Betcher Photo
Caitlin Murphy and the Milwaukee Monarchs will be part of a frisbee-filled Memorial Day weekend in Madison.
Caitlin Murphy has a vision for ultimate (the flying disc sport that’s ubiquitous in Madison parks every summer), a goal she refers to as a “super low bar” for the sport to clear.
“To be able to play women’s ultimate at a high level and not have to pay for anything, or much,” says the coach of the Milwaukee Monarchs, a women’s team that is nominally professional, but in reality attempts to simply cover its players’ travel and uniform costs.
“The other side of professional sport in any space is visibility and growing the sport in a way that provides access,” she says. “We’re planting the seed for people who don’t know about a thing that we find joy in.”
The Monarchs, who play most home games at Hart Park in Wauwatosa, will host the Atlanta Soul on May 25, 8 p.m., at Reddan Soccer Park in Verona. That’s smack in the middle of a frisbee-filled weekend in “the capital city of ultimate.”
USA Ultimate’s college nationals will take over Reddan starting on the morning of May 24, with semifinals and finals action moving to Breese Stevens Field on May 26 and 27.
The Radicals, Madison’s men’s pro team, host the Minnesota Wind Chill on May 24, 7 p.m. at Breese. (Disclosure: I’m the public address announcer for the Radicals.)
Madison’s college, club and pro teams have traditionally competed for and won national titles and the recreational scene here remains the envy of much larger cities. On a warm summer night, you’re likely to find dozens of Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association league games in parks across the city. Since forming in 2013, the Radicals have built a consistent following, drawing 1,500 or more fans to Breese for games.
The scene here exploded in 1993, when the World Flying Disc Federation brought the world championships to University Bay Fields. But Avery Johnson, a Radicals veteran and assistant coach of the Hodags, the men’s team at UW-Madison, says that scene is evolving thanks to players drawn to the city by a certain health information software company.
“Evidently, Epic brings liberal arts-type people who also play frisbee,” Johnson, a Madison native who started playing as a middle schooler, says. “They bring a lot of other knowledge that maybe wasn’t here before, a lot of different ways of looking at systems and how you play. I think it really helps us grow.”
The UW-Madison teams didn’t qualify for nationals this year, but the opportunity for the state’s two pro teams to play in front of the 1,000-plus college players converging from all over the country —along with the crowds Madison usually provides for ultimate games — will help with Murphy’s vision of visibility.
Johnson thinks the college players who end up in the semis and finals at Breese probably aren’t prepared for what will greet them.
“Every time I’ve been to college nationals, it’s been at a sports complex in some suburb,” he says. “For the finals to be in a city stadium with Madison people who know ultimate from playing MUFA or watching Radicals games, I think it’s going to be pretty special. Maybe the first time being in a setting like that.”
