Player profile: Abigail Yousha

Hopkins Ultimate Recreational Team or HURT is a club sport that represents students from the Hopkins district, but not HHS. Members of HURT can letter in ultimate through HHS but do not have a specific season or section.

Abigail Yousha, junior, has played for the HURT girls varsity team for four years. Yousha currently plays as a starter for both positions: cutter and handler. She also is the Communications Coordinator for the girls’ team.

As Communications Coordinator, Yousha takes attendance at practices, submits bids for tournaments, and assists in jersey designs. Yousha practices anywhere from two to five days a week and is a team leader at both practices and workouts.

“We warm up by doing different stretches and sprints. Then, we work on different types of throws. Followed by doing drills to mimic different ways to get open on your defender in different situations,” Yousha said.

An average HURT practice is two hours, and because of the high intensity of the practices and games HURT has has had some incredibly successful seasons. Last year HURT Girls won the conference championship, and placed fourth at centrals.

Not only is HURT an incredibly successful ultimate team, the team has become a family for many.

“I love ultimate. It’s an incredible sport that keeps you in shape and teaches you lessons on and off the field. My teammates are like my sisters and the sport has taught me integrity, family, and community,” Yousha said.

On Sunday nights practice is lead by the captains and occasionally turns into team bonding. For example, the team has gone to the Stone Arch Bridge, had an ice cream party, a pizza party, and even went to Raising Cane’s.

Many team members look forward to these bonding times, but are even more excited for the tournaments. The team is looking forward to the Neuqua Knockout tournament in Naperville, Illinois in April.