At the beginning of the Ultimate Frisbee Association season, there wasn’t a lot of hope surrounding the Philadelphia Phoenix.
Ultiworld’s preseason predictions had the team finishing 16th of the 24 teams in the league; the league’s own rankings had the squad 19th.
Heavy turnover, new coaches taking the helm and a fresh crop of young players justified those low expectations. An opening matchup at perennial contenders DC Breeze — ranked Nos. 1 and 4 in the Ultiworld and UFA projections, respectively — looked to be the start of the slide down the table.
“You could be more blunt, you could say the teams thought that we stunk,” said Sean Mott, the team’s offensive captain, when Billy Penn timidly recapped those predictions.
But the Phoenix beat DC, the team’s first win against the Breeze since 2017. They followed that up with home-and-away wins against the Toronto Rush and now sit undefeated, behind only the Boston Glory in the East Division.
“I think this year felt more of a re-tooling, rebuilding year for us,” Mott said. “Obviously, we have exceeded those expectations in the first three games. So now the expectations have changed.”
Next up, another key matchup against the New York Empire Friday night, another division rival and perennial title contender that the team hasn’t beaten since 2017.
“We’re going to learn a lot on Friday about where we’re at,” head coach Bill Maroon said.
Maroon and Philly’s other new head coach, David Brandolph, were part of a full coaching overhaul from the group led by head coach Roger Chu. Mott and Brandon Pastor were captains under the old coaches, so it was understandably tough for them to see that group go. But it was also exciting to see what the new coaches could bring.
“Our previous coaches were great … They raised the floor of our team,” Pastor said. “We drilled so many basics and things like that over and over and over again. And now the new coaches have a bit more strategy, just from a bit more experience, and we’ve kind of been able to take what the previous coaches have given us and roll it into this season with a few extra techniques and players.”
“I personally played with Brando when I was young. So I know he has a good mind for the game offensively. I think he’s really kind of allowed our offensive system to have freedom and really express our top players’ abilities, which has been nice to see,” Mott said.
“Our defense [under coach Maroon] really comes ready to work and kind of has this, not like a smashmouth intensity, but kind of like an old school — like they want to be bullies.”
New faces
Along with the established players, there’s a crop of youngsters that have flashed their potential in just three games. Sam Grossberg, a 19-year-old rookie, earned a player of the match nod for his near-flawless home opener against Toronto.
“I immediately felt like I could step into a role where I was very comfortable and I had people to support me in whatever I was doing,” Grossberg said. “I think the team trusted me to do that and I really appreciate that, especially as a young player stepping into a new team.”
Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Adam Grossberg — who returned to the team after a few seasons away — was man of the match in the next game against Toronto.
Scott Heyman, in his fifth season with the Phoenix but still just 23, is a lead contender for the league MVP so far this season.
Pastor, who is also the team’s youth director, says there are plenty more players coming up through the youth system. Much of that comes through the opportunities offered by the Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance, as well as a generation of players who grew up around local legends of the game.
“I think it’s really great that our team is really homegrown. We don’t have players from outside the region, really,” said coach Maroon, whose son Michael is on the team and niece Grace plays for the women and gender-expansive Philadelphia Surge. “Almost all the players are from this area and came up through the PADA system, through the youth development system we have here and the one in New Jersey, and I really think that’s something that is unique to us and looking forward to where this goes in the next five years.”
Philly faced New York in an exhibition game before the season, losing, 20-18. Since then, New York has started slowly and are currently 2-3, so momentum is with the Phoenix.
“If you were to ask like Vegas to make odds, they would probably have us as the favorites right now. And I think we need to learn to play with those expectations on our shoulders if we want to be considered a playoff contender,” Mott said.
The coaches have set up sub challenges to keep the team on their toes even while they’re undefeated — or off their toes, in this case. If the Phoenix outscores its opponent in the final quarter of play, the players don’t have to bring their running sneakers to practice on Wednesday.
So far, they are 1-2 on this challenge (the second Toronto game was 6-6, but ties count as losses).
The goal for most is more than about staying off the track, though.
“I think it’s just like the general goal of the season is to just be excellent through the entire game, which I think is something that the Phoenix have struggled with in the past couple years,” said Grossberg. “And even though we haven’t quite won every fourth quarter this year, I think that that goal being in our minds has set a very good precedent for not letting teams back in games.”
The game starts at 7 p.m. Friday at Neumann University’s Turf Field in Aston Township, Delco. Tickets are available at the team’s website.
