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Volume 16, Number 25 | August 8-14, 2024
More than just another beer league
Above: Lincoln DiLorenzo, Shawn Gerum, Budger Clark, and Brooks Shaffer play ultimate frisbee as part of the Elk Mountain Ultimate League. Below: Baker Casagrande guards Patrick Fulton. Photos by Will Sardinsky
Elk Mountain Ultimate turns Frisbee into a mindfulness and mentorship practice ANNALISE GRUETER Sopris Sun Correspondent
It started out as just a casual thing. Yet Ultimate Frisbee has always had loftier ambitions. Those aspirations are simply different from other sports. In the Roaring Fork Valley, Elk Mountain Ultimate has weaved its own story into the broader thread of the counterculture sport played by millions worldwide. Ultimate Frisbee evolved in the mid-1960s at Amherst College in Massachusetts, before high school students in New Jersey expanded and documented its rules in 1968. This new sport centered around the 1930s-invented toy disk rapidly expanded through the 1970s among teens and university students. A key part of the appeal was its self-regulation and emphasis on community and joy compared to more established sports. In the philosophy of Ultimate, accountability, honesty and advocating for teammates and everyone on the field is key to maximizing the playing experience. What is now known as the Spirit of the Game is fully embodied in the Elk
Mountain league. Regular summertime Ultimate has been in the Roaring Fork Valley for nearly two decades. It took a “powerhouse of a woman,” Liz Chapman, and her partner, Michael “Chappy” Chapman, moving to the Valley from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to turn it into something more. Back in Arkansas, the pair had been a part of the Fayetteville Disk Association, where Liz organized up to 800 people when hosting tournaments. She shared, “I was drawn to the sport not only because it is a physical challenge, but it also challenges your mental discipline to be mindful of your impact and fairly negotiate disputes.” Chappy and Liz met Jennifer Dolecki-Smith, who was organizing the casual pick-up play in Aspen. When Liz realized how many sporadic participants had played competitive Ultimate in college, she said, “I figured people would be more likely to regularly show up if we had a league,” so she started one in 2009. Shawn Gerum was one of the friends that Liz and Chappy persuaded to join. continued on page 5