Alex Nelson took a break from studying abroad in Madrid this past November to make a brief but important trip to Florida. Two days of grueling workouts, filled with constant conditioning work and drills, ensued. 

Nelson received an email about a month later, now back in Spain. The email offered Nelson a roster spot on the USA Ultimate Frisbee U24 National Team.

“I luckily got the results I was hoping for,” Nelson said. “The feeling of it was just surreal.”

Nelson, a senior Spanish major at Cal Poly, will be joined by two other Mustangs at the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) Under-24 Ultimate Championships in Logroño, Spain, this summer.

Kyle Lew, a master’s student at Cal Poly, and Anton Orme, a senior, will be dawning the red, white, and blue with Nelson from June 21 to June 28.

Lew and Orme have played ultimate since middle school, while Nelson began his frisbee journey in third grade.

The three are products of Cal Poly’s men’s Ultimate Frisbee club team, known as SLOCORE. Cal Poly is also home to three other ultimate teams: the men’s B-team — the SLOBs — alongside two women’s teams — SLO Motion and Mob.

SLOCORE is considered one of the nation’s strongest ultimate clubs, especially in the last five or so years. Last season, it finished as the runner-up at the Ultimate D-I College Championships.

Unlike Nelson, Lew and Orme took a simpler route to tryouts. The crew and several other SLOCORE players drove to Arizona for the two-day showcase.

Arizona and Florida were the only two locations at which tryouts occurred, with attendance split at around 100 players each.

A unique opportunity

Like Nelson, both players soon received emails congratulating them on their achievement. Orme’s email, however, was a bit different.

Anton Orme (middle) was one of three SLOCORE players to earn spots on the USA U24 roster. Credit: Courtesy / Anton Orme

Orme will compete in the mixed division, a co-ed team, unlike the male-only Open Division in which current roommates Nelson and Lew will partake.

Although Orme will not take the field with his SLOCORE teammates, he is ready for the unique challenges of mixed division.

“Honestly, playing mixed at that trial was probably the most mixed I’ve played in a while,” Orme said. “I’m excited to try to figure that out because it’s definitely a little bit of a different game.”

The mixed division provides complexities that open does not, in the fact that a player must calibrate to play with people of different heights, speeds, athleticism, and so on. 

Orme’s lack of experience on a co-ed team makes sense, as SLOCORE would classify as an Open Division team. Despite that, SLOCORE has shaped these three athletes into the players they are: deserving of representing their country at the highest of stages.

“I think SLOCORE is a program that’s really based around hard work and grit,” Nelson said. “Maybe we’re not the most talented or the most athletic, but we want it more than everyone else, [and] I think that that mindset is really important.”

How SLOCORE prepared them

This reputation of being tough-minded has set a standard of excellence, resulting in a team ranked fifth in the nation, according to USA Ultimate rankings. 

Playing with grit and spirit benefits a player like Lew, who prides himself as a defensive menace, taking home SLOCORE Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022-23. 

Although ultimate frisbee requires a well-rounded approach from every player, Lew knows that his ability on defense helps his game stand out even more.

“I market myself as a defensive player, so going to the tryouts, I wanted to show my specialty and how I could be productive to this team,” Lew said. “And then also kind of show that well-roundedness, that I also have [the] offensive ability to contribute no matter what.”

Kyle Lew (pictured) will compete on the open team along with Alex Nelson. Credit: Courtesy / Kyle Lew

For Orme, his achievements can be attributed almost solely to SLOCORE and the players who came before, showing the Santa Cruz native how success can be attained.

“When I was a freshman, there were some really good players that taught me a lot, like how to play and how to train and work out and stuff,” Orme said. “I’ve definitely learned most things from Cal Poly, and it’s a great, great program to build athletes and frisbee players.”

What’s next?

With a solid foundation laid by SLOCORE, Nelson, Lew, and Orme now turn their attention to bringing home gold for the USA. 

In March, a training weekend for all Team USA athletes will be held in North Carolina. 

Then, the athletes will arrive one week early in Logroño to practice as teams. These ten days are the only time to gain chemistry and camaraderie before the matches begin. After that, each athlete must rely on pure instinct and trust. 

The connections stretch far beyond just Team USA, however. Players from many different countries gather in a northern Spanish city, all with a strong common interest: ultimate frisbee.

“I’m just super excited to meet people from around the world,” Lew said. “Talking to some guys who have played on this team in past iterations, they say it’s just an amazing experience to  have this common thing of playing elite frisbee.”

After Nelson’s experience studying abroad, Spain will not be a foreign region, nor will the tapas. However, playing ultimate in the Mediterranean will be a new experience, as will how opposing teams approach the game.

“It’s really cool to see the different styles of play from different places around the world,” Nelson said.

Ready to apply their SLOCORE style of play to the national stage, Nelson, Lew, and Orme are fully embracing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, hoping to bring home some hardware back to Cal Poly.

Kyle Lew and Alex Nelson have started GoFundMe campaigns to help cover the cost of travel to Spain.