About Machine

Chicago Machine is an ultimate frisbee team that competes in the USAU Men's Club Division. Machine has appeared at the USAU Club Championships 18 times since its inception in 2001, including sixteen consecutive trips from 2006 to the present.

Coached by Alex Champe, James Highsmith, and Kevin Yngve, and captained by Walden Nelson, Kyle Rutledge, Tim Schoch, and Nate Goff in 2023, Machine is hungry to improve on the program’s 5th place finish at nationals last year. Machine is reloading for another run at the 2023 club championships.

Machine has finished first in the Men's Nationals Team Spirit Award three times since 2010. Machine has finished first in the Great Lakes Regional Championships every year but once since its inception in 2012.

Machine traditionally practices Saturday and Sunday mornings at Washington Park in Chicago, and trains two nights a week in smaller pods at various locations around the city. In 2023, Machine will attend three USAU sponsored tournaments prior to the start of the USAU club series.

Machine aligns closely with Chicago's elite women's team; Nemesis. Often attending the same tournaments, the two teams support each other on the field, overlap in training, and regularly meet off the field to build camaraderie between the programs. For more information on Chicago Nemesis: www.chicago-nemesis.com


ABOUT THE SPORT OF ULTIMATE

As described by the United State's ultimate governing body (USA Ultimate): Ultimate was developed in 1968 by a group of students at Columbia H.S. in Maplewood, NJ. Although Ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its athletic requirements, it is unlike most sports due to its focus on self-officiating, even at the highest levels of competition. This concept, called Spirit of the Game, is integrated into the basic philosophy of the sport, written into the rules, and practiced at all levels of the game from local leagues to the World Games.

Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two teams with a flying disc or Frisbee™ on a field with end zones, similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field.  Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds. Ultimate is governed by Spirit of the Game™, a tradition of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the players rather than referees. Ultimate is played in more than 80 countries by an estimated 7 million of men and women, girls and boys.  The international governing body, WFDF, represents 59 member associations in 56 countries. 

 
 

For more information on ultimate and USAU, visit the USAU Home Page


ULTIMATE In CHICAGO

Machine supports growing the sport of ultimate in Chicago. Each season Machine partners with area men's club teams to promote a city wide tryout tournament for players of all skill-level. Current and former Machine leadership are active in coaching at the youth level for the Illinois YCC team. Additionally, several players volunteer as coaches for area camps, high school teams, and college teams. Machine has plans to build upon a developmental guest coaching program, through Great Lake's Ultimate Events, focused on opportunities for youth girls, high school girls, and college women's players.

If you are interested in information about playing ultimate at the youth, college, club, league, or pick-up level in Chicago, we encourage you to visit www.ultimatechicago.org. Ultimate Chicago was incorporated with the mission to “promote and grow the sport of Ultimate among players of all skill levels; to be a resource for Chicago-area players and teams; and to recognize and encourage play according to the Spirit of the Game.” Their website contains a wealth of information and resources for getting involved in the Chicago Ultimate community.

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