Freshman leads effort to bring ultimate frisbee to Council Rock

At an age when many freshmen are still deciding which clubs to join, 14-year-old Jacob Shade is already building one from the ground up.

The Council Rock South High School freshman has spent the past school year establishing an Ultimate Frisbee club at the school while also launching a youth Ultimate Frisbee program through Northampton Township Parks and Recreation. Through school workshops, elementary school assemblies and community outreach, Shade is working to introduce more young athletes in Northampton Township to a sport he believes deserves far more attention.

“My vision for this team is by my senior year we will be competing in tournaments every other week,” said Shade, a Churchville resident who turns 15 in June.

For Shade, creating the club was about more than simply finding a place to play. It was about creating opportunities for other students who may never have been exposed to the sport before.

“At the time no Ultimate Frisbee team was in Northampton Township, and some of the kids from Holland Middle School where I went often asked me why I wanted to play that sport,” he said. “But I didn’t care because I was passionate about playing.”

That passion eventually led him to spend months building the program at Council Rock South. Beginning in September, Shade worked through the approval process to officially establish the club, which was fully approved in early March. Along the way, he recruited students, secured advisors, found practice space and promoted the new organization throughout the school.

“It took me from the beginning of September till early March to get fully approved by the high school,” he said. “I had to get club advisors and a certain number of people committed to come out to participate.”

Shade credited Council Rock South teachers Mr. Lingman and Mr. Ciaudelli for helping the club become a reality.

“They were such a huge help in getting the team to where it is, and they still do,” he said.

To attract interest, Shade created presentations explaining the sport and used morning announcements, posters and school emails to spread awareness. What began with a few friends gradually expanded into a larger group.

“After spring break of this year, it started with my friends and expanded to friends of friends,” he said. “We kept trying to build awareness.”

The club currently practices twice a week on Council Rock South’s soccer field and has drawn about a dozen students so far. Because the team is still growing, Shade focuses heavily on teaching fundamentals and creating fun ways for players to learn.

“I’m currently leading the team,” he said. “I have drills to show them the basics like how to throw and catch.”

Since there are not yet enough players for full regulation games, Shade incorporates activities such as “DiscIt,” a combination of disc golf and Ultimate Frisbee designed to teach skills in a more relaxed environment.

“It’s a fun way of learning Ultimate Frisbee until we have enough players to run full games,” he said.

At the same time he was building the high school club, Shade also partnered with Northampton Township Parks and Recreation to create a youth Ultimate Frisbee program for students in grades seven and eight at Northampton Municipal Park.

“I’m using the team at Northampton Township to get the kids involved, know what the sport is, so if they live in the area and end up going to CR South, they will enter the school already knowing how to play this sport,” he said.

The Wednesday evening program, which began this spring, introduces middle school students to the basics of throwing, catching, teamwork and game strategy while also emphasizing fun and participation.

“This is more for the fun of learning the sport, not competitive,” Shade said. “I want them to learn how to play frisbee, see if they become passionate about it and also just have fun.”

The township partnership has also helped spread awareness of the sport throughout the community.

“I have a partnership with Northampton Township and they have helped me promote this program in their brochures mailed to residents about their spring programs,” he said.

Beyond the township program, Shade has also introduced younger students to Ultimate Frisbee through school assemblies and workshops through the professional Philadelphia Phoenix organization. At Maureen M. Welch Elementary School, he led 40-minute assemblies for each grade level focused on teaching students about the sport and giving them an opportunity to throw discs themselves.

“The goal was trying to get the frisbees in kids’ hands and make sure they were having a good time,” he said. “Just spreading awareness of the sport.”

He also ran physical education classes for students at William Tennent High School, continuing his efforts to introduce more young athletes to Ultimate Frisbee.

For Shade, one of the most important lessons from the experience has been perseverance.

“The most rewarding part of establishing this team at high school and the program at the township has been the life lesson,” he said. “I’ve been told many times this year that the club would never take off to where it already is, but I kept at it and was determined to achieve my goals. My hard work and commitment and time paid off.”

Although the Northampton Township and Council Rock South programs are now his primary focus, Shade’s involvement with Ultimate Frisbee began years earlier through the Philadelphia Phoenix organization, where his father worked as general manager.

Beginning in fifth grade, Shade traveled with the team to cities including New York, Boston, Toronto and Montreal, helping with game-day operations, merchandise, youth clinics and field setup.

“The first summer or two was a bit intimidating,” he recalled. “But once I was with the team more and more, they started to treat me like more of their teammates even though I never played and was just there for setup.”

He later became involved in a halftime showcase during the 2025 Eagles-Packers playoff game, serving as the Phoenix mascot and leading players onto the field before the exhibition.

“It was a lot of work, but we both saw the progress we made from it all and it all turned out better than I thought,” he said.

Shade’s first competitive playing experience came when he joined the Pennsbury High School Ultimate Frisbee team as an eighth grader. Since Council Rock School District did not yet have a team, league rules allowed him to compete with a neighboring district.

“I realized that this was my sport,” he said. “This is what I want to do.”

Competing against older players helped him develop both confidence and resilience. During the season, Pennsbury traveled to tournaments in Nashville and Toronto and finished second at the Pennsylvania State Championships.

“From being in that competition, I learned the importance of never giving up,” Shade said.

His experiences eventually motivated him to bring the sport back home to Council Rock South and Northampton Township.

“What I like best about Ultimate Frisbee is that it’s a competitive sport,” he said. “People often don’t know what it is, but if you actually go out and play in tournaments or watch the games, you realize it’s really competitive.”

He describes the sport as combining “the concept of football with the endurance of soccer,” noting that players need constant movement, speed and stamina.

Shade also received support from USA Ultimate through a Learn to Play grant that provided discs, cones and instructional materials to help launch both the Council Rock South club and the Northampton Township program.

“It helps me so much,” he said. “If I’m busy teaching someone else, other kids can look at it to see the rules and they can figure it out.”

Looking ahead, Shade hopes the programs continue growing and eventually create a strong local Ultimate Frisbee community throughout Northampton Township and Council Rock School District.

“If you play other sports, it will make you a better athlete due to its endurance,” he said. “And if you don’t play any other sport, it could end up being your sport of choice.”