When the school bell rings at 3:00 p.m. every Friday, sophomore Niko Gustafson and his friends rush to the lower field to play a sport they all love — Ultimate Frisbee. Gustafson, who was named president of the Ultimate Frisbee club this year, has been part of the club since his freshman year. As he walks onto the field, Gustafson sees the other players and gets ready to play a competitive game with his club.
“It’s really cool,” Gustafson said. “I love frisbee and I love playing it. Being able to organize the meetings and gather all of your friends while doing it is really fun.”
However, Gustafson’s path to becoming the club’s president came as a surprise to him. He had absolutely no idea what the club leaders from last year had done, and how he had elected as the club’s president.
“All of the officers were seniors and I was sort of surprised [that] all of them had agreed to make me president,” Gustafson said. “They got my consent for it and I am happy to do it. It was kind of funny because they signed me up for it before I told them that I would do it.”
As the president of the Ultimate Frisbee club, he wants new members to join the club and have a fun time on the field. But, according to Gustafson, that hasn’t been the case lately. The club hasn’t been able to get new members and has seen a decrease in popularity throughout MVHS from the beginning of the 2017.
“It is not too much different from when I was a member last year,” Gustafson said. “I didn’t get to do much till now, [because] last year I came in as a random freshman who joined the club and now this year I own the club. [I] can do things as I please and I can organize [events].”
Gustafson believes that the work for the club, such as organizing meetings, is fairly simple. He didn’t sacrifice a lot of time for the club this year and thus, so far, his role has been pretty stress free.
“It doesn’t interfere with my school activities. It doesn’t affect me this year but I believe that it will affect me next year [due to standardized exams],” Gustafson said.
With an entire year in front of him as president, Gustafson plans on improving the club. He believes that the club has been a very good experience for him and has helped him interact with more people, as he represents a club at MVHS.
“Its sort of saddening, upsetting, depressing,” Gustafson said. “Now that there are only 5 members in the club. Most of the club members last year were seniors. I definitely want people in our club and I am definitely trying to organize and spread awareness of our club in order for us to get more people to join.”
