Pro Ultimate Returns to Its Santa Barbara Roots 

Though ultimate frisbee might seem like a newer phenomenon, in Santa Barbara it’s been played since the ’70s, when enthusiasts started a league and kickstarted the West Coast scene. On Friday, July 21, the sport returned home for the first-ever American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) game played in Santa Barbara.

The L.A. Aviators took on the Oakland Spiders at San Marcos High School in a grudge match for the final West league playoff spot. Just a week earlier, the Spiders came back to defeat the Aviators 20-19 in overtime. Their rematch on “home” turf for L.A. gave the Aviators a slight advantage, which they harnessed to eventually beat Oakland 24-23 in a similarly last-minute win.

“Everyone was pretty disappointed last week after losing, and we absorb that and then try to leave it behind, because we knew that [if] we had the rematch we’re gonna win,” Aviators #42 Marcel Osborne said.

Proceeds of the game’s concessions sales went toward the San Marcos band program, of which Aviators player Michael Kiyoi is the director. Kiyoi shared that the team has been trying to organize a game in Santa Barbara for years, especially since there are five other players on the team also based in the area: Nate Kirchhofer, Aaron Weaver, Ian Ladner, Marcel Osborne, and Rhys Gretsch.

“It’s a special scene in Santa Barbara; it’s growing and people are becoming more aware of it,” Kiyoi said.

Tom Kennedy, one of the original ultimate frisbee legends of Santa Barbara, was even in the crowd to support the Aviators.

“It’s just so cool to have that come full circle, finally,” Kirchhofer said.

Despite their home-field advantage, the Aviators trailed behind the Spiders for the majority of the game.

Perhaps part of the reason the Spiders gained an early lead was their signature fun spirit, which manifested in them running onto the field doing the “Gangnam Style” dance and doing elaborate celebrations after nearly every point scored.

“There is no team that likes playing with each other more than Oakland, other than maybe the reigning champs [New York Empire],” Adam Ruffner of Swing Pass said in a preview of the matchup.

And yet the Aviators fought back after every turnover and break. With about a minute to go in the first quarter, Osborne sent Kiyoi a floater in the endzone, which he promptly snatched out of the air, bringing the score to 7-5 and the crowd to their feet.

Throughout the second quarter, the two-point gap was maintained as the Aviators and Spiders scored back-and-forth points. Some of the audience didn’t really seem to understand the game: “There’s no point in guarding the guy with the disc,” one of them said — but they did know how to bring the energy whenever the Aviators scored. Kids lined the rail at the front of the stands, their screams guided by the Aviators’ mascot and assisted by plastic noisemakers. 

“I think just like leaning on the energy of all 30, 40 people we have down here on this team, those that are playing, those that are not,” Ladner said. “I feel like using all of those voices, all that energy, really helped buoy us up.”

In the third quarter, a point from the Aviators’ Milan Ravenell brought the game to a 16-16 tie and L.A. got their mojo back. 

“We [had] the momentum, we’ve tightened screws, we fixed a couple of things, so I think we knew that we had it in us to make the fight,” Kirchhofer said.

Every minute counted in the final quarter, with the score staying tied or with the Spiders one point ahead. Kiyoi banged on a drum, getting the crowd to chant, “De-fense, de-fense!”

With no timeouts and only 10 seconds left, the game remained tied, but the Aviators had possession. The crowd began to count down — “10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three” — and then Osborne found space in the endzone to make the game-winning catch. But it wasn’t over yet. With 2.5 seconds on the clock, a foul gave the Spiders the potential to tie the game back up again. Mac Hecht of the Spiders hucked the disc down to the back right of the endzone, but Mitchell Steiner blocked it, sending the disc flying away.

Despite playing from behind the entire game, the Aviators had done it. They managed to stay vigilantly on the Spiders to break them when it mattered most. L.A. has since secured their playoff bid, following Oakland’s July 22 loss to San Diego. 

“[There’s] just something about being here and … wanting to come to Santa Barbara for so many years. Just being here, for me, it was super special,” Coach Jeff Landesman said.

The Aviators’ next game is July 29, versus the Colorado Summit at Colorado School of Mines in Colorado. For more information, see theaudl.com/aviators.