Ghetto Force is the University of Dayton Men's Club Ultimate Team. It is also the name of the separate but equally substantial Women's Team.
Ultimate, or Ultimate Frisbee, is a 7 on 7 sport governed by USA Ultimate with over 700 collegiate teams in the United States
Founded in 1988, Calvin and Hucks began playing recreational Ultimate on the campus of the University of Dayton. During a classic game of pick up, one individual called out for the force to be ‘Ghetto’ – a reference to an area of the University’s student neighborhood which surrounds campus. It was in this pivotal moment that Ghetto Force was born.
In the 1999 season, Ghetto Force utilized an otherworldly crop of talent – all 10 of them. As it would be, this small but fiery group of Ghetto Forcers put themselves in contention to make it to the 1999 UPA Championships. While at the Great Lakes Regional Championships, back to back wins over Ohio University and Notre Dame earned Dayton a spot in the backdoor game-to-go. Facing Oberlin, the limited numbers strapped the squad, and they were unable to earn the bid to Nationals.
In 2000, Ghetto looked to regain their prominence in the Great Lakes Region – however, it wasn’t meant to be. With a 16-14 semifinals loss to Magnum, Dayton again would be matched against Oberlin to keep their Nationals hopes alive. However, in a cruel twist of fate, Oberlin produced a heroic come from behind overtime win, with the final tally coming in again at 16-14. It was another heartbreaking finish for the Ghetto Forcers.
The team experienced tough times in the years following their near-national performances, finishing second to last at the 2006 East Plains College Sectionals in Athens, Ohio. However, one year later with a roster overfilling of new players Ghetto climbed its way into 5th place at the 2007 College East Plains Sectional Tournament in Versailles, Ohio, and earned a trip to the Great Lakes College Regionals, at the U of I, in Campaign-Urbana, IL.
Since reentering the competitive plateau of Ultimate, Ghetto has attended such elite tournaments as: Roll Call; Wisconsequences; Terminus; and among other Easterns, competing with national caliber teams from across the country.
At the 2008 East Plains College Sectionals Ghetto took 3rd place. Ghetto came into the 2008 Great Lakes Regionals seeded #11 out of 16, with the troublesome task of facing North Park, the 6th seed, in the first round. After a quick study of tapes, NP's strategy became immediately apparent. Ghetto up-set NP with a defining 15-10 victory, and then went on to face Notre Dame, the #3 seed, in the pre-quarters. After going up 5-2 on ND, Ghetto lost its edge and ended up losing, finishing 7th at Regionals.
2009 Sectionals brought on more Ghetto Force domination. Losing only one game all weekend, a close game for the sectionals championship against OSU. With a 2nd place finish at sectionals ghetto earned the 9th seed to Regionals... sound crazy? we thought so. Ghetto performed poorly losing its first game against Northwestern (NUT) 15-13, finishing 9th place overall.
2010 was marred with the quitting of 6 A team players due to questionably motives. Fortunately the former B team players stepped up to the plate and improved as no one had ever expected possible. At the 2010 East Plains Sectionals Ghetto continued its trend of consecutive Regional appearances by finishing 5th at Sectionals, once again earning a bid to the Regional tournament.
Over the past 4 sectional tournaments Ghetto has gone 29-7, finishing 5th, 3rd, 2nd, and 5th. With a new crop of elite high school players just around the corner Ghetto is likely to improve in prowess as it stalks the prey of the Great Lakes Region.
The modern era of Ultimate at UD requires substantial effort from players to maintain elite levels of conditioning, talent, skills, and fun times. The team practices frequently, conditions heavily, and has one of the closest bonds and best times of any group on campus. In addition, Ghetto's alumni continue to be an instrumental part of the teams success thanks to coaching, donations, and support.
