After picking up ultimate in his first year at Andover, Co-Captain Everett Woo ’25 quickly grew to love the sport. As a captain, he leads by example and works hard to develop strong relationships with his teammates. With a newer team, he is determined to create and uphold ultimate’s strong team culture.
For Woo, ultimate is a unique sport that differs from other sports he has participated in. Woo notes that, although he loves the sport as a whole, it was primarily the people and community he immersed himself in that made him continue with it.
“The thing that made me stick with [ultimate] is not necessarily the sport, although I love it, but the people. I find that, in ultimate, it’s really unique because the culture is different from any other sport I’ve played, and the people are always very kind and genuine and always wanting to help,” said Woo.
According to Co-Captain Michela Rowland ’24, Woo uses both his athleticism and his communication skills to succeed on the field. Rowland commended Woo’s ability to signal nonverbally.
Rowland said, “As an ultimate player, Everett is super agile, super quick, his cuts are incredibly sharp, and his throws are very accurate. He’s also really good at communicating nonverbally, which makes playing with him really fun because I know exactly where he wants me to go, and I know that he always puts it out in front of me.”
“Culture and competition” are two values that Woo views as fundamental for the team. To develop those, Woo elaborated on his method of prioritizing relationships with teammates and creating a safe and supportive space.
Woo said, “I strive to lead by example and also develop one-on-one connections with every single person on the team, so that way everyone can feel very comfortable with me. I want everyone to value culture and competition. By culture, I mean being a good person, being kind, and helping each other. For competition I want everyone to strive to be the best they can be, not necessarily being better than others, but just the best version of themselves.”
Rowland highlighted Woo’s ability to ensure the team is valuing its practices and the positive effects on games. Rowland emphasized the effort Woo puts into connecting with individuals on the team.
“Something that all four captains do at the end of practice is that we always ask, ‘Who had a big practice?’ It’s a tradition we have that we place value on big practices more than big games because practices are those little moments that get you to the big moments in a game. Everett is often the one to ask this question, which is definitely really encouraging. He is the kind of person who pulls others in and makes efforts to get to know everyone on the team,” said Rowland.
Fumi Kimura ’25 emphasized Woo’s ability to bond the team. He noted Woo’s efforts to be accessible on and off the field – especially to underclassmen who are joining the team.
“It’s a tradition or an unspoken rule for returning ultimate players to be approachable outside of the field, and Everett exemplifies that so well. He sticks around after practice to teach throwing and eats dinners with the Freshmen,” said Kimura in an email to The Phillipian.
Woo prioritizes effort over perfection. He emphasized that mistakes aren’t inherently negative, encouraging his teammates to push themselves to do their best.
“I’m trying to make sure that everyone knows that I am not going to be mad at mistakes and that nobody on the team should be mad at others for making mistakes. The only time I am upset is when someone is not trying their hardest. It’s important that everyone is aware that there is no pressure about making mistakes and that everyone is putting full effort into everything and trying their hardest,” said Woo.
Woo put an emphasis on working to grow new players while keeping the strong team dynamic ultimate is known for. He shared that his lead-by-example leadership style along with returning players’ good example will guide the team to success this season.
“We have a lot of newer players to the program, so my goal this year would be to develop a lot of the players and help them fall in love with the sport, while also creating and upholding the good team culture that ultimate has. Leading by example and calling upon the other returning players to set a good example will make it so that all of the underclassmen and younger players will certainly follow,” said Woo.
