The ISU women’s ultimate club is in the midst of a building season this fall as the team prepares to make another run at nationals in the spring. After losing several key seniors from last year’s squad, the club is searching for new talent.

Success of past teams has come from hard work, dedication to practices and goals of competing in nationals. The strive to be the best has been passed down from team to team now for the past several years.

“The teams from when we first started making nationals were committed to practice and working harder,” said Lana Seiler, one of the team’s three coaches. “They had the goal of wanting to make nationals and knew that they would have to work harder and commit to practice.”

The club has already filled many of the voids left from last year’s seniors but is still searching for newcomers. The goal is to teach the rookies about the game in the fall, so they are ready to compete at a higher level come spring.

The team will allow students to sign up as late as the start of the spring season. 

“We’re adding a lot more depth to our roster, so we’ll have multiple people who understand multiple positions and play them very well,” said junior co-captain Janani Ragothaman. “That’s what we’re trying to do in the fall, so that we’re ready for the spring season.”

Newcomers have the ability to learn the game this fall and will have an opportunity to play competitively this spring.

Junior Kelly Schiro said she learned the basics of the game last fall and by spring was ready to compete competitively with teams from in and around Iowa.

In order to compete at the same level of intensity as teams of previous years, the club has to be willing to put in the time and effort in each practice and improve each week.

“We have fantastic coaches, so we’re just going to use what they teach us,” said sophomore Brittnee Grimshaw. “We’re still practicing with the same level of intensity. We’re learning new plays and strategies, and we’re all working together to stay a strong team.”

Expectations for the team remain high among players after the recent success they have had.

“We want to be a really strong, consistent team and qualify for nationals,” Grimshaw said. “Hopefully we can still be one of the top teams in the nation.”

Players on the team all look forward to the spring season when they finally get the opportunity to prove themselves in tournaments in an attempt to make nationals.

“You get to compete with your team more and you get to see how far you’ve all come together,” Grimshaw said. “You also get to spend a lot of time with your friends and meet new people.”