Jason Clark is a Captain of the Tufts University E’Men. He has been going though an intense rehab since a tearing his ACL and MCL and has just been cleared to play. After this last year with Tufts, Clark will be joining Georgia Tech’s squad to play out his last years of eligibility.
What is your sports background and did that translate into Ultimate?
I played football (WR) and baseball (CF) in high school and I was also on the freestyle ski team of my local mountain. Oh, also, I’m a huge skimboarder. Other than downfield cutting and defending in football, I’m not sure any skills directly translate into ultimate. The experience made my learning curve a lot a lot faster than if i hadn’t.
How were you introduced into ultimate?
I caught wind of ultimate by senior year of high school, but didn’t play my freshman year due to a combination of breaking my wrist in a ski competition (1080 attempt) and thinking that college was for learning.
What has your career at Tufts been like? 
I joined the team sophomore year, played cutter d (because i didn’t have throws), and cut in the O-line last year. I can mostly attribute my Jlearning curve to a combination of the athleticism that i developed in high school and a desire to be better than teammate Adrian Banerji, who at the time was a freshman who liked to spike discs. My captain Andrew Hollingworth was a great positive inspiration and motivator.
I was made captain this year and the fall was very promising. In fact, i’ve never lost a game with this team. But I was bid into and tore my ACL and MCL in the first point of the first game of the UOA Ivy League tournament against Yale. I’ve rehabbed religiously, and have had the support of a great sports medicine department at Tufts. I promised my team that if they got me to nationals i would play alongside them, and I was just been cleared to play again, after just shy of 5 months being out. If our team is healthy (Sam KS and Jack Hatchett) by nationals, we will definitely, definitely be a team to watch.
What do you do outside of Ultimate?
I just graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering and a minor in music technology. I write club pop songs about feelings with Andrew Hollingworth.
What do you plan on doing with ultimate after college?
I am going to Georgia Tech for a masters in Music Technology. I plan on teaming up with Nick Lance to make some noise in the SE Region and then later with Chain Lightning. I guess its worth noting that i still have two years of eligibility after this year.
Photo courtesy of David Nelson
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