“I suggested to the team back in 2012 that a very ultimate thing is for your team to have a name that is related to your school and its mascot, but not the same.” Mr.

“Ultimate for a long time existed in this counterculture, and now, as it’s becoming a more popular sport, it’s adopting more dominant culture traits,” Mr. Today, it still has not been adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a varsity sport, and so the unofficial names that college teams created in the 1970s and ‘80s continue to be used. The first intercollegiate ultimate game wasn’t played until 1972, making the sport relatively young. Van’s idea, one he based on historical trends in the sport. Before 2011, the sport did exist at Latin, though inconsistently, and not by the name Colossus. Van came to Latin in the spring of 2012 to coach the ultimate team, which was entering only its second season. van Benthuysen-known fondly by his students and players as Mr. “What I’m feeling the most in anticipation of Wednesday’s game is excitement for our players to have an opportunity to do what they do, to play their sport, in a place where the rest of the student body can see their work and support them and celebrate them,” he said.įor the oldest members of the team, this home game was their first in four years. Their recent game against Lyons Township High School was the team’s first ever chance to experience their intensity echoed in a crowd of orange and blue.Ĭhris van Benthuysen, an Upper School math teacher and one of the team’s head coaches, shared his enthusiasm ahead of the match. But Latin’s co-ed ultimate frisbee team, also known as Colossus, had never before played a home game. Boisterous cheering, heated rivalries, an occasional warning from an irritated referee-it’s usually part of the game. Many of Latin’s athletes would tell you that among the highlights of their seasons are opportunities to compete in their sport, backed by an electric crowd of their peers. Latin defends as Lyons passes the disc up the field.

Lyons township high school mascot