On March 3rd, the Henry Pfau Callahan Foundation awarded four full scholarships to the Chicago Ultimate Training (CUT) Camp. CUT Camp offers youth players a week of high quality ultimate training with premier college and club players as coaches. Many students applied, and the winners distinguished themselves by demonstrating a fantastic ability to develop creative and interesting ideas and synthesize their thoughts concisely.
This is the second year of awarding scholarships to attend CUT Camp. In order to apply for the scholarships, students were asked to read the story of Henry Callahan and answer how they intend to be an ambassador for the sport of ultimate in his likeness. Additionally, they needed to demonstrate financial need. The foundation seeks to promote the growth of youth Ultimate in the same way Callahan would have wanted it.
Originally, the foundation planned to offer two scholarships. However, due to the degree of competition amongst the applicants, the Callahans decided to provide two additional scholarships. The winners are Paige Rohrback, Kevin Kern, Hector Moreno, and Duc-Quy Nguyen.
I had the opportunity to speak with Hector and Duc-Quy, both of whom are high school seniors. They are looking forward to the high level of play at the camp, learning from the best, and improving in each aspect of the sport. Hector is most looking forward to meeting ultimate players from all over, getting to know them, and making connections within the ultimate community. Duc-Quy is excited for the intensive curriculum on throwing mechanics and learning how to throw consistently in all wind conditions.
I asked both players to provide me a thesis of the response to their applications. Hector focused on promoting ultimate within his cultural community.
“My intention as an ultimate player is to advance the sport within the Latino community and my culture,” he said. “I have seen ultimate spread throughout the globe, but not many people see it as a sport. I really want ultimate to become a part of my culture because I really believe that ultimate can bring the community closer.”
Meanwhile, Duc-Quy took a macro perspective of what ultimate can offer across the globe.
“Ultimate has a ripple effect,” he said. “Ultimate alone cannot solve all the problems in this world, but it is a start. I dream that if all the kids in the world played ultimate, maybe someday we will attain the understanding of one another and accomplish love and peace in society Henry Callahan desired.”
Hector does not have any favorite ultimate players; he simply respects every ultimate player for playing the sport. He started playing as a freshman at Pritzker High School in Chicago and intends to play next year at the University of Illinois. Duc-Quy’s favorite players are Alex Thorne and Nick Lance. He’s been playing ultimate at Winter Park High School in Florida since his sophomore year and hopes to play in college at either UCF or the University of Florida.
Hector, Duc-Quy, and all of the winners show immense maturity for young ultimate players. They have humility coupled with talent and love for the sport. The Henry Pfau Callahan Foundation hopes to continue promoting youth ultimate by highlighting and rewarding athletes who understand Henry Callahan’s devotion to ultimate, and who similarly seek to help advance ultimate in their own unique and powerful way.
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