After first being introduced to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in 2015, I fell in love. I grew up being incredibly average at most sports and didn't enjoy a lot of the environment around team sports. Finding Ultimate opened my eyes to a new perspective on sport, where sportsmanship is just as important as winning. After my first year of playing, I said to one of my friends "I would love to be able to play Worlds one day" but I thought my shot was long-gone given that I picked up the sport at 23 (when most start in undergrad at uni or earlier).

I was fortunate enough to attend the World Ultimate Club Championships with Newcastle Pie Wagon in 2022. But I wasn't done yet - I knew I wanted the opportunity to represent a National team before I was ready to hang up my cleats.

As a dual citizen of both Australia and New Zealand, I am fortunate that I have two options for playing for a National team. Whilst I have been unsuccessful in being selected for either country in the past, this time I was blessed with the opportunity to play for the New Zealand women's masters team (Kotare) at the World Masters Ultimate Championships in Irvine, California in November 2024. This division is for players who are 30 and above.

However this is where fundraising comes in. Ultimate is a very accessible sport at a grassroots level, but being a niche sport it is all self-funded. We don't get paid to play, we don't get sponsors - we pay for the privilege of playing. Playing at a high level comes with a number of costs and a Worlds campaign very easily exceeds $5,000.

A rough breakdown of what the estimated cost (in AUD) looks like is...

• $230 for uniform
• $690 player fees for the tournament
• $2,500 for accommodation at for the pre-tournament and tournament (14 nights)
• $1,500-2,000 for return flights for the tournament
• $1,000 to attend training camps with the team in New Zealand
• $300 for travel insurance
• $500 for contribution to coach travel expenses
• + additional money spent on personal training/gym, physio appointments and countless hours spent training both individually and with my team

Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated - and will always be repaid with a throwing lesson! Thanks to the Australian Sports Foundation fundraising platform, any donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.