The women's ultimate frisbee team is unique for several reasons, not the least of which is its unique name--Chakra.
"It means 'disc' in sandscript and Hindi," co-captain Amy Faulring said. "It's also like the seven Chakras of the body, and since there's seven on the field at a time [it's a suitable name]."
The squad is also unique because of its success. It qualified for the College Ultimate Championships for the first time in the program's brief history in late April by placing second at Regionals. The national tournament commences Friday and runs through this weekend in Austin, Tx.
Chakra, which is ranked twelfth in the nation, is comprised of a mix of seven graduate students and 11 undergraduates, and participates in competitions throughout the fall and spring.
"They take it very seriously themselves," head coach Christian Schwoerke said. "However, you get on the sideline, you travel or anything like that, it's very relaxed, they have a lot of fun."
Travelling is one thing the team has done a lot of over the course of the year. But since ultimate frisbee competes in tournaments, rather than dual or tri-meets, travelling is a necessity. This year alone, Chakra has attended the Eastern College Nationals in Wilmington, N.C., the Queen City Tune-Up in Charlotte, N.C., the prestigious Terminus tournament in Atlanta, and the Stanford Invitational Tournament in Stanford, Ca.
The fall tournaments are more for recruiting athletes, teaching the game and having a good time, according to team co-captain Amy Faulring. But that all changes when the weather turns warm.
"The spring semester is when we really turn it on and tournaments are for competitiveness and to win," she said.
Chakra is unlike most others at Duke as it is a club sport, and therefore enjoys both more freedom and more limitations than its Varsity counterparts. One drawback is that the team has to pay for all of its travel and housing, but eases the cost through fund raising efforts.
But being a club sport isn't all bad.
For example, Schwoerke may be the only Duke head coach who works barefoot. He is an experienced ultimate frisbee player himself, having participated in the sport for the past 15 years. He is currently a member of a local club team that recently qualified for nationals. When he's not playing or coaching the game he loves, however, he is a technical writer in the Research Triangle Park.
Wednesday, while watching over his team the day before leaving for the 2003 College Ultimate Championships, Schwoerke ran in and out of scrimmages while sharing advice and suggestions with his players. His assistant coach--a dog--ran the perimeter of the playing field while the Blue Devils practiced backhanded passes and diving catches. The remaining members of the team had already gone home and planned to arrive at the Championships the following day.
"It's a really good combination of really, really fun--that's why everyone stays with it," Faulring said. "It's a really big time commitment, and it's a club sport so it's not like we're Varsity with incentives and what not. The main reason everyone plays is obviously because we love the sport.... In my four years, this team has been the closest and has the most inside jokes."
That's important, especially considering the members of Chakra spend between seven and 10 hours per week practicing and conditioning.
"We have a really good team atmosphere. But we're also really competitive and can kick each other's ass, and we do conditioning outside of practicing and stuff like that," Faulring said.
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