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Team History Spring 2001: The Original Millbrook Ultimate Frisbee Team 
In the fall of 2000, three intrepid individuals, Charlie Bettigole,
John Zeiser, and Drew Beitz founded the Millbrook School Ultimate Frisbee
team. The team competed in two very cold and wet tournaments late in the fall
before hibernating for the cold winter of ought-one. Playing in the gym to
hone our skills, we anticipated the coming of spring and also planned an
Ultimate Frisbee Intersession, a program at our school that replaces winter final exams. The Intersession was a great success. On Earth Day of
2001, we held the first ever Millbrook School tournament, drawing 12 teams
from around New England and the east coast. Our team came in second that
year, losing in the finals to the very talented Pennsbury Peyote. We went on to compete in the
Hotchkiss tournament later that spring, where we played a superb game against the Scarsdale Hellfish, the team that
placed third in Nationals later in the year. With the tying disc in the
air, hard cap was called and the game ended. At the New York State
Championships, after almost getting into a brawl with the Beacon team and Chris
Lehman, our team went on to win the rest of the games we played. We had a great
season, and most importantly we established the Ultimate Frisbee tradition
at Millbrook School.
Many of the players from the first year of the program went on to college ultimate careers. Captain
Charlie Bettigole (pictured at left) plays for the Middlebury College Pranksters, Captain John
Zeiser plays for the University of Rochester Little Piggies, Eben Smith plays for
Yale Superfly, and Kirk "Sack O' Potatoes" Cavell plays for Hobart. Fat Dog (Justin Hill)
joined the United States Marine Corps, but is probably still playing on the beaches of Hawaii where
he is currently stationed. Captain Drew Beitz joined a frat.-Special thanks to former Captain Charlie Bettigole for above pictures and essay
In 2002, the Millbrook Ultimate Frisbee team was left behind by its founding members to the next generation of frisbee players at Millbrook. Among those were Rodney Smyth, the only holdover from the original team, Jon Blanksteen, Zandy Zeiser and Chief Financial Officer Mike Reinoso. For the most part, games in the srping were limited to contests against local rival Hotchkiss. Early into the spring, with very little planning, the team was able to organize and host the 2nd Annual Millbrook Invitational Tournament. While the tournament went mostly without a hitch, the planning had been rushed, and the tenth team spot had to be filled in by Team God, a group of Millbrook Ultimate alumnae, who had come to watch the tournament. The tournament was won by Ridgefield Ultimate, a walk on team. From all feedback from attending teams, the tournament was a success for all. After the tournament, the team mostly stopped competing and dispersed. Frisbee lived on at Millbrook mostly as an outdoor activity on the quad, where many people casually participated. Millbrook's frisbee program is now being revitalized and is preparing to put forth a season to remember in 2003. |
