Champions. Photo by Kathy Jorgenson.
By DCist contributor Jonathan Neeley
The District’s 21-year sports championship drought has quietly come to an end, and we owe all the thanks to…
…Ultimate Frisbee. (OK, fine. DC United won some championships, too. Do those still count after this season, Pablo?)
Scandal, D.C.’s top women’s ultimate team, won last weekend’s USA Ultimate National Championships in Frisco, Tex. They ended San Francisco Fury’s seven-year title run with a 14-7 finals victory, and also beat teams from Seattle, Boston, and Denver during the course of the tournament.
True to District sporting form, Scandal lost plenty of games before it succeeded: the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the 2011 Championship and in the semifinals last year. “It’s been a multi-year process, and every year we think that this is the year and we get our hearts broken at the end of each season,” Scandal captain Octavia Payne said. “To finally get over that hurdle, that’s something to take pride in.”
According to the Sporting and Fitness Industry Association, far more people play ultimate frisbee than lacrosse and rugby combined. And for the women of Scandal, playing means much more than weekend pickup games on the National Mall. Since tryouts began in late April, the team has practiced at least once a week, and players have put in an additional two or three workout days on the track or in the weight room. Scandal attended eight tournaments – weekend-long events as far away as California – during the season.
“The only thing that stops short of calling this a job is that we don’t get paid for it,” Payne said. Over 65 ranked teams from across the country competed in USAU’s Women’s Division this year. “You pour your heart and soul and free time into it. To put it in context, it’s probably like winning the World Series or winning the World Cup. It’s a big deal.”
“I grew up here, and D.C. sports have been tough for awhile,” Jenny Fey, a Scandal veteran who started playing at Yorktown High School in Arlington, said. “The people who have supported us— former teammates, family, friends, youth that we coach, and especially local D.C. league players— has honestly brought me to tears of joy.”
The championship is only the most recent way Scandal has put D.C. on the map. Both Payne and Scandal coach Alex Ghesquiere were members of the United States National Team that won gold at the World Games this summer, and Scandal deep threat Sandy Jorgenson was an alternate. Lauren Sadler, a recent American University grad, won gold with the Under-23 National Team in Toronto.
D.C is home to one of the country’s biggest ultimate communities. There are two semi-professional men’s teams, and according to Rob Luhrs, a Washington Area Frisbee Club board member, about 4,500 people play under the city’s governing body for the sport. Scandal players participate in local leagues and host youth clinics, and in turn, players all over D.C. make up the team’s fan base.
“When I first started playing in D.C. I could barely throw,” Jorgenson said. “The patience and encouragement of just about every person on my summer league team really helped me gain confidence. The WAFC environment was ideal for taking the initial steps toward more competitive levels of play.”
Satori, a former D.C. women’s team member, reached the national semifinals four times in a row from 1989 to1992, but Scandal’s win puts the team in a whole other realm: They are the first team not from the Bay Area, Boston, or Seattle to win a women’s championship since 1989.
The team is trying its luck at scheduling the customary winner’s visit to the White House. “I already emailed the Virginia representative to the House,” former captain Allison Maddux said. “I’m gonna make this happen.”
Disclosure: Neeley plays on the men’s teams, DC Truck Stop and DC Current, and lives with two Scandal players.
