Club squad enters season ranked No. 54

As clouds gathered over Woodlawn field, the players trudged inside for some X's and O's. Up on the chalkboard, the captains sketched out the plays. Among them were "the German" and "Ho-Stack," both intricately choreographed to send players to precisely where they needed to be.\nThis is ultimate Frisbee -- a serious sport with an undertone of serious fun. A club sport at IU, ultimate Frisbee attracts a passionate band of players who began their fall 2005 season ranked No. 54 by the Ultimate Players Association. The team's goal is to defeat many of its regional rivals.\n"Our players are ready to compete," co-captain Jan Riccius said. "Michigan graduated 16 people, and we only lost two, so we're ready to compete with them." \nRiccius said that the key to having a good team is experience. "We've had seven guys who've been playing together for three years straight. Those seven guys can play together really well," Riccius said. \nAnd they'll have to play well, given the competition. Next weekend in Illinois, they will face No. 11 Illinois, No. 16 Michigan and No. 19 Michigan State. Co-captain Jared Payne says die-hard IU fans need not worry because the team went 5-0 against Purdue last year and he expects to beat them again this year.\nAs one of the 47 club sports on campus, the team has to apply for funding each year. \n"We got a little bit of funding this year," said Payne. "But we have to pay for the rest of it out of our own pockets." \nIt can cost players up to thousands of dollars to run a club team. "I'd say I spend easily $3,000 a year," Riccius said.\nThe team competes in about seven tournaments per semester including one next weekend. \n"We're probably going to be the three or four seed there," said Payne, who expects the team to finish first or second.\nThrowing a Frisbee around might be among the most mellow forms of exercise, but ultimate Frisbee has much more competitive roots. It began as an adaptation of Frisbee football in the early 1970s and is now played by an estimated 100,000 people around the world, according to www.ultimatehandbook.com, a player's guide to Ultimate Frisbee.\n"We get a lot of people who think it's just throwing," explained Riccius. "They're not really up for a three-hour practice where you're sprinting most of the time." \nOn Sept. 10, club member Jeremy Cho injured himself on a diving catch. \n"It brought us the lead in the game, so it was worth it," he said, smiling down at the bloody scrape on his hip. \nKeeping up the competitive spirit, Cho played the rest of the day, went to the emergency room that night, and then played the entire following day, injuring his wrist in the process.