4. A Wolfpack

 

A Wolfpack

May 29, Madison, Wisconsin, around 10am

On the fourth field in the second column, Madison North Women's team was playing their quarterfinal match. Seven players were moving in unison as Madison North moved to field the pull. In bright orange jerseys, the opposing players of Oregon High School ran down the field to cover their matched player. Two Madison North players hung back to track down the pull as the others pushed downfield. #17 of North received the pull and immediately fired a pass to #49, who bore a striking resemblance to X from the North Men’s team, but wore her hair in cornrows instead of an afro. 

In contrast with the offense that their men’s team counterparts ran, Madison North Women’s used a vertical stack offense. Five players, each with 4 or 5 meters between them moved to stand in a straight line in the center of the field. The score of the game was 12-9 in favor of Madison North, a single point here and they’d move on. 

Anya, the player in the #49 jersey gathered the pass from Julia, who wore #17. Anya had held the disc for only an instant when a cut first erupted from the furthest downfield part of the stack. The first cutter to move was Sofia, who appeared deceptively average at a glance. Three steps was all it took for Sofia to shake her defender. Acres of open field opened up in front of Sofia, giving Anya time and space to loft an easy throw for Sofia to gather. With a smooth pass from Anya to Sofia, North’s offense was off and running. 

Clearing space and cutting in unison, the disc flowed downfield. Each player trusted the next, and each player executed their role as they had practiced and the rest of their team expected of them. In only a few moment’s time, Madison North was inches from the end zone, their offense continued its ebb and flow as Anya cut from the backfield into the endzone to a pocket of space that Sofia vacated moments earlier. Julia put the disc on a platter and served it up beautifully for Anya, leading her into space. Anya watched the disc into her hands until it stopped spinning, fully within her grip. With possession retained in the end zone, the Madison North players erupted into cheers. Madison North’s players huddled up, smiling, congratulating and complimenting each other’s play. 

Anya called out from the huddle “Get in here Coach Benny” beckoning to the team’s coach. Coach Benny was short and strong, and perpetually wore a stern look that momentarily gave way to a  slight smile. As coach Benny approached the huddle, they let the smirk form into a full smile. For the first time in eight years, the Madison North Women’s team was one of the top four teams in the state of Wisconsin. 

“You see what happens when you play together?” Coach Benny asked the huddle with a growing atmosphere of pride around them. “When you play together, and you play smart, and you play strong, you get to have fun and you win!” A chorus of cheers erupted as Coach Benny paused before speaking again “But, hey, we’re not done yet, we’ve still got more ultimate to play.” The stern look returned as Coach Benny continued “We scored 13 points in this game, now we need to score 13 in the next one. One point at a time, keep playing together alright? ‘Together’ on 3, then go line up okay! 1! 2! 3!”

“TOGETHER” the entire team shouted simultaneously at the top of their lungs. Madison North finished the post game formalities before packing up their stuff and moving to the first field in the column. Anya looked to the field in the distance and felt her stomach waver a little. In years of playing, Anya had never wavered even once. Anya had plowed through uncharted territory before, but none as unfamiliar as this, the walk to the first field for a semifinal game. As the team got closer to the next field, Anya’s mouth dried out, and she felt her hands start to sweat.

Anya looked to her right “Hey Reagan, you’re nervous too right?” Anya’s voice didn’t waver as she asked her teammate. 

Reagan chuckled “yes, yes I am.” Reagan smiled and looked Anya in the eyes. “Only you could casually imply you’re nervous while looking absolutely unmoved.” 

Anya let the second statement slide and then turned to her teammate on the left “And Sofia, you’re nervous too?” Anya’s intonations barely marked the phrase as a question.

“Yes! But you don’t need to be so goddamn confident about it!” Sofia retorted before continuing “The almighty Anya is finally nervous so all us lesser beings must too be weak in the knees and unsettled in the stomach.” Sofia was extraordinarily animated and dramatic in her delivery. 

Anya looked down to the shorter Sofia next to her and responded with a smile “You’re ridiculous, and you’re lucky you’re funny.” The three friends laughed and the team finally arrived at the first field. There, Madison West, the reigning champs who for years had a stranglehold on the state were already warming up.

A few minutes later the game began with Madison West pulling to Madison North. The teams rallied back and forth in the early parts of the game, each team making the most of their offensive opportunities and putting in the effort to make their opponent’s life miserable while on defense. Through the first 12 points, neither team would yield, and the score was tied 6-6.

Madison West was again pulling to Madison North, and the point began like the first twelve had. Madison North was aggressive, teammates communicated with each other, attacking open space and working in unison. The team worked as a unit, embodying the mantra of the season: “together.” Together, Madison North worked the disc to 20 yards shy of the Madison West end zone. The disc was in Julia’s hands in the center of the field. Julia’s breath was calm and steady as she regarded the field in front of her. 

