Poway High grad playing ultimate disc for professional team

Andy Curtis spent most of his time with the marching band and playing for the boys golf team while at Poway High. So nobody could have guessed then, especially Curtis, that his future would include playing ultimate disc — as a professional.

Curtis, a 2004 graduate of Poway, works full-time at Cobra Puma Golf as a senior innovation engineer. But on the weekend he swaps out his work attire for a San Diego Growlers’ jersey and whips a Frisbee — also called a disc — around a football-sized field.

“If you would have told me in high school that I would one day be playing ultimate Frisbee as a professional I probably would have given you a crazy look,” said the 6-foot, 160-pound Curtis, who turns 29 at the end of July. “I played golf and was in the marching band. I never thought I would be playing ultimate disc.”

The Growlers are in the hunt for a playoff spot with two games left in their inaugural season. They play in the West Division of the Ultimate Disc League, which has four divisions and 25 professional teams overall. Also in the West Division are the Seattle Cascades, Los Angeles Aviators, San Francisco FlameThrowers, San Jose Spiders and Vancouver Riptide.

After losing their first five games of the season, the Growlers have won six of their last seven and are in need of two wins and a San Francisco loss to reach the playoffs. The Growlers play at Los Angeles Saturday and then close at home (Junipero Serra High School) on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Aviators.

Curtis has always had a love for throwing a disc around, but nothing serious until he went off to college at Cal Poly Pomona. It was there that he got his first taste of playing ultimate disc, which is described as a combination of football, soccer and basketball.

“The program at Cal Poly wasn’t too big,” he said. “It was in its infancy stage. I had a couple friends that mentioned it was fun so I went to a practice and fell in love and just kept going. And then I started to play in tournaments.”

Curtis honed the craft of throwing a disc by practicing on campus at Cal Poly Pomona. Now he plays the position of handler — a player who is typically a stronger passer of the disc than others on the field — for the Growlers.

“A college campus is a great place to start throwing a Frisbee,” said Curtis, who can launch a 175-gram disc 100 yards. “There is so much room. I threw a couple hours per week for two years.”

Curtis graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2008 and continued to stay heavily involved with ultimate disc. He played several tournaments with San Diego Streetgang, a club made up of mainly players from the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University.

Curtis, who is set to get married in November, then got wind of the possibility of a professional team starting in San Diego.

“I am really good friends with one of the owners (of the Growlers) and I am close friends with the other two owners,” explained Curtis. “I was privy to conversations between them so I knew a team was coming to San Diego.”

Curtis said about 80 athletes attended a tryout for the team last November at Balboa Stadium, where the Growlers play most of their home games. He was invited back for a second tryout and eventually signed a one-year contract.

“My friends weren’t really surprised I made the team, because they know that I am an ultimate guy,” Curtis said. “I can never do anything in the summers because of my commitment to ultimate Frisbee. They were more surprised a professional team existed.”

Curtis said the top players in the league make around $200 per game. That is not much money, but the real treat is having all the travel expenses and food paid for while getting to hang out with friends.

“You don’t play it to make money,” he said. “You play it to be with friends and travel. I got to go to Vancouver and I have been all over the United States, including Hawaii.”

Curtis hopes the game of ultimate disc will grow bigger.

“The more people that play the better,” he said. “Growing the game and having that camaraderie is the biggest thing for me. If I wasn’t friends with every guy on the team, I wouldn’t play. It is that simple.”

And Curtis plans on playing the game he loves until he cannot physical do it anymore.

“Ultimate is a pretty difficult sport health wise,” he said. “A lot of people blow out knees and ankles. I have been lucky. I have only had a few sprains. So, as long as I don’t tear an ACL or something, I am in it for the long haul.”

Those that want more information about the San Diego Growlers can visit their website at sdgrowlers.com.