jessie feels, these officials are something important due to the crowd involvement, in order to keep the game moving along.
The fact that the self-officiating aspect is diminishing, is a good indication of the sports growing acceptance, something Jessie is proud of. She has served as an ambassador of the sport, traveling to compete in regional tournaments in Amherst, MA; Devens, MA; Portland, ME; Pittsburgh, PA; and Blaine, MN for a National Youth Club Championship. She has also traveled to Florida for world tryouts. Jessie credits her opportunity to travel for her sport to her role models and former Watchung Hill Regional High School Ultimate teams and players like, Olivia Hampton and Sadie Jezierski. The progress that the sport has made throughout the years at Watchung Regional High School has opened up the door for recognition, enough to convince the school to fund travel expenses. Something Jessie regards as extremely important, this allows more exposure and opportunities for upcoming players.
This past summer Jessie had the opportunity to bring her Ultimate skills to Poland and what she realized is that despite the language difference, when it comes to Ultimate, the sport and its players still have the same spirit for the game. During her time in Poland players from all over brought their gear in and traded with each other.
Jessie has seen her short term goals of bringing recognition to the sport at her school come to life, with the team generating plenty of chatter among students and faculty over the team’s achievements, as well witnessing how the sport she has invested so much, gain recognition overseas. She will have the opportunity to help in the growth of Ultimate with her new team, The University of Pittsburgh’s women’s squad, Danger Ultimate. Danger Ultimate had a record 40 new prospective platers tryout and even created a B team, proof that Ultimate has gained legitimacy.
(above) Jessie Sun attempting to throw the Frisbee against fellow opponents