All year long Madison North had worked to become stronger together. They learned to take the smart play, find the open hands, and hit them. When at their best, their offense did not appear spectacular, just regular throws to regular cuts to maintain possession and work down the field. A regular, clean, offense that finds the open players is incredibly hard to stop with anything short of a spectacular play. The trouble is sometimes you play against spectacular players who can make spectacular plays and upend your entire offense with a single move. 

Madison West was always home to a host of spectacular players. Their entire program, both the men’s and women’s team, developed and produced spectacular players year in and year out. Misty Sharp was just one of many spectacular players in this year’s graduating class out of Madison West. In this moment as Julia pivoted and faked, stepping out to throw to a cutter downfield, Misty Sharp made a spectacular play. The play itself was a gamble, but the stall count was high and Misty had incredible instincts for a high school player. It was a gamble where the odds were tilting in the favor of Misty’s instincts, but it was still a gamble. 

As Julia stepped out and released the throw, Misty, who had been marking Julia, laid out and threw her arms in the path of the disc. The disc slammed into one of Misty’s forearms and dropped to the ground. Julia was stunned for a fraction of a second as her brain processed what happened. The shock radiated through the entire Madison North team as they moved to get on defense. Madison West played with the same unyielding aggression as Madison North, with the same synchronicity, but had one slight advantage, starpower. Madison North had their share of incredible players, but for every top player Madison North had, West had three. 

Madison West took advantage of the spectacular play and marched down the field to go up 7-6, bringing the game to halftime. Madison North, despite being down against a team with more firepower, was then going to half to pull to West to start the second half. The two teams battled it out for the next several points, with Madison North at one point rallying to tie the game at 10. In the end, Madison West prevailed, scraping by with a 13-12 win. 

With the game over and postgame formalities conducted, Coach Benny gathered the team “First things first, I am proud of you all. This is the first time our women’s team has made semis in eight years, and we just took the best team in the state head on and almost beat them. I know nobody wants to be the team that almost beat the champs, but it shows that we have it in us to compete now, and for those of us who will be back, to compete again next year. Let’s go secure 3rd place and we’ll talk again after that. Together on 3. 1! 2! 3!” 

“Together” rang out again over the fields. Madison North moved to the 2nd field to play against Sun Prairie in the third place game. The frustration of losing such a close semifinal did not linger too long with the North players. Madison North quickly got into a groove and tore Sun Prairie to shreds winning by a final score of 13-6. 

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Coach Benny spoke briefly after the final game was over, covering again how proud they were of the team and then turned the space over to the players. Coach Benny instructed the players to share some of their favorite moments from the season. As the rest of the players spoke, Anya remained quiet, listening and enjoying the stories as her teammates shared. Anya noticed quickly that not a single person shared a personal highlight from a game, each player was elevating their teammates. 

Finally after everyone else on the team had shared, Anya spoke. “On the first day of outdoor practice this year, Coach Benny, you said that we’d achieve more than we could possibly imagine if we stuck together. That was my favorite moment this year, because in that moment it felt like we were all ready to dive headfirst into the season. Thank you all for diving headfirst into this season with me.” A chorus of thank yous hummed around the circle of gathered players. Moments later the team gathered for the final cheer of “together” for the season. 

↼⇀ ↼⇀ ↼⇀

Frederick and X slowly approached Anya. Anya and X were twins and the 3 had been friends for as long as they could remember. Due to their differing hairstyles, X often appeared as taller than Anya because his Afro added several inches to his height. Anya wore her hair in cornrows, and was actually slightly taller than X without counting hair. As if sensing the presence of her twin, Anya addressed the two without looking. 

“So how did you do?” There was nothing harsh about the wording or Anya’s tone as she asked, but it was enough to make the two boys flinch. The disappointment of the end of their season still lingered. The moment of silence that passed was enough for Anya to speak again “That bad huh?” Anya turned and stood up, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder as she spoke. 

“We got 7th.” Frederick flatly declared.

“Not bad. Could’ve been worse,” Anya responded “We got third.” Both Frederick and Anya had spoken plainly, but all three of the friends could sense an underlying hunger. 

X’s lips curled into a slight smile as he finally addressed his sister. “We’re gonna put in a lot of work this summer.”

Anya smiled in response “Of course.” Anya and X’s mother Mrs. Clark, along with the twin’s younger brother Zed, appeared almost out of nowhere. Anya, X, and Frederick had been so focused on each other that they were startled when Mrs. Clark announced their presence.

