The Stephen F. Austin High School Ultimate Frisbee program, known as Wham, started its new season on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. While the team typically begins in September, the early practice allows more skill-strengthening and relationship-building. The team is led by a handful of coaches including Adam Croissant, Eileen Nehme, Victoria Bellamy, and Joe Sefton who work alongside the student captains to lead the other players on the team. Unfortunately, many of the senior ultimate team members including past captains from last year have since graduated from Austin High, so with practice starting up, new student captains have been chosen to lead the team. This year’s captains range from seniors to sophomores, each possessing skills to better the team. The new captains include seniors Henry Diraddo and Noah Ramirez, juniors Jack Wagoner and Lily Gottlieb, and sophomore Gabriel Guzman.
Henry Diraddo has been a long-time member of Wham, making him a clear choice for captain this year. Starting freshman year, Diraddo has shown his skills time and time again across a plethora of various events such as the McNeil tournament and State tournament recently. Diraddo has also been organizing the summer practices for the team. Diraddo was on the A team last year, dominating other schools out on the field. Last year, Diraddo lent help to new players on the team, helping them become familiar with the sport and improve on the field, something he continues to do as captain this year.
Noah Ramirez, another ideal selection for captain, has been an integral part of the Austin High Ultimate Frisbee team since his freshman year. This year he hopes to see it go even further under this year’s choice of captains alongside himself as they strive for greatness. Throughout the last four years, he’s been strengthening his leadership and collaboration skills. Last year, Ramirez was a central player in Wham’s A team, making an advancement to student captain obvious.
Jack Wagoner showed his ability to lead last year when he was the captain of the B team. Wagoner worked closely with the previous captains to improve his skills both in leadership and as an ultimate frisbee player. This year Wagoner has tried to fill the large shoes left by last year’s senior captains. Wagoner’s positive and competitive attitude has helped the team succeed, which was instrumental in the B team’s success last year and will continue to influence this year’s success. Wagoner strives for perfection in his team as he pushes them forward towards new heights.
Lily Gottlieb is one of the strongest players on the team and the only female captain this year. Gottlieb was the B team captain during last year’s season, leading players toward success during practices and tournaments. This year, Gottlieb is founding a league (for female and non-binary students) allowing greater inclusion and acceptance in the sport. She will be leading this team with the help of Adam Croissant, the previous and continuing head coach of Wham. So far this project has been greatly successful in making students from Austin High feel comfortable in a sport that most of them were previously new to entirely.
Gabriel Guzman is a loved member of the Austin frisbee scene. After his debut at Small Middle School, Guzman has grown into a formidable force on the field. While the youngest of the captains, Guzman has shown his ability to lead the team just as well as any of the other more experienced captains. When asked about his leadership, Guzman said “I feel like I’m determined and committed to Frisbee and I care a lot about my players and If they want to get better I will help them get better”. Guzman is a spirited player who represents the largest group of frisbee players. Last year Guzman was the captain of the C Team, bringing great success for the mostly freshman team who ended up above their more experienced B team friends.
Wham is in great hands this year, with coaches both new and old stepping in to shape the team. The new season captains are all players fit to strengthen the team and lead them to success.
