Players bring their love of Ultimate to national championships

Date: 8/24/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW - Three members of the Boston BUDA Ultimate team call Longmeadow their home, and one of those members called the team's second place finish at the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) Youth Club Championships in Blaine, Minn., "bittersweet."

AJ Hutchins, Ryan Rzepka and John Narmontas all played for the Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance (BUDA) during the championship games Aug. 8 and 9.

Hutchins and Rzepka, both 19, served as co-captains on the team.

"Seventy-five kids tried out for the team, and we took 19 on our traveling roster," Hutchins said. "We had a good mix of the best players from a bunch of teams."

Hutchins, Rzepka and Narmontas all got their start on the Longmeadow High School Ultimate team.

"I joined the team because of a bet one of my friends made me," Hutchins laughed. "He said if he made it into this lacrosse net at a ridiculous angle that I'd have to join the team. He did it. I didn't even know about Ultimate until high school."

What is Ultimate? According to the UPA, it is a sport that combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football. It is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent's end zone.

"I love Ultimate so much because it's so different from all other sports," Narmontas said. "It's a great sport and I know from experience that it requires more running, hard work, determination and leadership than anything else I have ever been a part of."

Due to an old injury flaring up, Narmontas did not participate in the Youth Club Championships, but said he still had fun being there.

BUDA won their game against Disc Northwest on Aug. 8 by a score of 15-14.

"It was definitely more competitive than years past," Rzepka said, "and beating Seattle [Disc Northwest] in pool play was definitely the most memorable moment. They're our rivals. I was running on pure adrenaline."

On Aug. 9, BUDA trounced the Denver Cutthroat team 15-9 in the quarterfinals and beat the Pittsburgh Impulse 15-8 in the semifinals. BUDA lost to Disc Northwest in the finals by a score of 15-9.

"This was my fourth trip out to the tournament," Hutchins stated. "This year was definitely more intense for me because it was my last year [playing in the youth division]. Taking second place was bittersweet."

The Youth Club Championships have inspired Hutchins and Rzepka to continue playing in an older age bracket. Hutchins, who attends Nichols College, is planning on starting a team there; Rzepka, a student at the University of Vermont, said his team will be making a run at nationals this year.

The inspiration for success is there for Narmontas, who will be a high school junior this fall, as well.

"After being put on varsity [my freshman year] I basically devoted my life to Ultimate," he said. "I never would have believed that I would become captain of Longmeadow Ultimate and make the YCC's New England team. I am absolutely looking forward to playing on the team again next year. I know that AJ and Ryan are looking for me to carry on Longmeadow Ultimate and become an experienced player for BUDA."

The Longmeadow team was ranked 24th in the nation in 2007.

For more information on the 2009 Youth Club Championships and Ultimate, visit www.upa.org.