Team: NOVA
Skylar Yarter ’25
Hometown: Maplewood, N.J.
Major: Computer science
Emily Stanger ’25
Hometown:
Portola Valley, Calif.
Major: Chemistry
Aliza Cotton ’26
Hometown: Delmar, N.Y.
Major: Computer Science
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ben Niewoehner (BN): Do any of you have a frisbee background? If not, did you play other sports growing up?
Skylar Yarter (SY): My high school actually invented the sport of ultimate frisbee, so it’s pretty big in my town. I started playing in fifth grade, and played all the way through high school. I didn’t really play any other sports, because frisbee was multiple seasons.
Aliza Cotton (AC): Both of my parents have always played frisbee, so I kind of grew up around it on the sidelines at their summer league when I was a kid. I started playing in middle school and then played throughout high school — there’s a small but mighty ultimate scene in the Albany area, where I’m from.
Emily Stanger (ES): I didn’t start frisbee until college. I mostly played soccer growing up, and I played a touch of frisbee at recess in elementary school, but besides that, I didn’t really know anything about the sport. I learned how to play first year of college and it’s been awesome ever since.
BN: How did you all learn about ultimate at the College? What led you to join and stay on the team?
ES: I knew that I wanted to be on a team in college, but I was kind of done with soccer, so I was looking for a new sport to play. I think I saw frisbee at the Purple Key Fair, and saw posters around campus. I went to an open practice. It was awesome, and the rest is history.
SY: After playing frisbee in high school, I knew that I wanted to play in college, so I was vaguely aware of what ultimate teams were like at schools I applied to. Williams had a pretty good track record, and the team seemed super awesome. Once I met the team, it was really exciting to see a fun group of people who were excited about the sport.
AC: I also knew that I wanted to play frisbee in college, and our coach, Garrett Clay, also coached me in high school. I had the connection through him, and when I was here for Previews, I was able to come to a practice and I got dinner with Skylar, Emily, and our other teammate Lauren [Ryan ’25], and they were super nice.
BN: How would you each describe your team’s season this year?
ES: It has been an awesome season. I have had the best time on the team this year. I have not been playing for most of the season because of concussion issues, but I was able to play at regionals, our most recent tournament. It was so fun to be playing with the team again, and it was so clear how much better everyone had gotten over the course of this season.
AC: The elephant in the room is that we lost the game to go to Nationals on universe point. The equivalent for people who don’t know frisbee would be a penalty shootout in soccer. It’s a random, next-point-wins scenario. We didn’t have the wind, and it was quite a windy day, and it was disappointing. But I think we all left that tournament being so proud of how we had played. On Saturday, our last game, we took down the one seed in spectacular fashion and played the best game of frisbee that I’ve ever seen NOVA play. We played with a lot of love and trust this season, and that is something we’ve been working on in years prior. I’m really proud of how every player on the team really stepped up their level of play this year.
BN: Can you talk a little more about your coach?
ES: His name is Garrett. He is awesome. He is extremely dedicated to our team. We have minimal ability to pay him, but despite that, he is so dedicated to us. He drives in from Albany three to four times a week for practice, and he flies out to all of our tournaments. He also coaches a youth club team in Albany and plays on a summer club team in Albany. He’s just the best.
SY: He’s also obsessed with Spider-Man. Very important. [Laughs.]
BN: What are each of your favorite parts of being on NOVA?
ES: One of my favorite parts of being on NOVA is our spring break trip every year. We play a tournament the first weekend, then we rent a beach house and practice for 2-3 hours a day. Of course, we also hang out on the beach and have fun. WUFO is also in a neighboring house that week, so we hang out and practice with them sometimes. And then we play another tournament the second weekend, and it’s a very fun trip full of bonding and hard work. It’s especially exciting to play the second tournament of spring break and see how much better the team has gotten over the last seven days. It’s so fun to hang out with all of my best friends for nine days straight.
AC: I think another special thing is that we have a lot of silly cheers and chants. We usually cheer at the start and end of practice, and we also have special cheers that we do only at tournaments. It brings a lot of fun and joy — but also intensity and focus — in the right moments. It’s always great to teach all of the new players the inside jokes and various traditions that we have.
SY: I think my favorite part of being on NOVA is getting to spend so much time with such an awesome group of people. This time can span everything from a super focused practice to just hanging out in Lee’s or Goodrich. It’s really cool to have so many people on campus that you feel so close to, have a shared goal with, and a big love for.
BN: For the seniors, how are you processing the final month of being on NOVA?
ES: Horribly. It’s so devastating. Being on NOVA has been such a gift for me during my college experience, and I can’t imagine life without it. You can play frisbee after college, but it’s just not gonna be the same. I’m trying to soak up all the last team dinners and spontaneous aggregations of NOVA in Goodrich and little things like that throughout the rest of the season.
SY: Being on NOVA has been such a defining part of my time at Williams, and wrapping up my time at NOVA feels really connected to wrapping up my time at Williams. Like Emily, I’ve been trying to savor the last moments I have with these people. Every May, we like to float down the Hoosic River when it’s warm, so I’m feeling very excited about getting to do that again.
BN: What are you all looking forward to for the future of the team?
AC: So many things to look forward to. Our sophomore and first-year classes are absolutely baller: I can’t wait to see them take on more leadership both on and off the field. Everybody is leaving this season feeling a lot of love for the team, love for the game, and excitement to give everything we have to NOVA in the next season. It’s gonna be awesome.
ES: Just before this interview, we had speeches for leadership positions for next year, and it made me really excited to see the people I met when they were little frosh taking on positions. It’s just so exciting to see everyone grow into themselves on the team, and to see NOVA grow into a new version of itself every semester and every year. I can’t wait to come back for our alumni tournament — which happens every fall — next year, and play against the future of NOVA.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Cotton as a math and economics major. The article was updated on May 7 at 9:08 a.m. to reflect this error.
