Emory University’s club men’s ultimate frisbee team, Juice, is gearing up for numerous postseason tournaments, hoping to earn a spot at nationals for the first time in team history. Juice competes in USA Ultimate’s Division I where they face off against colleges from all across the country.
Juice is climbing USA Ultimate’s standings after a 3-2 record at the Florida Warm Up in Gainesville, Fla., and a 6th-place finish at the Easterns Qualifier in Wilmington, N.C. Standout freshman Reece Davidman said the team came away with an important win against Brown University (R.I.) at the Florida Warm Up, one of the biggest tournaments of the regular season.
“Last year they won the national championship,” Davidman said. “Going into the game, we were not favored. And then everyone played well, I thought I played pretty well, and we ended up winning 13-11. We all went crazy afterwards, it was a great result for the team.”
Despite being a club sport, Juice requires a lot of commitment and the team’s practices are intense.
“It’s definitely not as intense as a varsity sport, and the commitment isn’t as extreme,” Kim said. “We obviously want our players to be committed to coming to practice and things like that, but we totally understand that people are students first here. If they miss a practice here and there it’s totally okay, as long as they’re just communicating with us.”
Senior co-captain Jason Evans said across the country, ultimate frisbee is known for its vibrant and inclusive community. He said the team’s sense of connection is what “keeps people coming back.”
“People are just there to have a good time and not necessarily to win so much,” Evans said. “That was an adjustment for me [because] a big focus for my other sports was just winning and getting results, but coming to college is a lot of fun to have a game where my focus was just enjoy my time and having fun with other people.”
With the regular season coming to a close, Juice is hoping to make a big push at their sectional and regional tournaments. Kim said the team is focused on making the most of their postseason opportunities, hoping for a spot at nationals.
“You have to place a certain spot high enough to make it to regionals, and usually, we get one bid to nationals [from] our region,” Kim said. “We might get two bids this year because [the University of] Georgia and Georgia [Institute of Technology] are both doing really well. But if we beat one of them, then we have a shot at going to nationals which would be super cool.”
Kim and Evans both feel like there’s something special about this year’s team compared to past teams, and they believe they have a real chance to make some noise in the postseason. Evans attributes this to the steady influx of talent from across the country.
“We keep getting so much great new talent,” Evans said. “It used to be because of connections to the Atlanta area. Atlanta used to be pretty exceptional in the youth ultimate scene, but over the past three-ish years, it’s slowly fallen off. So a lot of our best players have come from high schools across the country.”
Evans credited former Juice member Justin Burnett (23C) as one of the influential figures in putting the team on the map. In 2023, Burnett became the first Juice member to receive the Callahan Award, which USA Ultimate awards to Division I Ultimate’s most valuable player.
“It was the craziest thing, honestly,” Evans said. “It was so sweet because I had played with him for two years, and it was just great to see that success go to somebody who deserves it so much.”
Kim said the inclusivity of the team is what helps them maintain a strong team year after year, and expressed confidence in the future of the team.
“It’s all-around good vibes and a really fun time,” Kim said. “I don’t have any questions or doubts or concerns about how the future is going to look. It’s in extremely capable hands, and it’s just going to keep running smoothly.”
