Jimmy Mickle is a bio-tech lab assistant, a CU-Boulder graduate who studied chemical and biological engineering, and the winner of this year鈥檚 鈥� the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy in USA Ultimate terms.
The annual Callahan Award is given to one player in the nation in both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 league at the college club ultimate Frisbee level. Callahan winners are first nominated by their teammates, then chosen by the Skyd Award Committee.听The award recognizes sportsmanship, physical talent and leadership. Mickle, who is from Golden, started playing ultimate while attending Lakewood High School. He joined soccer teammates who played ultimate during their off-season, and when he became more interested in Frisbee than soccer, he stuck with it. This year, the CU men鈥檚 club MamaBird ultimate team also won the national championship.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to win, basically, for the program and get the national title,鈥� said Mickle. He attributes his main source of motivation as 鈥渂eing competitive and being around other competitive guys.鈥� When he got to CU his freshman year, joining MamaBird gave Mickle a sense of community, which he appreciated as a break from class and working at the Engineering Center later on. Ultimate, he said, provided him with a sense of balance.
鈥淵ou make time for things that matter,鈥� said Mickle, noting that school and Frisbee were 鈥渒ind of the two things.鈥� Mickle听was the captain of the MamaBird team his junior and senior years, which presented challenges of its own like arranging travel and being held more accountable as a leader. Especially in this role, he said, there were ups and downs between winning and losing, which made 鈥渆nding on an up really awesome.鈥�
Mickle also played for the U.S. National team, the Under 23 team and, currently, he plays for the baby直播app club team Johnny Bravo. He plays both positions as handler, someone who does more of the throwing, and receiver. When he started ultimate in 9th grade, Mickle was about 5-foot-2, a hundred pounds and mainly played as a handler.
鈥淎s I grew and got bigger and faster and stronger, I started to become more of a receiver,鈥� explained Mickle, who鈥檚 now 6-foot-4. Having the advantage of his past, Mickle is strong in both positions.
Mickle isn鈥檛 the only 鈥渦ltimate star鈥� in his family. His twin sister, Christina, is another top CU-Boulder player who played on the CU women鈥檚 club ultimate team, Kali. She was also a captain and nominated by her teammates for the women鈥檚 Callahan Award this year. Keeping competition high with her brother, she finished in the top 10.
When it comes to winning the Callahan Award, Mickle said he鈥檚 most proud of being recognized by his team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to be voted by all your peers as the best player,鈥� Mickle said, also mentioning how 鈥渋t鈥檚 nice to look back at all the really good players who won the award and be in good company.鈥�
In addition to leadership and physical talent, the Callahan Award recognizes players who practice fair sportsmanship 鈥� an attribute that鈥檚 largely at the core of ultimate. Since its beginnings in the late 1960s, pioneers of the sport rejected traditional rule enforcement through assigned officials like a referee. They instead put faith in sportsmanship, allowing the players themselves to call things like a foul play. As Mickle explained, this philosophy is known as the 鈥淪pirit of the Game,鈥� and when there was disagreement in the past, the play would just have to be re-done. Today, games are accompanied with 鈥渙bservers,鈥� or individuals who only make calls when there鈥檚 disagreement, as well as track time between plays and call 鈥渋n鈥� versus 鈥渙ut.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a cool part of the sport, and I think it鈥檚 a good way to try to get younger kids playing,鈥� said Mickle. 鈥淵ou can tell parents, 鈥榶eah, part of this sport is that we try to teach sportsmanship and how to be a good opponent.鈥欌��
In addition to playing ultimate beyond his time at CU, Mickle sees himself coaching, emphasizing the role of give-and-take in the ultimate community. He taught a number of clinics across the U.S. already, having spent the last two summers on the road with 14 other college all-stars and teaching kids about ultimate. His future in ultimate, though, will be a hobby more than a career.
鈥淚 see myself continuing to play,鈥� said Mickle. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 too sustainable or anything, but I definitely see it being a big part of my life."
The next step for Mickle is gearing up for the World Ultimate Club Championships in Lecco, Italy, this August. He鈥檒l be playing for the baby直播app team Johnny Bravo, and fans can follow his journey using the Twitter听hashtag #MickleMania.
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The CU-Boulder 听includes 31 club sports.听
