Walls Ultimate Frisbee Places First and Last in Two November Tournaments

November 2-3 was a big weekend for the School Without Walls ultimate frisbee team. The mixed-gender Flightless Bird Squad split into boy and girl matching teams to attend two tournaments. 

Due to an away tournament in Pennsylvania, the numbers for Girraficus, the local tournament, needed to be higher. So, the girls staying in the DMV combined to attend a college tournament at George Mason University instead. Girls from Washington Latin and Montgomery Blair high schools joined the Walls girls to play in six games throughout the weekend. Every team Walls played against had college students, except for one that consisted of GMU alumni, many of whom are semi-professional players now. 

Saturday was challenging for the girls, losing every game by 4-13, 2-13, and 5-13. On Sunday, the girls returned stronger, losing their first game on Universe Point, scoring 5-6. The girls then played the alumni team, losing by 2-14. Their final game was tied until the last five minutes, ending with a score of 7-10. The DMV girls came in last place in the tournament. 

Meanwhile, the Walls boys dominated Girafficus, the local high school tournament. Walls had a slow start, losing their first game 10-12. This was the only game they lost as they scored 15-1, 15-3, 15-4, and 15-4 over the next couple of days, ending the tournament in first place. 

Some girls expected to do better in their tournament, as Augusta Kankel (‘25) predicted they would “win one or two games.” Sadie Greenhalgh (27) disagreed, saying, “Going into the tournament, I didn’t expect us to win, since we were going up against college students.” It was challenging to gauge the skill level of the college athletes before the tournament, as some start playing in middle school and others start during college, but it was clear this was a high-level group of players. 

Still, many Walls girls agreed this was a valuable learning experience. Greenhalgh shared, “I think we learned a lot more and got a lot better by playing people who were better than us, and I didn’t expect that much growth.” Over the weekend, the girls worked to learn from their opponents, as Kankel said the tournament “helped me realize some of the skills I need to work on.”

The boys also noticed room for improvement in their playing. Theo Mores (‘26) said, “I felt as if we could’ve won our first match in the tournament.” The boys attributed this loss to the team needing to warm up and lacking energy in the morning. Felix Bobowski (‘25) explained that the boys’ ultimate success was because, “unlike our previous tournaments, we quickly bounced back, building vital team chemistry that propelled us to eventually win the whole thing.”

This may be the end of the Fall ultimate frisbee season, but it is not the end of the year for the Walls ultimate team. Many players will continue playing by participating in DC’s High School Indoor League from February to April. Players will also start practicing again with Walls in March. 

All Walls students are welcome to join the Flightless Bird Squad, regardless of their experience with frisbees. Bobowski pointed out, “Frisbee is one of the few sports that is completely gender-inclusive and as cheap as a pair of cleats.” Not only is frisbee easy to pick up, but it is also very welcoming. Kankel added, “frisbee is a great way to make new friends and interact with people you wouldn’t otherwise.” But most importantly, as Greenhalgh put it, “frisbee is super fun!”