Sticky Fingers, Stronger Bonds: The Captains of Stuyvesant’s Ultimate Frisbee Team

Carter Kuo is a Copy Editor for The Spectator.

Stuyvesant’s Ultimate Frisbee Team, the Sticky Fingers, entered the season amid a major transition. In the past, the team dominated the sport, winning both City and State Championships in the 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2017-18 seasons. That legacy now looms large over a program in the process of rebuilding. After competing in the DiscNY High School League 2025, the NYC Youth Kickoff 2025, and the 2025 New York High School Boys State Championship, they finished the season with a 9-7 record. The team made it to the quarterfinal round in the 2024-25 season and placed fourth overall at states in the 2023-24 season. While those results showed flashes of competitiveness, they also highlighted a gap in experience. Since then, 10 seniors graduated, forcing the team to rebuild both its roster and its identity while also preparing for their upcoming season. For a team accustomed to deep postseason runs, juniors and co-captains Carter Kuo, Ryan Soon, and Max Xiao lead the team in navigating one of its most transitional periods yet, balancing competitive expectations with newer roster additions. 

Ultimate Frisbee is a fast-paced, self-officiated sport that emphasizes both athleticism and proper sportsmanship. Unlike many traditional sports, players are responsible for resolving fouls and maintaining fairness themselves, making team chemistry and mutual trust essential to success. This structure places unusual pressure on the team captains, who must balance competitiveness with accountability on the field. 

Co-captain Carter Kuo 

Junior and co-captain Carter Kuo’s journey with Ultimate Frisbee reflects his transition from a curious newcomer to a dedicated leader. Kuo first discovered the sport in his sophomore year after years of playing soccer and wanting a change of pace. “I’ve played soccer since second grade, and the advertisement of Ultimate as an off-season sport was appealing,” Kuo said. “I went to the interest meeting, learned how to throw, and kept coming back from then on.” 

After a successful season, Kuo quickly gained the trust of his coaches and teammates. “I was appointed captain at the end of that school year,” he said. “To me, being a captain means more than just setting up scrims and showing commitment. A captain should lead by example, working harder than anyone else on the field and putting the team on their back.” In a season defined by turnover, Kuo’s philosophy placed responsibility on captains to stabilize the team’s performance and morale. 

Rebuilding after roster losses proved to be the team’s most pressing challenge. “Our biggest challenge has been rebuilding the team after losing ten seniors last year,” he said. “Our juniors are working to fill more dominant roles on the field, and we’ve recruited about 20 rookies this year to offset the players we lost.” Rather than isolating new players, the team paired veterans with rookies during practices, accelerating skill development while also fostering a sense of community. 

Kuo remains optimistic for the team’s season, and he hopes students recognize that the Stuyvesant Ultimate team is serious and competitive. “We are many-time New York City and State Champions, and our team has produced players who compete at the highest level, including our new coach, Leo Xiao, who won D1 College Nationals with Carleton College this May,” Kuo said. Kuo sees this season not as a reset but as an opportunity to preserve the sport’s standards. 

Co-captain Ryan Soon

For junior and co-captain Ryan Soon, becoming a captain has meant balancing responsibility and mentorship as he guides a young team through one of the most challenging transitions. Soon joined Ultimate in his freshman year after exploring other sports and finding himself drawn to Ultimate’s team environment and camaraderie. “I went to the interest meeting of both the basketball team and the frisbee team and saw that frisbee was less of a commitment,” Soon said. “Going to the frisbee interest meeting and meeting coaches and players really made me excited to play an organized sport that I could actually be decent in.” 

After diligently playing for a year, Soon stepped up and became a captain at the end of his freshman year. “To me, being captain didn’t mean becoming the best player. I had to basically become a role model and a parent for these players,” he said.

Soon believes the team’s inexperience is the biggest challenge. “This team is really young. A lot of our players have less than three years of experience,” he said. “Nobody has really thrown a disc or caught a disc before playing Ultimate. It is a huge learning curve, not only teaching mechanics and strategy.” Additionally, he explained that Ultimate requires teamwork rather than individual skill. “You can make a highlight throw or a highlight cut, but if your receiver or your thrower isn’t on the same page as you, you’re screwed,” he said. Early season mistakes often stem from miscommunication rather than lack of effort, which ultimately underscores the importance of shared connection within the team. 

Soon describes the team as a close community built on trust, communication, and most importantly, camaraderie. “My metaphor for it is a huge friend-group playing the same sport together,” he said. 

Co-captain Max Xiao

Frisbee has been a part of junior and co-captain Max Xiao’s life since long before he reached Stuyvesant. His older brother played on the Sticky Fingers and introduced him to the sport when he was young. However, familiarity alone doesn’t explain his growth in the sport; his title as one of the team’s most improved players the previous year earned him his captain position. “It means a lot to me to be able to be such a big part of the team, help other players improve, and improve myself,” Xiao said. His leadership ignores the idea of a hierarchy and focuses on connections amongst members instead. 

Xiao emphasized the importance of spirit and accountability in Ultimate Frisbee. Since the sport is self-officiated, players must model fairness and respect. “If you’re not able to contribute to the spirit of the team and be a role model, then you’ve done something wrong,” he said. For a young roster, learning proper sportsmanship is just as critical as physical development.

Xiao hopes to dispel certain misconceptions about Ultimate, especially since it is undoubtedly a more niche sport. “Something I hope more people would know is we are a real, legitimate sport. Some people hear frisbee and picture a dog with a rubber disc, but Ultimate is so much more than that. We run, throw, cut, and strategize the entire game. It’s a test of our physical ability as well as our mental durability.” His perspective highlights Ultimate’s physical and mental demands, which often go unnoticed compared to more common sports. 

In a season of transition and adaptiveness, the perspectives of the three Sticky Fingers’ captains highlight the depth of the sport that not many people have fully recognized. With a growing roster, the team is working through challenges involving experience, roster turnover, and physical demands. Regardless of competitive outcomes, the captains’ commitment to the development and personal growth of their members reflects the central goal of expanding team chemistry and discipline.