This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hamilton chapter.
By Hannah Meisles
Who are the Hot Saucehers?
The Hot Saucehers is Hamilton’s women’s ultimate frisbee team; a club team that is
self-coached and competes in a variety of tournaments during both the fall and
spring seasons.
As captains, what is your role in building the team?
Jessi: Our team is unique from many other teams because we don’t have a coach, so
our role is a lot of building of the team spirit, mentality, and skills. It can be time-
consuming and difficult, but it is so rewarding seeing our new members’
improvement, watching everything click.
What makes Ultimate Frisbee at Hamilton special?
Kateri: I would say a couple of things for the girls’ team. We’ve always had this
relaxed intensity where we don’t get stressed or anxious both on and off the field
about games, but we’re still a competitive team. As captains we’ve learned that if we
treat most of our tournaments as learning tournaments for our new members, we
can be competitive while still having fun and teaching at the same time.
Jessi: I know for me, it’s that the leadership that has set the tone. The women’s
program started 5 years ago and from that point on, there has been a culture of
leadership and learning. We’re all learning and we’re all going to do great things on
the field, but there isn’t a pressure to win. What’s cool about our team is also that
people learn so quickly and that’s a result of great leadership and advice. The
captains don’t force anyone to pick up things quickly, but the girls who seek out our
leadership and advice are the girls who have the quickest success with learning the
sport.
What did the Saucehers do over Spring Break?
Jessi: Over spring break, we made an epic drive down to South Carolina and played
in a non-sanctioned tournament called High Tide, which is a fun and great way to
warm up to the season. We had a small squad of women, which meant that everyone
got to play a ton and got great field experience. We played a hat tournament and 8
games, pretty much savage (no subs) and made it to the quarter-finals against
Princeton, a D1 team.
Any favorite Sauceher moments or anecdotes?
Jessi: At our last game at regionals last year, we only had one senior on our team.
She caught the last point of the last game to win regionals, which meant that we
would go to nationals. We all just rushed out and hugged her, and she was crying.
She was there when the women’s team was started and for her to be part of that last
winning moment was really amazing.
Kateri: At accepted students day, I came knowing I wanted to meet the ultimate
team. My twin and I had been talking to people on the team and we were about to
leave Hamilton, but we wanted to stop by their practice. I met Jessi and some of the
other girls and they were all so welcoming and so excited to have me, especially
when they found out I was a handler. After that, I felt confident in deciding that
Hamilton was the right place for me. I think it also says something that the girls
were hanging out at practice, supporting the boys’ team the day after an exhausting
regional tournament.
What exciting things are coming up in the future?
Jessi: Well, in a week we have sectionals, which is basically going to be a nice warm-
up tournament for regionals. It will be a great way to ease into the competitive
season and I think we’re going to do really well!
Kateri: Coming up we have our more competitive spring tournaments. Longterm,
what I’m excited for is an army of new players returning next fall! Because our team
has grown so much this year, I don’t know exactly what direction we’re going in.
There are a lot of big questions surrounding keeping the team competitive while
also being inclusive and having fun, so it will be interesting to see how the team
evolves in the next year.