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Two Sauceher Captains: Jessi Crowley and Kateri Boucher

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hamilton chapter.

By Hannah Meisles

Who are the Hot Saucehers?
 
The Hot Saucehers is Hamilton’s women’s ultimate frisbee team; a club team that is 
 
self-coached and competes in a variety of tournaments during both the fall and 
 
spring seasons. 
 
As captains, what is your role in building the team? 
 
Jessi: Our team is unique from many other teams because we don’t have a coach, so 
 
our role is a lot of building of the team spirit, mentality, and skills. It can be time-
 
consuming and difficult, but it is so rewarding seeing our new members’ 
 
improvement, watching everything click. 
 
What makes Ultimate Frisbee at Hamilton special?
 
Kateri: I would say a couple of things for the girls’ team. We’ve always had this 
 
relaxed intensity where we don’t get stressed or anxious both on and off the field 
 
about games, but we’re still a competitive team. As captains we’ve learned that if we 
 
treat most of our tournaments as learning tournaments for our new members, we 
 
can be competitive while still having fun and teaching at the same time.
 
Jessi: I know for me, it’s that the leadership that has set the tone. The women’s 
 
program started 5 years ago and from that point on, there has been a culture of 
 
leadership and learning. We’re all learning and we’re all going to do great things on 
 
the field, but there isn’t a pressure to win. What’s cool about our team is also that 
 
people learn so quickly and that’s a result of great leadership and advice. The 
 
captains don’t force anyone to pick up things quickly, but the girls who seek out our 
 
leadership and advice are the girls who have the quickest success with learning the 
 
sport.  
 
What did the Saucehers do over Spring Break?
 
Jessi: Over spring break, we made an epic drive down to South Carolina and played 
 
in a non-sanctioned tournament called High Tide, which is a fun and great way to 
 
warm up to the season. We had a small squad of women, which meant that everyone 
 
got to play a ton and got great field experience. We played a hat tournament and 8 
 
games, pretty much savage (no subs) and made it to the quarter-finals against 
 
Princeton, a D1 team. 
 
Any favorite Sauceher moments or anecdotes?
 
Jessi: At our last game at regionals last year, we only had one senior on our team. 
 
She caught the last point of the last game to win regionals, which meant that we 
 
would go to nationals. We all just rushed out and hugged her, and she was crying. 
 
She was there when the women’s team was started and for her to be part of that last 
 
winning moment was really amazing. 
 
Kateri: At accepted students day, I came knowing I wanted to meet the ultimate 
 
team. My twin and I had been talking to people on the team and we were about to 
 
leave Hamilton, but we wanted to stop by their practice. I met Jessi and some of the 
 
other girls and they were all so welcoming and so excited to have me, especially 
 
when they found out I was a handler. After that, I felt confident in deciding that 
 
Hamilton was the right place for me. I think it also says something that the girls 
 
were hanging out at practice, supporting the boys’ team the day after an exhausting 
 
regional tournament. 
 
What exciting things are coming up in the future?
 
Jessi: Well, in a week we have sectionals, which is basically going to be a nice warm-
 
up tournament for regionals. It will be a great way to ease into the competitive 
 
season and I think we’re going to do really well! 
 
Kateri: Coming up we have our more competitive spring tournaments. Longterm, 
 
what I’m excited for is an army of new players returning next fall! Because our team 
 
has grown so much this year, I don’t know exactly what direction we’re going in. 
 
There are a lot of big questions surrounding keeping the team competitive while 
 
also being inclusive and having fun, so it will be interesting to see how the team 
 
evolves in the next year.

 

Laura is a sophomore at Hamilton College in the class of '17. She is Comparative Literature Major, who will be going abroad to Paris for her junior year. She is an avid baker and jewelry maker.