DURHAM, N.C. — The United States under-20 women's world junior ultimate team is no stranger to success. It's more accurate to say they're no stranger to pure domination, having won the World Flying Disc Federation World Junior Ultimate Championships six times out of the last 10 tournaments.
The times they didn't come in first, they placed second or third.
This year, as the team heads to Birmingham, England, it will bring three athletes from the North Carolina Triangle.
Grace McDaniel (Hillsborough), Caroleen DeWolf (Durham) and Isabella Russell (Apex) own three of the 25 spots on a roster that represents the entire United States.
The tournament takes place July 21 through 27 and the team heads across the Atlantic Ocean on July 19. Three hundred women applied to make the team, and 50 women from each geographical half of the country were then selected as contenders for the roster. From there, it was narrowed down even more, and North Carolina is heavily represented as the hotbed for ultimate continues to succeed.
"Playing overseas is so exciting because I get to meet other people from all over the world, who are also like the top in their country and just like, pushing myself and my team and really grinding it out and working with my teammates," McDaniel said.
Ultimate is a competitive team sport played with a flying disc that once originally called ultimate Frisbee.
The world championships for ultimate is good practice for what both McDaniel and DeWolf hope is one day an Olympic sport in which they can further represent their country, while playing the sport they love. They've both been involved with the sport for over five years and say it is easy to access.
"Hopefully one day we're an Olympic sport," DeWolf said. "I feel like there's a really big range of levels to play, like you can just go out and play pickup, and be brand new to Frisbee and not know how to throw, but then also there's like obviously all the way up to being able to play for the country, which is really great opportunity."
McDaniel says that while it's great she gets to experience the trip of a lifetime to the United Kingdom, it's also great to serve as a role model for younger girls who are getting involved with ultimate at a younger age with the Triangle Kitty Hawks, the team sponsored by USA Ultimate that serves girls 17 and under.
"We really pushed this past winter to up our U-17 women players but our Kitty Hawks team are a U-17 team, and that's really huge," McDaniel said. "They've got like 30-35 girls, so it's really exciting to start seeing that program build back."
McDaniel says when she returns, she'll get packed for a new adventure just 10 days last. She will be attending App State, starting her summer semester. It's in Boone that she will be furthering her ultimate game as she looks to join the App State club ultimate team.
To follow along with Team USA's journey in the United Kingdom, check here.