GREENFIELD — After competing in the most prestigious tournament in the county, the Four Rivers ultimate frisbee teams got the royal treatment upon their arrival back to the community on Sunday morning.
With a police and fire department escort starting at Applebee’s, the Otters made their way through Greenfield and all the way back to campus with an exuberant greeting from family and friends patiently waiting for their return from Salem, Oregon.
The Four Rivers ultimate frisbee teams return from the High School National Invite, Sunday in Greenfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
The Four Rivers ultimate frisbee teams return from the High School National Invite, Sunday in Greenfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
The Four Rivers ultimate frisbee teams return from the High School National Invite, Sunday in Greenfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
The Four Rivers ultimate frisbee teams return from the High School National Invite, Sunday in Greenfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo
The Otters competed in the High School National Invite on June 12 and June 13 . For the boys team, it was the first visit to the national tournament in program history under coach Terry Plotkin. The Otters arrived a full day and a night prior to the competition. Four Rivers stayed in dorms offered by Willamette University. Miles Retzlaff enjoyed some of the accommodations on the campus.
“That was really nice to just hang out with my friends,” Retzlaff said. “There was a piano there. Some of us were playing that and singing in the dorms we were in. Then we had some practice beforehand and then wake up early in the morning, get some food in you and get to the tournament.”
The tournament began on Friday and ended on Saturday. There were a total of 32 teams playing at Pioneer Sports Park. The Otters played against much, much bigger schools. Both in population and physical size.
“You get better at frisbee by playing some of the best teams in the country,” Four Rivers girls coach Marc Guillaume said. “I was telling the kids, if we lost a game it was because they were taller and faster and better coached. I can always get better as a coach. We can train and get a little bit faster, but you can’t teach height. So there was a limit to what we can do…there’s no divisions based on size. You got a high school team? Off you go. I was happy how we performed.”
The Four Rivers girls won a state championship this season before their trip to Oregon. The success of the team was somewhat of a surprise. Aida Potter finished her career with the program at the national tournament. Four Rivers also won the Pioneer Valley Invitational on their way to Oregon.
“It was really unexpected this season to go to Oregon,” Potter said. “Our boys knew they wanted to go to nationals, but our team lost a lot of seniors last year. When we won P.V.I. (Pioneer Valley Invitational) we were all like ‘oh my god’. I am a senior, it was hard to wrap your head around our season not being over. I graduated and I am going back to practice.”
Traveling with a large group can have its challenges, but this year’s team proved infallible in their ability to get along with each other during the trip.
“This year it was really great,” Potter said. “We really supported each other traveling.”
The questions remains, how do the Otters compete as such a high level against bigger schools in Massachusetts and the entire country? The successful nature of the program breeds new batches of players year after year at school.
“The culture around ultimate is really special,” Potter said. “It’s the thing that everyone wants to get involved in because it’s so rooted in our community. It also helps that they teach frisbee in seventh grade wellness class. So everybody learns how to play. There’s this culture that everybody is welcome and everybody wants to play because it’s this fun thing and our school is good at it.”
Potter will attend Tufts University next season and might continue her ultimate career. The boys team dealt with some injuries and sickness leading up to the tournament, but muscled through the tournament. Playing for coach Plotkin was a big reason for motivation for the Otters.
“A bunch of our players weren’t in the greatest condition,” Retzlaff said. “But we just wanted to play as well as we can. Sometimes that means playing when you don’t feel good. Pushing through it. We all wanted to do as well as we good, but we were happy to be there. We were going it for us, we were doing it for the school and for him (Plotkin). I am very proud of everything.”
The boys team finished 13th overall at the tournament, with a 2-4 record. Four Rivers just missed out on a guaranteed finish in the top eight, losing to Middleton (Wisconsin) in the pre-quarters, 13-12. Four River picked up wins over Lincoln, Washington (13-9) and Franklin, Oregon (13-6). The girls team placed 15th with a 1-5 record. The Otters registered a win in Pool Play against Ingram/Lakeside, Washington (13-9).
