It starts as a couple of casual games and then turns into a passion. That’s Cory Foss’s story.

Foss, a fifth-year senior from Spokane, is the president and a captain of the WSU Ultimate Disc club. He was introduced to the sport in high school, playing unstructured pick-up games with his friends after cross country and track practices. He was considering trying out for the WSU cross country team before an ankle injury derailed his training, making time for a new sport.

“Once I stopped running cross country I started to focus on ultimate,” Foss said. “I got more serious and my uncle, who is a professional disc golfer, taught me how to throw.”

Foss got involved with the WSU ultimate disc club team early in his university career. During his Alive! session, he went on the UREC website and looked at all the club team’s pages.

“I emailed the Ultimate president and he got right back to me and told me when practices were,” Foss said. “I honestly thought I was going to be on the badminton team.”

At WSU the team played with much more structure than Foss had ever experienced. The games were well organized and, unlike the pick-up games back home, had rules.

“I’m competitive, so the set plays and structure of club ultimate made it a lot more enjoyable,” Foss said.

It’s been three years since the team had a coach, so the onus of implementing structure in the team is on the veteran players. There are four team captains and Foss has been one of them for the last three years.

“When he’s on the sideline he’s very talkative, communicating to rookies and even vets,” fellow captain McKayla Fox said. “Telling them about the rules, he knows all about the rulebook.”

In addition to captainship, Foss is entering his second year as president of the Ultimate Disc club. Most of his responsibilities are related to planning the team’s tournament schedule and working with university organizations.

“I like doing the behind the scenes stuff, working with UREC and meeting the standards they have for club teams,” Foss said.

“Cory is the most, what you would call ‘ultimatey’ person,” Joe Parzych, another team captain, said. “Whenever we go to tournaments, he knows pretty much everyone there; he’s a really prominent member of the community.”

After he graduates, Foss would like to continue playing ultimate. There are professional and club teams across the nation like the Seattle Raptors, who currently have a few Cougar alumni playing for them. Foss played in tournaments over the summer for a club team in Missoula, Mont. called the Mental Toss Flycoons. The team made it to nationals two years ago.