LUFDA, the Luther men’s Ultimate Flying Disc Association, has recently been recognized as one of the top 25 Ultimate teams in the nation, due in no small part to their own skill and dedication.

“We’ve had a really good season,” said Dan McAdam (‘08), co-captain of LUFDA. “We’ve worked really hard.”

At College Southerns, the national Ultimate Frisbee tournament held March 22-23 in Statesboro, Ga., the team beat Penn State University and Virginia Tech, but lost to the big dogs from Ohio State University and the University of North Carolina-Willmington.

“[Ohio State and UNC Wilmington] are two of the top 20 teams in the nation,” said Drew Lee (‘09), another co-captain.

The weekend of April 5-6 at another tournament called “Fools Fest” in Lawrence, Kan. the men took second in a 16-team tournament. The team lost in the finals to the University of Colorado, who placed second at nationals in 2007.

The impressive finish showed just how legitimate the team has become.

“We beat Big 12 [and SEC] schools like Arkansas, Kansas and Kansas State,” said Lee. “It’s cool being one of these small schools that nobody has heard of and taking down these top schools.”

Luther will be hosting a regional tournament April 26-27, which will feature top schools from around the region. It will host 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams and will decide who goes to nationals this year.

“This tournament is going to [include] the top 16 teams in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas,” said Lee.

Schools like the University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, Carleton College (Minn.), Winona State University (Minn.), St. Olaf College (Minn.), University of Iowa, Marquette University (Wisc.) and Iowa State University will all be attending the regional tournament.

LUFDA will have to face talented out of state teams at Regionals.

“The top two teams from Regionals go to Nationals,” said McAdam. “Wisconsin and Carleton have a stranglehold on the region. The only time they get knocked out of the running is when they knock out each other.”

The University of Minnesota is also a strong contender in the region. With these three dominating forces in play, LUFDA has their work cut out for them.

“But we’ve got a shot nonetheless,” said Sean “Frenchie” Breaux (‘08).

Since LUFDA is only a club sport at Luther and is entirely student-led, what they have accomplished so far is a testament to the players’ hard work.

“We have to recruit, train, teach each other, organize and get all our forms filled out [since we don’t have a coach], but I like being a club sport,” said Lee.

This is how the team has been run since its inception five years ago. The team is well-established and, with its evident improvement, it hopes to grow stronger.

“‘Club sport’ doesn’t mean we ... take it any less seriously,” said McAdam. “It’s a pretty big team initiative. Everybody wants to get better.”

Not only has the team been working hard since the snow melted, but their dedication is reflected in the off-season training as well.

“It’s probably been the hardest off-season training we’ve ever had,” said Breaux. “We’ve put a lot of work into it.”

Tossing Frisbees and running calisthenics is not the only thing that has brought the team to where it is now. Their commitment to each other has also been a major factor.

“We’ve created a lot of good bonds on the team,” said Breaux. “The physical aspects [of our training] are obviously helpful, but the team bond has been even more helpful.”

The support for LUFDA among Luther students and alumni is strong. Along with the team’s pride, it is indebted to the college for its support.

“Our alums come to our tournaments as well as students and parents,” said Lee.

Along with the support of their fans at the games, the team is also aided by the college administration.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of support from admissions and public information,” said McAdam. “It’s nice to have that support from administration.”

Of course, being a club sport, the team does not garner nearly as much funding as the varsity sports do, but the players make up for that with fundraising throughout the year.

“We usher every year at Christmas at Luther and Commencement,” said Lee. “That pays for our travel, tournament fees and hotels. We’re also starting to get an alumni base of between 20 and 30 members who are donating money to the team.”

With the help of admissions, LUFDA is also planning a Frisbee camp to be held on campus this summer. While there will be entry fees, profit is not the ultimate goal of running the camp.

“We are doing the camp more to get our name out,” said McAdam. “It’s an admissions -sponsored program.”

Luther will run the camp just like the other summer camps that are hosted at Luther but members of LUFDA will have the whistles.