Ultimate Co-Captain TJ Moody ’24 leads his team with energy and excitement. While Moody was a leader on the team last year, he has taken this Co-Captain role as a chance to spread his leadership on a broader level. Through his passion for the sport, Moody promotes good sportsmanship and friendly competition.
Moody noted the influence past Ultimate Co-Captains have had on his own leadership. Stepping into this new leadership position, he shared his hopes to use his techniques, competitiveness, and fair play.
“When I was first coming into the sport, I looked up to the previous Captains a lot and learned a lot about being an ultimate player on and off the field from them. I’m hoping to fill a similar role for all of the new players just joining the sport, mostly by leading through example and demonstrating good sportsmanship and friendly competition. A big part of that is being uplifting and being the one to reach out to all players,” said Moody.
Although Moody was not a Co-Captain last season, he still was able to be a leader for the team by playing at a high level. This season, he has taken that to another level by organizing specific scrimmages for both new and returning players.
Moody said, “A big part of my leadership has been organizing preseason scrimmages, which have been a great way to both recruit new players and keep returners frosty. Before I was Captain, and still continuing, I aim to encourage intensity but also fun throughout practices and games, mostly by leading through example.”
Co-Captain Sakina Cotton ’24 highlighted his leadership skills from last season. She noted Moody’s ability to motivate the team during hard games.
“[He] tries to bring people up, saying, ‘Alright guys, let’s keep it up and give it our all,’ so other people don’t feel like they can give up because they see him and he’s putting effort on the field. Even though we might be in the last few minutes of the game, we might be down, leading with that mentality of giving it your all till the very end. It’s definitely been apparent,” said Cotton.
According to Co-Captain Everett Woo ’25, Moody is a friendly face on and off the field. In addition to leading by example, Woo shared Moody’s ability to give personalized advice to all the players on the team.
“He’s a very, very friendly person, first of all. He always says, ‘Hi’ to players off the field. On the field, he always leads by example. [He has a] good work ethic and also helps more inexperienced players with tips,” said Woo.
Cotton highlighted Moody’s unique ability to bring competition and high-level play to the team. Through inclusivity, he challenges his teammates to reach their full potential.
“[He] makes sure everyone is feeling respected on the field mand that we’re passing to different people. He’s always trying to bring people in when we’re talking about strategy or plays. That inclusivity really makes sure to challenge everyone, make sure no one’s left behind,” said Moody.
Understanding that he is one of the few Seniors on the team, Moody feels obligated to demonstrate the camaraderie of ultimate frisbee to all of the returning and new players, and to future ultimate teams.
“Ultimate is essentially based on the principle of spirit of the game, but that essentially means that all players should work towards each other player, enjoying the competition of the sport as much as possible, which makes the sport unique in that if we carry the friendly attitude most sports have with their teammates to our opponents as well, which is reflective of the generally uplifting culture of ultimate. So basically, I just wanted to make sure that special culture would be continued next year,” said Moody.
