Men’s ultimate forms strong bonds before fall opener, eyes return to regionals in spring
9/20/2024 2:35:00 PM | Men's Ultimate
Liberty added an extremely athletic group of newcomers after tryouts and is prepping for its fall season-opening tournament at JMU on Oct. 5-6.
Blessed with tremendous potential from newcomers added at last month's tryouts, Liberty University's men's ultimate team is buzzing in preseason practices as it gears up for its fall semester tournament opener, the Oct. 5-6 Bonanza 2024 at James Madison University.
"We had a good three days of tryouts with a lot of athletic guys that came out," sophomore Rupert Armentrout said. "That's the No. 1 thing in ultimate; we can teach everything else. To have that many athletic guys try out was super exciting and now … everybody's working really, really hard out here, putting in 100 percent … every single night. We have nine or 10 returners coming back and then took on between 12-14 new guys. We've got a strong core and then the new guys are super athletic, super willing to work, super coachable."
"We've got some really athletic guys, some guys who have actually played (ultimate) in high school, so that's not super common for me to get guys who have actually played the sport before," Flames Head Coach Kevin Habermas added. "So that's exciting to get guys who have a little bit of a base … and then expound on their skills they've already worked on and just try to put them into our system and get them on the same page."
Senior Luke Carlsen said the camaraderie and esprit de corps within the team is growing as quickly as the players' individual skills and understanding of the game.
"It's an absolute pleasure to be back on the field," he said. "I'm looking forward to the talent that we have, the guys working together, the teamwork, and the brotherhood that really comes about with the team. I'm super, super excited to get to see how that's going to develop throughout the year."
Carlsen noted that the fall semester is a critical time for the team to develop fundamentals and implement game strategies as well as to grow tighter as a team.
"It is really critical to build both the team unity and team dynamic as well as just getting that practice in, especially for those guys that are new to (ultimate) or haven't maybe played competitively before," he said. "Getting together for those touches, getting that group of guys to bond together with the chemistry as a team working together, passing between each other and also just growing as an individual player in the sport is absolutely huge throughout the offseason so that we can be ready to rumble when it comes to the spring."
Armentrout is confident that this season's team has the potential to return to the Atlantic Coast Regionals, as it did with a fifth-place finish in the Virginia Conference tournament, and improve on a program-best 11th-place showing there to contend for its first-ever USA Ultimate Collegiate Nationals bid.
"To get back (to regionals) is our main goal this season," he said. "I think we can do it with the talent we've brought in and the talent that we have from last year. We've got a great group of returners to lead the new guys in the right ways and the new guys are just coming out here and putting in 100 percent every single day, really working hard, really trying to grow, not only as players, but spiritually."
He said a key to the Flames' rise among the regional ranks, and witness to opposing players, has been the intentionality in inviting other teams to join their post-game prayers.
"We ask teams after every game if they want to huddle up and pray in a big circle," Armentrout said. "That's something that we really started last year and we … actually had pretty much everybody from other teams come in and join that circle with us and just pray, so it's really nice getting to use a sport that we love as a ministry to God, seeing that many people that come from secular schools or might not even necessarily be believers coming in and praying with us and just building a community."
Carlsen said the opportunity to be ambassadors for the Christ-centered program is an honor like none other.
"Wearing that Liberty name on your shirt is amazing," he said. "It brings a great sense of who we are as a team that we are not just ultimate players, we are not just college students, but ultimately we are children of God. So having that at the forefront and center is ultimately the goal, not just being brothers as a team ourselves, but to go forward and show that testimony to other people, other teams, and hopefully show other people the light of Jesus. However we can do that, however God has made us His hands and feet, hopefully that's the way that we can proceed forward and make ultimately the impact for His glory alone."
Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant
"We had a good three days of tryouts with a lot of athletic guys that came out," sophomore Rupert Armentrout said. "That's the No. 1 thing in ultimate; we can teach everything else. To have that many athletic guys try out was super exciting and now … everybody's working really, really hard out here, putting in 100 percent … every single night. We have nine or 10 returners coming back and then took on between 12-14 new guys. We've got a strong core and then the new guys are super athletic, super willing to work, super coachable."
"We've got some really athletic guys, some guys who have actually played (ultimate) in high school, so that's not super common for me to get guys who have actually played the sport before," Flames Head Coach Kevin Habermas added. "So that's exciting to get guys who have a little bit of a base … and then expound on their skills they've already worked on and just try to put them into our system and get them on the same page."
Senior Luke Carlsen said the camaraderie and esprit de corps within the team is growing as quickly as the players' individual skills and understanding of the game.
"It's an absolute pleasure to be back on the field," he said. "I'm looking forward to the talent that we have, the guys working together, the teamwork, and the brotherhood that really comes about with the team. I'm super, super excited to get to see how that's going to develop throughout the year."
Carlsen noted that the fall semester is a critical time for the team to develop fundamentals and implement game strategies as well as to grow tighter as a team.
"It is really critical to build both the team unity and team dynamic as well as just getting that practice in, especially for those guys that are new to (ultimate) or haven't maybe played competitively before," he said. "Getting together for those touches, getting that group of guys to bond together with the chemistry as a team working together, passing between each other and also just growing as an individual player in the sport is absolutely huge throughout the offseason so that we can be ready to rumble when it comes to the spring."
Armentrout is confident that this season's team has the potential to return to the Atlantic Coast Regionals, as it did with a fifth-place finish in the Virginia Conference tournament, and improve on a program-best 11th-place showing there to contend for its first-ever USA Ultimate Collegiate Nationals bid.
"To get back (to regionals) is our main goal this season," he said. "I think we can do it with the talent we've brought in and the talent that we have from last year. We've got a great group of returners to lead the new guys in the right ways and the new guys are just coming out here and putting in 100 percent every single day, really working hard, really trying to grow, not only as players, but spiritually."
He said a key to the Flames' rise among the regional ranks, and witness to opposing players, has been the intentionality in inviting other teams to join their post-game prayers.
"We ask teams after every game if they want to huddle up and pray in a big circle," Armentrout said. "That's something that we really started last year and we … actually had pretty much everybody from other teams come in and join that circle with us and just pray, so it's really nice getting to use a sport that we love as a ministry to God, seeing that many people that come from secular schools or might not even necessarily be believers coming in and praying with us and just building a community."
Carlsen said the opportunity to be ambassadors for the Christ-centered program is an honor like none other.
"Wearing that Liberty name on your shirt is amazing," he said. "It brings a great sense of who we are as a team that we are not just ultimate players, we are not just college students, but ultimately we are children of God. So having that at the forefront and center is ultimately the goal, not just being brothers as a team ourselves, but to go forward and show that testimony to other people, other teams, and hopefully show other people the light of Jesus. However we can do that, however God has made us His hands and feet, hopefully that's the way that we can proceed forward and make ultimately the impact for His glory alone."
Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media Assistant
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