A year ago in late September, Paulo Barbosa ’25 turned a shared pastime among him and his friends into an established group now known as the Frisbee Club. While this circle of friends has been playing scrimmages together on the front lawn since 2021, they’ve transformed this activity into a formal club, with the aim of collectively improving their skills in a fun environment.

Barbosa first found his passion for the sport during his freshman year, when the gym teachers Heather Serverson and Kelsey O’Gorman introduced frisbee to his class. After that moment, Barbosa grew inspired to learn how to play frisbee, and later on, guided members through watching videos, warmups, and scrimmages.

“Everybody's been much more excited about frisbee in the Frisbee Club because [we are] going through the same journey improving together,” Barbosa said.

Within these groups, the club practices their aim and catching, as well as specific throws such as the forehand, backhand, and overhand.

“I come around to make sure people are releasing the momentum of the frisbee correctly … [and] fine tune everybody's throw to make it better,” said Barbosa. “Then afterward we get into scrimmage teams, and that helps people practice more on catching and running.”

While each member is dedicated to enhancing their skills, the club has a wide variety of skill sets, ranging from beginners to experienced players.

“We make sure to include everybody fairly and we also evenly balance teams during scrimmages to make sure everybody has a very fun and inclusive time,” said Barbosa. “I also make sure to tell our better members that we should focus more on including the newer people rather than trying to win a game because you want... them [to] have that fun experience with the club.

Although the Frisbee Club is relatively new, the membership has increased since the Club Fair, where they brought in around 15 more members. With plans to promote the club more on their Instagram page, @phs_ultimate_frisbee_club, Barbosa is determined to share his passion for frisbee with the rest of the student body.

“Everybody's really excited to play,” said Barbosa. “I got people emailing me when the next Frisbee Club [meeting] is even though it's really cold, so I think the general well-being and... participant tendency of our members have boosted... because we've been able to fine-tune everything more.”

One major goal Barbosa is hoping to achieve is for members to play in a more energetic and competitive environment, by joining the American Association of Ultimate Frisbee. With free pinnies and equipment given by the Association, Barbosa plans to use these resources to train before playing in competitions and tournaments.

“We've also been recently thinking about setting smaller tournaments between the schools [we’ve talked to] with our members,” said Barbosa. “I know I have a contact in Hun who might be able to help the Princeton Ultimate Frisbee club grow and … maybe we'll make up games with Hun in the future.”

In addition to playing in a challenging atmosphere, Barbosa aspires for these bonds the club forged to last even after he graduates, carrying on his legacy and determination to share his love for frisbee.

“I was just really excited and happy to see so many people [who] wanted to play frisbee and ... get some good exercise in, and I'm really happy that it was Frisbee,” said Barbosa. “I can see ourselves going way farther with this because our team... is just [this] close now.