Ben Breazile, University College freshman, plays ultimate frisbee with his teammates during a team practice which took place last Thursday. Duke Lambert/The Daily

Amid the touch-football and lacrosse practices, an uncountable number of Frisbees fly through air at the back corner of the Intramural Fields. Even though it’s just a warm-up exercise, 30 men continually dive to catch Frisbees carried away by the wind.

“Being from Oklahoma, we practice with the wind a lot, so we have an advantage when we go to tournaments in windy places,” said Zach Walchuk, industrial engineering graduate student. “To work with the wind you have to release the disc at a certain angle and get a lot more spin on the disc.”

Walchuk is a member of the OUltimate Frisbee team that competes during the fall and spring semesters against other colleges. College Ultimate Frisbee season doesn’t start until spring semester, but club season, involving a number of tournaments, is in full swing. OUltimate will host a home tournament Oct. 24 and 25 called Just Plain Nasty, team captain Michael Rice said.

“It is a little more laid-back tournament geared toward fun and we usually encourage some local teams to compete,” said civil engineering senior Rice. “This year we are hoping for a high school team from Norman to play.”

To prepare for these tournaments, the team practices every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The team’s conditioning captain Lyle Clark, criminology sophomore, said the team will start conditioning for upcoming tournaments soon.

Rice said he has high hopes for OUltimate since they are at the end of a team transition period.

“Two years ago, we had a large portion of our team graduate, and there were only a few experienced players left to rebuild the team,” Rice said. “Last year the younger players seemed to keep to themselves more, but this year, we are a closer-knit team with a lot more mingling amongst the older and younger guys.”

University College freshman Chris Larberg is new to the team this year, but said the team was eager to have him join.

“One day, I saw some guys throwing Frisbees and since I played in high school, they asked me to join,” Larberg said. “I felt very welcomed. Everyone is very laid-back. They are all great guys and are more than welcome to answer any questions.”

Between new and old members, it is important to have structure in practice because it builds team unity and chemistry among other teammates, Clark said.

“We are all really close,” Walchuk said. “We hang out a lot and when we go to tournaments we are together the whole weekend, so we are all really close friends.”

Walchuk said that for some Ultimate Frisbee players, their teammates are their main group of friends.

“Six of us live at Duffy house (a three-bedroom house off Duffy Street, north of campus),” Walchuk said. “But there are a few other apartments and houses around that are just filled with Frisbee players. It really helps on the field to be close to your teammates.”