MU’s ultimate frisbee team pictured at their first tournament of the 2025-2026 school year. @MANHATTAN_UNIVERSITY_ULTIMATE / INSTAGRAM
Maddie Rosado, Staff Writer
Manhattan University’s Ultimate Frisbee team has been putting in serious work this semester, training for hours on end as they prepare for their spring season.
Heading into fall, members of the Ultimate Frisbee team had expressed concerns about fundraising – the key factor that allows them to compete in both sectional and regional tournaments. Securing enough funds has become essential to the team’s overall success. During the spring 2025 semester, Nicolino Marcoccia ’25 shared these concerns with The Quadrangle while reflecting on his time as a player on the team.
“Our goal is to build off of our successes from last season, when we made regionals but were unable to attend due to a lack of fundraising,” Marcoccia said. “We have to put in a lot of effort and are hopeful that we will not only qualify for regionals, but make an underdog run in the tournament.”
Marcoccia’s comments in the spring underscored how crucial fundraising once was to the team’s ambitions. Since then, the team has succeeded in overcoming those challenges. This year, they’re balancing that progress with a new set of priorities both on and off the field.
Keller Peterson, the senior team captain, explained how the team’s focus has since shifted.
“This year, we have saved a lot of money, and we’re going to be continuing fundraising throughout the year,” Peterson said. “However, because we have some money from last year, fundraising isn’t our top priority. It’s more so recruitment.”
Sean Ryan, a sophomore on the team, shared details about their current training schedule and preparation for the upcoming season.
“We practice twice a week at Gaelic Park from 8 to 10:30 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays,” Ryan said. “In this upcoming spring semester, we are going to be adding a third practice on Thursdays, but that’ll be more casual,”
With these consistent practices, players have the chance to focus on refining their skills and dedicating time to different aspects of the game.
“With two and a half hours of practice twice a week, you really get to dial in your skills, and there’s always time to work on more things,” Ryan said.
Beyond sharpening their skills, the team is placing a strong emphasis on building relationships and fostering a sense of community among players this semester.
“Ultimate frisbee is typically a spring sport in most places,” Ryan said. “The fall is just a lot of practice and getting to know people.”
Despite being in the off-season, the team is already focused on building skills and team chemistry that will pay off in spring competitions. Peterson provided context on the team’s competitive goals and tournaments.
“We have our main tournament at the end of April every year,” Peterson said. “It’s sectionals, which are over in New Jersey, and if we qualify in that tournament, we make it to the regional tournament over in Buffalo.”
While discussing the team’s goals, Peterson also acknowledged some early challenges that caused setbacks this semester.
“We had a pretty rough start getting the ball rolling, which kind of caused a lot of our recruitment issues… our main recruitment space is the club fair at the beginning of the year, and we were unprepared for that,” Peterson said. “So that has had a cascading effect on the rest of the year.”
Despite these challenges, Peterson highlighted the team’s focus on skill-building and expressed enthusiasm for continuing to coach and welcome all players.
“A lot of the people who come onto the team come in with no experience,” Peterson said. “I’ve been teaching people how to throw and how to play for three years now. The first thing people should know how to do is run, catch and throw,” Peterson added. “Those are the core fundamentals of the sport.”
Even with the focus on skills, training and competition, at the heart of the team remains enjoyment and camaraderie, something Ryan agrees with.
“The main goal is always to have fun,” Ryan said. “We’re not a super competitive team, we’re really just in it for the camaraderie, to stay active, and to enjoy each other’s company.”