More Than a Game
More Than a Game
How Ultimate Frisbee Shapes Leaders Across the Nation
By Cooper Krigbaum | Published 1/13/26 | Tags Men’s Ministry
For SPO, ultimate frisbee is more than sport. It’s a space where competition becomes formation - teaching men how to follow Christ through discipline, sacrifice, and authentic brotherhood.
What started as a game played every summer during Missionary training is now played across SPO Chapters nationwide.
Games often start with prayer, and players talk openly about their Catholic faith and how they want to carry themselves on and off the field. The sport becomes a space where spiritual life and competition naturally overlap.
On some campuses, like Arizona State University, men meet every Friday night to play the sport that brings students together and serves as a bridge between competition and community, allowing students to pour into something bigger than themselves.
Through every pass, every point, and every rally, players develop resilience, camaraderie, and a sense of service that mirrors the mission of SPO: forming disciples for life.
At ASU, this growing culture comes alive in players like Jack Gordon, who had never thrown a disc in his life until finding SPO.
“When I was a freshman, I came to college not knowing what I wanted in my life,” Gordon said. “I was just going to go with the flow and see what happened.”
Gordon later ended up at a club event. After not seeing anything he was interested in, he was ready to hit the exits, until he unknowingly bumped into someone from SPO.
“It was kind of weird,” Gordon said. “We talked for about 20 minutes and soon enough, he got my phone number and a couple days later, he texted me asking if I would show up to the Sun Devil Fitness Center Fields at 6 p.m. to play some frisbee.”
A text that seemed meaningless at the moment turned out to be a turning point for Gordon.
“I went and realized that these men were Catholic and wanted to live for something greater than themselves,” Gordon said. “I was very inspired by the group of men and the way they carried themselves. So I kept showing up to frisbee.”
Building leaders across the nation
Across campuses, students like Sam Magnotto, a former Sun Devil, are discovering how ultimate frisbee can also become a platform for leadership.
“Frisbee became the open door that helped me feel welcomed to actually hear more about the Gospel and eventually become a leader and part of the community,” Magnotto said. “All because I was invited to play.”
What started as a pick-up game at ASU eventually became Magnotto’s mission: bringing the same culture of leadership to the University of South Florida, where he currently serves as a Missionary and Chapter Leader.
In SPO, leadership means setting the example - showing up, serving others, and calling your brothers higher through accountability, prayer, and how you carry yourself on the field.
“The way SPO plays frisbee really called me on and made me want to be a better man and leader,” Magnotto said. “Seeing other men go all out stirred up this desire for strong brotherhood.”
Magnotto built a team where ultimate frisbee is more than just a game - it is a space to become a better leader.
“Every week before we play, one of the Missionaries explains that we’re out here because we’re pushing one another, because we want to grow,” Magnotto said. “We’re not out here to put our brothers down or to say we’re better than them.”
Magnotto’s approach shows how SPO flips conventional thinking about sports.
“I played Club Frisbee for a while, too. In Club, defense is kind of looked down on - that’s where the worst players go.” Magnotto said. “But in SPO, we exalt defense. It’s like, ‘Hey, I don’t care if you’ve never played before, you’re making a difference in this game, and I want you on my team.’”
A culture that forms men
Players like Gordon, who’d never picked up a disc before, are learning and competing alongside frisbee veterans like Alex Dluzynski, ASU’s Chapter Leader who now guides the next wave of students.
“Frisbee is an incredible sport, because you’re always a little uncomfortable and never fully satisfied with your game,” Dluzynski said. “You can always give more than you want to give. We play because it helps us become better men.”
Friday nights at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex aren’t just about ultimate frisbee - they’re a practice ground for faith. On the field, students learn to lead and to pour themselves out for others, carrying lessons from the game into their daily lives.
“It’s less about ego or showing off and more about involving the people around us,” Dluzynski said. “If you want to see how [a young man] might lead a family, watch him try to lead a team of guys he didn’t choose.”
New players quickly learn that the field is more than a place to score points, it’s a space to challenge themselves.
“Maybe we don’t play the most technically sound frisbee or [have] the most talented guys, but we’re forming men,” Dluzynski said. “We push them to take risks, to fail and to grow into more than just good frisbee players but real competitors - hoping they’ll become quality men one day.”
Brotherhood that calls men higher
Still, Dluzynski said it isn’t just the Missionaries driving that growth. Everyone on the field helps call the younger guys higher by giving them confidence, responsibility and real chances to lead. For sophomore Andrew Phillips, that brotherhood has been a major part of his development.
“[SPO’s] goal is to form you as a whole person, not just in your understanding of God but in your knowledge of man.” Phillips said. “SPO does this better than any organization I’ve seen. It’s a very holistic approach, and I think it’s going to change the world.”
Phillips has seen the formation of young men most clearly through ultimate frisbee and brotherhood that calls men higher.
“We have random students coming to frisbee,” Phillips said. “In the past, we’ve even had guys wander in after seeing us play. Sometimes you just need to show them a community of dudes who are normal people.”
To Phillips, that’s the heart of SPO: giving men a place to belong. Whether a guy’s been in an SPO Household for years or just wandered in after noticing a disc fly across a field, everyone is invited into the same brotherhood that pushes, supports, and challenges others.
“The last thing I want to be doing on a Friday night is sprinting for an hour and a half, but it holds me accountable to serving my brothers well and building up that community that can call [me] and those around me higher,” Phillips said.
Phillips’ experience reflects what men across campuses keep discovering: ultimate frisbee becomes the place where formation stops being theoretical and starts becoming lived.
Cooper Krigbaum
Student, Arizona State University