The men’s ultimate frisbee season is in swing for 2016-17 school year. The Shield spoke with senior Joey Cowser to hear how the captain originally got involved with the team and the team’s goals for this season.

The Shield: What position do you play on the team?

Joey Cowser: I am primarily a cutter.

The cutter in ultimate frisbee is primarily charged with cutting, juking and getting open for handler pass to them.

The Shield: When did you get involved with Ultimate Frisbee?

Cowser: I got involved freshman year. I had no prior knowledge or experience with the sport. I came out to the welcome week game my freshman year and I never looked back.

The Shield: What kept you coming back?

Cowser: The competitiveness of the sport was kind of what I was looking for. I did a lot of sports When I found ulitmate and realized how competitive it was I fell in love with it.

The Shield: Could you imagine a college career without playing ultimate?

Cowser: I couldn’t imagine what I would be doing in college if I hadn’t played ultimate it’s brought me some best friends and some lifelong friends.

The Shield: What made it easy to form those friendships?

Cowser:The camaraderie that goes along with it, you depend on your teammates on the field. We have a close connection on and off the field.

The Shield: Does the team have any specific goals this year?

Cowser: Every year we want to be successful. This year in particular we really want to make regionals. That’s pretty much our goal every year.

The Shield: Can you give a small description of how regionals works?

Cowser: It starts as sectionals, four teams in the sectional go to the regional. It’s just a collective group of awesome ultimate talent. It’s close to the pinnacle of where we want to be in the ulimate community.

The Shield: What has stood in the way of regionals in the past years?

Cowser: The past few year it hasn’t been what we expected. We went in with fewer numbers than we hoped. We haven’t been able to make regionals by ourselves per say. We haven’t really made it on our own. There have been some years where teams drop out and there are open spots.

The Shield: What makes you feel this year could be different?

Cowser:I’m liking our chances this year with the group of guys we have. The group of freshmen we have assimilated into the sport. We are meshing early on.

The Shield: How many tournaments do you play in the fall?

Cowser: We do three tournaments in the fall. We had our first one two weeks ago. What those tournaments are is for development help everyone get used to the game.

The Shield: How did this years first tournament go?

Cowser:We went 5-2 in our first tournament. It was really encouraging for the guys to get those wins.

The Shield: What strengths does the team have this year compared to past teams?

Cowser: I think we are more optimistic this year than we have been in the past. Our attitude toward each other and the sport in general is really optimistic. We are looking forward to what there is to come.