ABOUT US
Emerald Valley Ultimate
Emerald Valley Ultimate is committed to providing the greater Eugene community with structured ultimate frisbee at the youth level. We wish to create a welcoming community of ultimate players and parents that focuses on fun, inclusive play and encourages kids to lead through spirit and sportsmanship. With scholarships available, one of our primary goals is making Ultimate accessible to all who wish to play!
EVU is a 501(c)3 non-profit located in Eugene Oregon. Our tax ID # is 47-5010077.
Officers
Eric Rosenfeld - Executive Director
Eric is a PNW local, hailing from Seattle before moving to Eugene in 2009 to attend the UO, where he started playing ultimate frisbee and never looked back. A member of the initial crew that started EVU back in 2015, Eric has worked with Monroe and Shasta middle school, as well as Sheldon high school. When he’s not directing EVU, Eric also captains the local adult club team Kesey’s Garage Sale. Outside of ultimate Eric loves to ski climb, and play board games with his friends.
Taylor White - Program Coordinator
Taylor discovered Ultimate freshman year of high school in 2011 and hasn’t looked back since. He has played for or coached several teams in the Oregon area, most notably: OSU, Dark Star, Garage Sale, and U17 Oregon Eclipse (Coach). Taylor is most proud of his work off the field and is hoping to help EVU grow its ability to provide Ultimate outlets to everyone from youth to adults.
Acacia Hahn - Outreach Coordinator
Acacia started playing Ultimate through Emerald Valley Ultimate in 2016 as the program was just beginning and immediately fell in love with the sport. She continued to play throughout high school, and now plays for the University of Oregon’s College Women’s/Gender Diverse Team Fugue, and Oregon’s Women’s Club Team Schwa. In 2022 she also captained the U20 Women’s National Team, representing and winning gold with USA in Poland. Throughout this all she has continued to stay connected to the EVU community through coaching in the leagues and summer camps. Off the field, Acacia is studying Political Science at the UO and loves backpacking and cooking. She hopes to further develop EVU’s inclusive programming and continue to empower all students to join our community.
Board of Directors
Jared Weybright - President
Jared started playing Ultimate in the early 1990's and played at the University of Oregon in '93 and '94. He spent the better part of the next fifteen years playing with an eclectic mix of men's and mixed teams based out of Eugene, Portland and western Oregon. Along with his wife Rachelle, he coached the UO Women (Sneetch/Fugue) from 2000-03. A EVU board member since 2015, Jared is a strong support of youth athletics in general and ultimate in particular. He has been part of the ultimate coaching crew at Roosevelt Middle School since 2014, currently coaches the South Eugene High School Girls’ team, and is dedicated to promoting the sport among local youth.
Heidi Khokhar - Treasurer
I got involved with the sport of Ultimate when my son Colton’s bff, Hayley, decided that the two of them needed to do something with their high school years by playing ultimate. I’ll never be able to repay Hayley nor this sport for the many positive impacts they have had on my “little” boy. Being on the board of EVU affords me the opportunity pay it forward and use my expertise in nonprofit management to help an organization, whose mission I believe in, and other kids in the Eugene area learn through play.
Jen Thoennes
A lifelong recreational ultimate player and dedicated ultimate mom, Jen is excited to help support opportunities for youth to get in the game. She is enthusiastic about co-ed sports and is happy to be working with EVU in developing programs to support all levels of play.
Julia Sherwood
Julia discovered the sport of Ultimate at South Eugene High School in 2005 where she quickly found great joy in the game as well as its unique community. She pursued the sport in college at the University of Oregon where she helped Fugue earn its first national championship title in 2010. After two years with San Francisco’s Fury she has spent the last four club seasons playing with Oregon Schwa where she is helping to develop and implement a long term vision for sustainable growth and success of this program.
In her free time, she enjoys working for land conservation, hiking, eating kale and generally appreciating the place she lives.
Natalie Hancock
Natalie discovered Ultimate Frisbee as a freshman at Humboldt State University, where she played with the Hags - including a trip to the DI College National Championships in 2012. She has played club since 2011, with Eugene Further and later Oregon Schwa, one of the longest running frisbee programs competing in the Women's club division. Since moving to Eugene, Natalie has coached a variety of high school teams in the area, and loves sharing her knowledge and passion for the game with younger generations.
Nic Roy
Nic has been playing and organizing Ultimate since the 2000s. At that time, in the large sprawl of Southern California there was mostly pickup but Nic founded the Cal State University Fullerton team and later games in North Hollywood, Claremont, and Rancho Cucamonga. After moving to Eugene in 2016 with his wife and four small children he took over organizing pickup on behalf of Eugene Ultimate Group. He joins the EVU board with the hopes of continuing to organize inclusive, competitive Ultimate that connects our Ultimate communities from youth to adults.
Danielle Hirsch
Danielle was first introduced to ultimate as a high schooler in Minneapolis. When she moved to Oregon for college in 2004 she joined Fugue and discovered the magic that is the Eugene ultimate community. After college, Danielle played mixed and women’s club ultimate in Eugene and coached at South Eugene High School, as well as her alma mater, assisting Lou Burruss, Katie ‘Nij’ Weatherhead, and Claire Sharman. Her proudest moments have been qualifying for college nationals in 2008, helping Fugue win 3 college championships from the sidelines, and winning ninals at Club Nationals playing with Further in 2011.
Danielle is excited to give back to her beloved Eugene Ultimate community as a member of the EVU Board and bring her professional experience in fundraising.
India John - Secretary
India has been playing Ultimate since the summer of 2001, when a group of folks at camp would play at dawn followed by a morning dip in the lake. Though she didn't know the game well, she knew that getting up at dawn to watch the sunrise while running around chasing a piece of plastic felt right. From that summer on, India has sought out Ultimate wherever she can, finding that the folks who play a sport where the first rule is Spirit of the Game are very much her people. She eagerly joined the Middle School ultimate team in 2017 coaching Roosevelt, and has been a part of EVU since. India is passionate about the social skills that youth learn while playing Ultimate and is eager to keep finding ways to help the sport diversify. India joined the board in 2022, and became board Secretary in 2023.
Caleb Kostechka
Caleb Kostechka started playing pickup on the fields of UW- Madison and moved to Oregon in 2002. Some of his first friends were made on the Monkey Brew team in Eugene City Rec League. He loves working with middle school and high school students. He taught IB Literature and Philosophy at 4J High Schools for the past 20 years. He now is the Instructional Coach for Springfield High School. He continues to play Ultimate on the Eugene Rec League and is the assistant coach of the Kelly Middle School Ultimate team. He hopes to keep spreading Ultimate and the Spirit-of-the Game to students across the Emerald Valley.