Written by Jessica Ardrey
Harding’s ultimate frisbee teams competed with Division 1 schools in Nashville two weeks ago at the annual Itchfest Ultimate Tournament.The men’s team, HU: Apocalypse, has its biggest team to date with 24 players, 13 freshmen. This year, Apocalypse placed third in the tournament.The women’ s team, Abattoir, which means “slaughterhouse” in French, played seven games and won one against Hendrix College.”We played really well,” captain Charlene Nutt said. “Both of our games on Sunday could easily have gone either way. We just didn’t pull through this time.”Harding competes in big tournaments with big-name schools and does well. However, the most substantial aspect of the teams is their influence on the other teams.”One thing I like about playing ultimate for Harding is that most teams we play know who we are,” junior Ryan Rummage said. “They know that we don’t act like jerks.”Harding’s teams make a point to keep their Christian attitudes present at all times, said Apocalypse member Tucker Bankston.”We’ve based what we play on the fact that we are Christians, and really, we’re playing the way Jesus would play if he were playing ultimate. We try to, at least,” he said.And it seems to be having an effect. Teams who normally curse and fight act differently when they play Harding, Nutt said.”I’ve played games where the girls we’re playing start out cursing, but by the end of the game, they’re apologizing,” Nutt said. “The fact that they even feel the need to apologize means we’re doing our job.”Before every game, an Apocalypse member will always say, “Play hard. Glorify God.””It reminds me that I’m playing before God,” Bankston said. “It totally changes the realm of how our games are played with other people.”
