‘Crazy journey’: Mississauga ultimate frisbee club smashes expectations in first season

When Jeff and Tracy Peeters stepped forward to coach a new junior ultimate frisbee club in Mississauga earlier this year, they were happy to just get it off the ground.

But they got much more than that when both the junior women’s and open teams of the Mississauga Ultimate Club smashed expectations.

“Reflecting on the season and whatnot, it was a crazy, crazy journey,” Jeff told INsauga.com

“It was an incredible ride. It was far beyond what we expected or what we thought would happen.”

Jeff coached the junior open team, while Tracy coached the junior women’s, consisting of high-school aged players. Both teams made it all the way to the national championships in Ottawa last month, finishing higher than they were initially ranked heading into the tournament.

They held tryouts in the spring, and Jeff said it was clear from the turnout that they’d have enough to form an open team with the name “Sauga.”

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“Then we started to line up tournaments,” Jeff said.

“We knew we were going to go to provincials and we ended up finding a couple of tournaments in Bowmanville and Peterborough to enter as well just to get some experience. We quickly made the decision that we would try to make a bid for the national championships.”

Jeff said that in Ontario, only the top five teams for the open division would get a spot in the national championships.

“We thought, well, let’s at least give her a shot,” he said.

Sure enough, they made it. And ended up placing 16th overall nationally.

“We just wanted to get a team off the ground. And to me, that would have been a win if we would have been able to get at least a team off the ground for both the boys and the girls,” Jeff said.

“And we did. And then we ended up doing a lot better.”

For the junior women’s, however, it wasn’t as clear if they’d even have enough players to form a team.

“The girls that did come out were very dedicated and we really wanted to try so we didn’t make a decision about nationals right away because we just didn’t have the numbers,” Tracy said.

But a junior women’s team was formed, named “Sauga Storm.”

The team persisted, participating in tournaments with fewer players than other teams, doing well, and then deciding to make a shot at the provincials. To do that, though, they needed more players.

“So we started recruiting,” Tracy said.

“My team was made up of a lot of newer players than Jeff’s. Some of them have come from other sports. A few just want to try it out. I had a few that had never thrown a disc before. So it was quite the range of players.”

Sauga Storm pushed through and like the junior open team, made it to the nationals, eventually placing 20th overall.

Tracy said the sport is a lot about community, and it was “heartwarming” to see the women’s team become good friends.

“I’m very proud of them,” Tracy said.

“This is our first step. We never thought we’d get this far in our first step.”

Jeff said they want to build on the success for next year.

“Establishing a program was the main goal,” he said while thanking other members of the Mississauga Ultimate Club for helping make that a reality.

“We wanted an alternative for players because right now, for kids who want to play ultimate frisbee at this level, you have to go to Toronto,” he added, noting their son plays for a team in Toronto.

“We want kids to learn the sport, love the sport, grow the sport in our area.”

For more information on the Mississauga Ultimate Club and to learn about its programs, visit the organization’s website.