Walk out to Eagle Field in the afternoon, and you will find yourself amid a sea of flying disks. You might also see a Frisbee getting bigger and wonder why; then, it hits you. On the single grass field of the entire campus, you have just walked into a game of Ultimate Frisbee.
With the addition of Mr. Louie Brown, Ultimate has entered a new season with a new coach. Mr. Brown’s decision to assume the role, coaching alongside Dr. Andrew Fenton, comes from his experience of playing the sport at Haverford.
“I was a wrestler, and I played Ultimate—it was a favorite sport of mine, and it was awesome. I think there’s something important about the makeup of the team that I like,” Mr. Brown said.
Despite just starting the season, Mr. Brown feels that coaching has allowed him to interact with students in a way that is different and more expansive from teaching in the classroom.
“It lets me see a different side of the students that we play with and meet students that I don’t have in my classes,” Mr. Brown said. “The role of a teacher is very different from the role of a coach.”
Mr. Brown described coaching Ultimate like counseling at summer camps, where he first started working with young people.
“There’s something about that sort of intimacy, the familiarity that I really like about sport coaching.”
Coach Louie Brown
“Being a coach feels much more like being a counselor than a teacher to me. And there’s something about that sort of intimacy, the familiarity that I really like about sport coaching,” he said.
Yet, Mr. Brown is not without any hesitations or worries, some of which involve playing different schools during a pandemic and bonding with the team. While he has served as team captain, coaching Ultimate is a new experience, but Mr. Brown is eager to iron out his concerns.
“I know there’s going to be some growing pains, but I think the things that I’m hesitant about are also the things I’m most excited to explore and what will teach me the most about how to connect with our students and about how to make something meaningful out of playing Ultimate for an hour every day,” he said.
Mr. Brown is eager to have some games, which currently are scheduled but, as he noted, are not entirely promised for this season. Beyond playing, Mr. Brown also hopes to see the team grow.
“We have a pretty small team, and we have some really solid players and a lot of a lot of very promising freshmen this year and promising players of all years,” Mr. Brown said.
Though he calls himself a competitive person, Mr. Brown prefers to compete with himself to gain self-improvement, something which he accomplished while playing rugby in college.
“I’m just excited to see the way that we improve as a team, and the way that people not only improve as individual players, but as little team community, as a small family. “
Coach Louie Brown
“It’s less important that I’m better than someone else. It’s more important than I’m better than I was last practice or last game or whatever. You can be better at something if you practice and take your time with it and focus,” Mr. Brown said. “So I’m just excited to see the way that we improve as a team, and the way that people not only improve as individual players, but as little team community, as a small family. ”
Mr. Brown encourages those interested in Ultimate to join the team.
“If you wanna play Ultimate, we’ve got unlimited room on our team,” Mr. Brown said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
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