Thanks to Jason St. Pierre for the translation from the French!

PORTRAIT: LILY FROM AMERICA WANTS TO THROW THE FRISBIE AT MONTPELLIER

“It’s typical of Americans, they arrive and right away they believe something,” remarks Vincent, a student athlete at Montpellier, in response to Lily’s initiative. “If she wasn’t here, we never would have done this” he adds about the young, 20-year old American who arrived in Montpellier in September with a frisbie in her hand and determined to play her favorite sport like she did in Massachusetts.

The upcoming weekend of March 12 and 13 the co-captain of the all-new ultimate frisbie team of Montpellier organized an international tournament on the beaches of the Grande Motte. To get a feel for the Ultimelting Pote (from ultimate, the word for competitive frisbie and a play on “melting pot” and “pote,” meaning “friends”), there were teams from Lyons, Nice, and Marseilles as well as from Spain, England, and Switzerland in attendance.

It was when she met David, another American studying in France and as passionate as she is about the sport (“if differently”), that her desire took shape: with some friends, they meet at the town stadium in evening and the curious approach. “Now there’s almost twenty of us who play regularly and our team is truly international with members from France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, and several beginners. We’re more than a team, we’re a group of friends.”

LEADER
“It’s the joy of playing,” repeats Lily in an attempt to express what it is about the sport that she has adored since some friends were involved in indoor frisbie one year ago. “I remember I was in a skirt and I didn’t want to play at all because I wasn’t very athletic, although frisbie is social. It’s also necessary to explain that everything is concentrated in the spirit of the game: what counts is mutual respect. At tournaments, prizes are given out for this reason. “Right away I saw her attitude as a leader,” notes Amy Loth, the director of the American Studies program at Mt. Holyoke University, which Lily attends. “Since she had grown up in a foreign country, she quickly felt at ease and her enthusiasm did the rest.” Born in New York, Lily had mostly lived in Costa Rica where her parents ran a hotel promoting ecotourism and, according to her, its Latin culture led her to France where she wants to learn political science as well as the language.
-Laurence Nicoud