“Before you put in all your work for frisbee over the summer, you need to recover from this tournament. One thing at a time”  Mrs. Clark was taller than both X and Anya, as well as slimmer in build. She wore her hair in dreadlocks that were speckled with gray. Zed was slightly shorter than both X and Anya, but he was larger in build and outweighed his siblings. Anya and X would refuse to admit it, but they both knew Zed was capable of surpassing both of them as ultimate players if he decided to join the team next fall when he entered high school. 

“I just wanted to tell you thank you Freddy for driving Anya and X today.” Mrs. Clark was one of very few people who Frederick would let call him ‘Freddy.’ The others were his own mother and his grandmothers. Not even X or Anya had called him anything but Frederick for years. 

“You’re welcome Mrs. Clark, thank you for coming out and supporting us.” Frederick replied graciously. 

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world” Mrs. Clark smiled. Anya, X, Frederick, Zed, and Mrs. Clark chatted as they walked to the parking lot. There, Zed and Mrs. Clark met with Mr. Clark who had gone ahead to pack up the chairs and cooler that the family had brought. Anya, X, and Frederick walked the extra distance to where Frederick’s car was parked and all clambered in. When all three of them had first gotten their driver’s licenses, Anya and X would routinely squabble over who would get to sit shotgun when Frederick was driving. This led to Frederick instating a rule that if they argued over who got to sit in the front, they would both have to sit in the back. Without uttering a single word, the twins placed their bags in the trunk and moved to sit in their respective seats, Anya in front, and X behind her. 

The drive from the fields to their neighborhood was around 20 minutes. Frederick left Anya in charge of playing music, and soon obscure new ska bands were blasting through the speakers of the car. The energy of the music was infectious and soon even the dejected Frederick and X were jamming out. 

It was still early in the afternoon when the trio arrived at their homes. Frederick gave Anya and X a quick hug before they went their separate ways. As Frederick entered his house he was greeted with the smell of cooking food. A medley of spices and rich flavors danced into Frederick’s nose. 

His mother yelled from the kitchen “food will be ready in 10 minutes, shower quickly before it gets cold! And make sure to take your laundry out of your bag so we can run it tonight! And put your cleats in the garage so they don’t stink up the house!” Frederick smiled as he was greeted by his mother’s way of saying she loved him. 

“Yes mom, will do” Frederick assured, and then went about his tasks. 20 minutes later, cleaned from his shower  and with his laundry ready to be run and his cleats in the garage, Frederick sat down at his place at the kitchen table where there was a plate of food still steaming and warm. “Thank you for cooking, mom,” Frederick said before picking up his fork to eat. 

“You’re welcome Freddy, anything for my favorite child.” Frederick’s mother spoke with a smile and a tinge of sarcasm as she called Frederick her favorite. Frederick was in fact an only child. Frederick ate, helped his mother clean the kitchen, and then went to his room and took a nap. When Frederick awoke he checked his phone and navigated through the multitude of notifications from teammates tagging him in end-of-season posts. Frederick couldn’t help but smile as his teammates radiated joy and gratitude for the season. 

Later that day, after dinner as the sun slowly drifted to the west to set for the day, Frederick built a fire in his backyard. There was a small fire pit surrounded by several chairs nestled into one corner of the yard. Frederick took great care in building the fire, constructing it as his grandfather had taught him years ago. As he built up the, Frederick reflected on the season. The more he thought the less he could find the space in his mind to be disappointed. He had stayed healthy and had gotten to spend time with his friends and make good memories. With the logs all arranged for a fire, Frederick lit some kindling with a flint and steel and stoked the fire to grow. 

As the fire caught, Anya and X entered the yard and greeted Frederick. The twins were laden with snacks and beverages that would certainly all be gone by the end of the night. Anya and X pulled chairs closer to the fire and the trio sat and began talking. 

“You both are going to MadBots tryouts next weekend right?” Frederick asked the twins. The MadBots were the Madison area’s youth club program. There were 5 divisions at the Youth Club Championships that would take place in August: U17 boys and girls, U20 boys and girls, and U20 mixed. The U20 mixed team was the flagship program, where the best players were rostered. 

“Of course” Anya and X spoke in stereo. Frederick nodded in response. The rest of the night  ultimate was hardly discussed as the 3 friends enjoyed each other’s company. What felt like only moments later it was midnight, Frederick slowly let the fire die down as the humid air of early summer turned cool. Finally, with the snacks gone and the fire dying, X stood up.

“You know, we’ve only got one more stab at winning State” X declared, his words kept short and blunt. Anya and Frederick nodded and X smiled. “We’re gonna win.” The last of the dying fire reflected in X’s eyes, reflecting the certainty of his words. 

“We’re gonna get stronger” Frederick matched the certainty and confidence of X as he spoke. 

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the world that wants to win more than us” Anya declared. 

Fin Chapter 4