The MadHouse and Madluv frisbee teams have been powerhouses for years. Working hard twice a week to strengthen their players and team chemistry has played an important piece of their success. The two teams have created very close knit environments, built through their monthly team dinners, weekly practices and tournaments.

The one and a half hour ultimate frisbee games are played on a scaled-down football field with wide endzones. Strategy and clear communication is required to come up with plays and scoring techniques. Players practice a variety of positions, such as “stacking” or lining up vertically down the middle of the field, and then “cutting” to get open. “Zone defense” is another tactic used to guard the opposing team more effectively, and when done correctly, it makes it much more challenging for the other team to score.

The fall MadHouse team is co-ed, unlike other teams at Madison. But in the Spring, the team splits up into MadHouse (boys) and MadLuv (girls). Both the girls and boys teams have been very successful in their seasons so far. They have participated in tournaments and games with teams from across the nation. Madluv beat the ninth ranked team in the nation at a recent tournament, YULA, allowing them to become the 23rd women’s team nationwide.

The successful season has been surprising for the team, given the loss of many strong seniors last year, leaving a lineup of mostly underclassmen. On the other hand, MadHouse is ranked highly in the region because they have experienced upperclassmen on the team.

“The boys team is really good because they have a lot of seniors,” Tess Reynolds (‘26) said, “but that’s gonna be us, maybe even next year”.

MadLuv and Madhouse are welcoming of new members, regardless of experience. This leads to a vast range of skill levels on the teams. However, the constant practice allows the teams to see quick improvement, especially from those whose only experience playing frisbee prior was playing casually with friends.

“It’s a big mix of players, some [have] never picked up a frisbee before the season or maybe only in gym class,” Gretchen Schmitt (’26) said, “everyone is developing really quickly”.

The state tournament this year in May will be a true test for the team, to showcase all of their improvement this year. With the fresh talent of the team, MadLuv thinks that they could be the team to beat in the upcoming seasons.

As the school year ends both teams’ seasons are coming to a close, the teams are grateful for the wonderful friendships that have come out of this experience.

“It’s tiring because it involves a lot of running and strategy but that’s what makes it fun,” Smitt explains.“I love being able to play a really great sport with some of my best friends”.