PHUEL - Philadelphia High School Ultimate Education League

College Natties (Div III this weekend & Div 1 next weekend) is HERE - and there are a significant number of PHUEL/PADA players heading out. Let's start a list so people can follow and support!

Here’s a fun fact. Every USAU National champion in the Men’s division since 2018 with the exception of last year (Truck Stop) has had at least one PHUEL alumni on the roster. Apologies for my lack of knowledge regarding the Mixed and Women’s divisions.

11 PHUEL alums made the USA U24 Worlds tryout list! Congrats to everyone!

Gavin Abrahamsson (Strath Haven)
Peter Boerth (Strath Haven)
Erica Brown (Masterman)
Adam Grossberg (Wissahickon)
Sam Grossberg (Wissahickon)
Dagny Lott (Strath Haven)
Grace Maroon (Masterman)
Ethan Pidgeon (Wissahickon)
Liv Steinberg (Lower Merion)
Casey Thornton (Lower Merion)
Will Zamsky (Radnor)

2025 Under-24 Team USA Tryout Invites Announced - Ultiworld Time to start speculating about which players will be selected!

Come out and see Forge (U-20 Mixed) and PADAWans (U-17 Open) teams play on Sunday at Edgely against teams from up and down the East Coast.

Games start at 11:00 am and will end by 4:30 pm. Come out and support the next generation of PADA Ultimate as they get ready for YCCs!

All-PHUEL Teams 2024 - Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance Photo Credit: Don Mennig Photo credit: Shawn LanzilloPHUEL collected votes from captains and coaches to announce the top 7 players and top 2 coaching staffs in…

Continuing the TBT theme with Central High School. Here is some information about what I believe is the first high school ultimate team in Philadelphia. The year is around 1978, just ten years after the birth of ultimate at Columbia High School. Below is the roster of that first team and some memories from one of the players. I'll look to try to get some photos from this team. We are hoping to see some of these legends at Oaks at the City Championships this Saturday, May 11 at 1:00.

Central Air Conditioning (Central High School in Philly) Team formed circa 1978. (Many of these players graduated in ’79 but Dave Davies became the Captain after that and continued the team)

Team Members of Central Air Conditioning (1978-79):
Steve Zeff
P. Taylor
Andy Takats
Michael Gelsanliter
Jason Lubar
Tim Rebhorn
Carl McGinley
Jim Nardell
Ed Mitinger
G. Carpenter
Darren Waite
Alan Weintraub
Noah Powlen
Antony Scola

From Steve Zeff:
“My cousin Joel (6 years older than us) was playing ultimate at Clark University in Worchester, MA, and I may have had some role in introducing ultimate to our gang, but Weintraub may have as well. I believe we played in Pennsylvania Sectionals one year and were the only high school team. And we didn’t have cleats, and it was raining and muddy. The other teams were amused in a positive way about our participation. The handwritten board had us as Central High with a joint and smoke rising next to it. I believe we didn’t win any games that time, mostly because of the mud situation, but I could be wrong. David Willoughby did the art for our logo. We were known as Central Air Conditioning or just Central Air. Stall count was 15 then 12 then 10. We used Master discs with the serial number on them so if you lost it and someone put it in the mail, Whammo would mail it back to you. We played/practiced up on LaSalle fields. I remember sometimes looking out Mr. Barsky’s English class window seeing my friends playing disc cutting class”

In addition to participating in club sectionals, this team also received an invite to participate in the East Coast High School Championships in Washington, DC and they came in 4th place.

Central Air - Philadelphia's first high school ultimate team!!

Central High School has ultimate roots that go way back before PHUEL. Most of the players listed here were playing in the late 1980s. Here is ....

THE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL Pre-PHUEL Ultimate team

Offense
J Tomes 248
Steve Grantz 248
John “Shaka” Hesting 248
Rich Duggan 248
John Grantz 250
John Knapp 248
Chus Ha 250

Defense:
Chris “Tiz” DiTizio 248
Brian Emgushov 248
Joe Frommer 248
Steve Spear 248
Steve Springer 248
Wayne Hu 250
Joe Gardner 248

Honorable Mention:
Dave “Disco” Walters 248
Eric Von Stueben 248
Phineas Walsh 248
Nima Emgushov 248
Akin Aina 250
Art Pro 248
Brad Braverman 250
Howard Gottleib 250
Brian Lafferty 250
Michael Lafferty 250
Alex Kudera 246
Dan Bluestine 246
Josh Spodek 247

..and another notable Central alum is Steve Lienert 248. Steve currently coaches at Radnor High School. After graduating from Central High School, Steve went on to play ultimate at East Carolina University. Steve won two college national championships with the ECU, the first in 1994 and the second in 1995.
Steve is in this photo from 2016 at College Nationals in Raleigh, North Carolina. Steve is standing with Trent Dillon who was coached by Steve at Radnor High School. Trent also won two college national championships with Pittsburgh in 2012 and 2013. Four college national championships in that photo : )

TBT. Posting tonight. History from Philly High School Ultimate before PHUEL!! The 1990s, the 1980s, and even the 1970s!
The first ever Hop on Pop tournament ... on Father's Day (the origin of the name).
A Philadelphia team competing in one of the earliest East Coast Championship High School Tournaments.
And more ...
Come meet some of these early LEGENDS of Phiily High School Ultimate this Saturday at Oaks at the City Championship Tournament. We invite ALL PHUEL alums and former high school players to cometogether to celebrate Philadelphia High School Ultimate. We will also be honoring the Silver Anniversary teams from high schools and the PHUEL All-Decade Teams.
TBT- A flyer from the first ever Hop on Pop from 1994. And the color flyer from the 2nd Ever Hop On Pop. These were both hat tourneys for high school players. In 1996 Hop on Pop transitioned from high school hat tournament to a tournament with high school teams.
More TBT history coming soon tonight ......

This Saturday, May 11 at 1:00, PHUEL will honor players from the first 25 years of the league, and the pioneers who played high school ultimate before PHUEL. We invite ALL former players to come out to the fields at Oaks to watch the Boys and Girls/Nonbinary teams play their city championships. We will recognize and take photos of the Silver Anniversary Teams from the schools that submitted them. We will also recognize and take photos of the all decade teams that were named. Bring an old disc or old jersey from your former team. Come catch up with old friends, meet new friends, and watch some great ultimate!! We will meet at 1:00 by the tent by the treeline at Oaks. Spread the word to your former teammates and opponents!

The Oaks fields are located at:
Lower Perkiomen Valley Park
101 New Mill Road
Oaks, PA 19456

Link to schedule for games ... https://phuel.pada.org/e/phuel-city-championships-2024/schedule/division/all

Lower Perkiomen Valley Park | Montgomery County, PA - Official Website This sylvan setting of 107 acres in the southernmost section of Upper Providence Township attracts the recreational sports minded and the nature lover alike. With lovely views along the Perkiomen Creek, the park serves as a trail head for those seeking access to the Perkiomen Trail, the Schuylkill R...

And we would like to recognize outstanding players from another of our PHUEL schools, Plymouth Whitemarsh. Congratulations to Jack Travis, Michael Maroon, Karen Minecci, and Abby Minecci for being honored as members of Plymouth Whitemarsh's Silver Anniversary team!

And our selection list for the boys of our most recent time period. Fall 2019 through the present day. We will also recognize these players and all of the players from the decade teams and school silver anniversary teams on Saturday, May 11 at City Championships. More details on that very soon.