Hard news story

Eastview High School’s own zEUs ultimate team is just starting up their spring season this year. The team, usually dominated by male players, has a couple new pairs of cleats running out on to their field this year- two of these belonging to junior girls, Kaitlyn Brennan and Annalise Peck.  

zEUs had a team of 24 guys strong last year, 13 of which were experienced returners that had been playing since the team started in 2008. When graduation rolled around, the remaining 11 players became fearful they would be at a loss in the upcoming season.

 Knowing the team couldn’t function with just 11 players, captains Joe Nelson and Garrett Dykstra decided to conduct team try-outs. To their surprise, over 40 Eastview students showed up on the field that day, hoping to earn a spot on the zEUs ultimate team.

          

  “We were more than pleased with the outcome,” said Nelson, “there was a lot of talent to choose from.”

           

 The team ended up recruiting 12 news players this year, two of which were girls.

"This season zEUs is really a new team built on a solid foundation. Our team is fairly inexperienced in the sense that only a handful of us have been playing for three years,” says Nelson.

With all of these players new to the game of ultimate, the 13 of them had a lot of learning to do. Although it has been a lot of work, the team has been having tons of fun in the process, getting to know one another as individuals, and as teammates.

"We have been working very hard, practicing almost every day,” said Nelson.

“Everyone shows up every day ready to hustle and get better with practice. There's a lot of good team chemistry which makes having fun and doing well pretty really easy," said senior handler Jordan Wipf.

Though the team believes this season will go well, the returning seniors knew things were going to be a little different than they were in previous years.

“What's different about the season this year as opposed to last year is that we've got a lot of young talent, who have really stepped up to fill the shoes of all the players that graduated last year. Plus, we've got two girls that bring a new aspect to the team," stated Wipf.

"Being a girl on an all guys team brings on a different perspective. Diversity has its advantages in any type of group or team," said new female zEUs team player, Annalise Peck.

Having a girl on the team is certainly a rare occurrence. Throughout zEUs history, there have only been two other girls that have made the team. Annalise Peck and Kaitlyn Brennan will be the third and fourth.

"I love Frisbee so my friend, Ranji Ramroop, told me to try out for the team. I decided to give it a go since I'm always tossing a Frisbee around anyway. I couldn't be happier with my decision to give zEUs a try,” said Peck.
            Kaitlyn Brennan was also influenced by a friend to give trying out for the ultimate team a whirl.

"My friend talked me into trying out by constantly bringing it up in study hall and badgering me to try out at the least. But I am glad he did,” said Brennan.

The girls are both having a great time being a part of the team. Being a part of zEUs is unlike any team they have ever been a part of in the past.

“I like being with all the guys. On girls’ teams, there is usually a lot of drama and it's a nice break to get away from all of that,” said Peck.

The girls are working hard and learning a lot in the process. The two of them have been improving their skills with practice and are continually getting better and better. Being the only girls on the team hasn’t been an obstacle for either Brennan or Peck.

"It's not really tough being one of two girls on the team,” said Brennan. “I mean, I'm not the most talented player on the team but I'm improving because all of the guys are really supportive and are more than willing to help out! They don't treat us differently just because were girls!"

As zEUs continues to practice, the returners and all of the new players are improving more and more. Their next game is 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 5^th, at Apple Valley High School.

“Having a lot of new players is awesome. I am excited to see the team just get better and better,” said Wipf.

“All of the new team members are learning very quickly and I think zEUs will be a force in the games to come," Said captain Joe Nelson.