Two Chapel Hill High School students have been selected to represent the United States in Sweden this summer after making the World Junior Ultimate team.
Senior Clil Phillips and Sophomore Harper Baer will represent the U.S. on the Under 20 National Team at the WFDF 2020 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC).
Phillips and Baer are two out of 24 young women to make the team. This is Phillips’ second time competing in the biennial tournament after having already competed in Canada back in 2018.
Jenny Wei has coached and mentored Phillips and Baer for years.
“They were probably around 11 or 12 when I met them, and I remember being so impressed by their passion for the sport and their enthusiasm for playing,” Wei said. “The thing that stood out the most was their excitement to learn and to just be out there playing the sport.”
Wei played ultimate frisbee at UNC and is now one of the top young adult players in the country.
Both Phillips and Baer got their official start playing ultimate at Smith Middle School. Baer had played club soccer and Phillips ran cross country and track before they made the switch to frisbee.
“I assumed I’d just keep running because I was good at it, but then I started playing frisbee,” Phillips said. “I got excited when I realized there was a point to the running.”
Baer and Phillips both currently play on the Embers, a team that practices at Chapel Hill High School (CHHS) and includes athletes from various schools. These mixed teams were created because ultimate is not a sport sanctioned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
(Photo via Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools)
Despite this technicality, Wei coaches the girls with assistance from other Triangle ultimate veterans.
“It was their drive to play the game, learn as much as they can, and absorb all feedback that has allowed them to develop into such top-tier players,” Wei said. “Clil and Harper are two of the most responsive and coachable players I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
According to a the post by Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, The Triangle area is one of the top regions in the country for producing championship players. Other “hotbeds” include long-time leader Seattle and Boston.
Wei attributes The Triangle’s growing ultimate frisbee success to “the pipeline the community has built.”
“There are a lot of programs available for middle school and even elementary school players,” Wei said. “On top of that, talent attracts talent. We have had incredibly talented players and coaches involved in various levels of programming which attracts other athletes to participate. Finally, the team cultures are awesome.”
According to the Facebook post, Phillips and Baer are always trying to recruit new players to the Embers at CHHS.
“I try to convince people to come to just one practice.” Phillips said. “I tell them they’ll like it, because it’s so much fun.”
While the two haven’t had a lot of time to think about Sweden and the World Championships, Phillip’s reflection on her 2018 experience is enough to stir excitement.
“I got a chance to play with the best players my age and played some of the highest level of my life,” Phillips said.
Philips said that while practice sessions were grueling, the tournament, along with the opportunity to experience different places, was some of the best weeks of her life.
“Meeting new people from other countries was definitely a part of it,” Phillips said. “It gives you an opportunity to see ultimate from different countries and other playing styles.”
WJUC 2020 is the 19th edition of the tournament and is expected to host 54 teams from 30 countries. The United States first competed at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in 1988 and has since earned 23 medals: 12 gold, five silver and six bronze.
According to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools post, the U.S. teams swept gold at the 2018 World Junior Ultimate Championships in Canada. Phillips and Baer hope their team will repeat that performance in Sweden this summer.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines