When one thinks of sports at IU, it’s NCAA Division I football and basketball teams that likely come to mind. Luckily, one doesn't have to play at a Division I level in order to participate in the sport they love.
One sport in particular that has flourished at IU is ultimate frisbee. IU's ultimate frisbee men's club team, the HoosierMamas, has grown significantly in the past four years. The HoosierMamas travel approximately five weekends per season to compete with teams from across the country. The Mamas now have over 60 participants.
Koby Davis, a senior at IU, has played ultimate frisbee for 11 years. He is currently the treasurer of the HoosierMamas. Although Davis has a lot of experience with ultimate frisbee, that is not the case for many players on the team.
"I'd say most of our players have never played frisbee before,” Davis said. “They find us at RecFest or at the involvement fair or on social media, or they have friends that drag them along to practice and they fall in love."
Over his past four years on the Mamas, Davis has seen his teammates become more intentional at doing what it takes to get better and to win.
"Obviously we've wanted to win the whole time,” Davis said. “We practice three days a week, but it's taking those actions outside of practice.It's trying hard at team workouts the other four days of the week. It's watching film when the coaches assign it. It's getting closer with your teammates so you have better chemistry on the field."
Between their two-hour skills practices at Woodlawn Fields and their 11 p.m.-1 a.m. conditioning sessions at the Mellencamp Pavilion, the HoosierMamas are dedicating approximately 12-20 hours per week to perfecting their craft.
Davis says that the team's time commitment to the sport, despite having jobs and being full-time students, is the reason they are improving.
"We're in there and we're doing conditioning and it sucks and it's miserable and the whole time you just want to leave, but the fact that everyone is willing to stay through that and do it together, that's why we're getting better and why the team is a team," Davis said.
The Mamas are supported by the Indiana Men's Ultimate Foundation, an IRS-approved nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping individuals develop the necessary skills to excel at ultimate frisbee at IU.
The women’s frisbee team has a similar energy. Berkeley Humphries is a sophomore on the women's club ultimate frisbee team, Calamity Jane.
Humphries never played ultimate frisbee before coming to IU as an out-of-state student. Nevertheless, she fell in love with both the sport and her team when she joined in 2023.
"I think I found all of my best friends through it, like all the people that I hang out with every day are affiliated with frisbee,” Humphries said. “It's kind of consumed my life in a way, in the best way."
What Humphries loves the most about her team is the community, both within the IU campus and in the whole state of Indiana.
"Surprisingly, there's a lot of people that play frisbee in the Bloomington community and even people in Indianapolis that have a lot of support for our program," Humphries said. "They come and help us out with practice and make sure each player is growing individually."
Humphries believes that the supportive environment surrounding the Calamity Janes has been a big contributor to their success. The team has practices at Woodlawn Fields on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they will periodically attend workout classes at the Student Recreational Sports Center.
After reminiscing about her time on the Janes, Humphries left some final thoughts about her love for the team.
"It's a very supportive environment, and everyone is always willing to help and to play with us so it's awesome," Humphries said.
Ryan Fitzgerald has been the assistant director of IU Intramural Sports since 2019. In his five years on the job, he has seen the program undergo a lot of change.
"As we continue to grow and expand the program offerings we are able to offer new sports,” Fitzgerald said. “We are partnering with different areas on campus, which helps us expand our reach."
IU Intramural Sports is partnering with the Indiana Memorial Union in the spring to offer a bowling league, and it is also partnering with the Pfau Golf Course(near the Bill Armstrong Stadium) to offer a golf scramble league. Golf scramble is a fun, tournament-style game where teams of golfers try to get the lowest possible score on each hole.
"We really want to provide a program that folks look forward to coming out to play and it's well organized and easy to navigate so that at the end of the day when they leave, they're having fun," Fitzgerald said.
IU Intramural Sports has a council of participants that provide feedback to IU Recreational Sports staff, ultimately helping them improve the participant experience, Fitzgerald said. Listening to the voices of participants has helped IMLeagues create more opportunities for students to compete both recreationally and competitively.
"Sport by nature is competitive,” Fitzgerald said. “We understand that and we realize that…and that's why we offer such a variety of leagues through our program; with both recreational and competitive experiences."
