"It is a labor of love": Chicago Union, the city's Ultimate Disc League team, riding a wave of success
CHICAGO (CBS) -- You may not know much about the Chicago Union, but this team competes at the highest level of their sport.
"Ultimate" is the name of the game for the Union. Their sport is kind of a mix of a lot of other familiar ones; like soccer, hockey, and football. That's how Chicago Union head coach Dave Woods described Ultimate Disc.
The Union play in the American Ultimate Disc League, and, at least recently, they've been playing very well.
CBS 2's Matt Zahn caught up with the Union getting ready for a key showdown against one of the other top teams in the league, Minnesota.
The Union have been around since 2013, but underwent a rebranding off the field that has helped lead to more success on it.
"After a number of regrowing years, we'll say, the last two seasons have been very successful. We rebranded last year from the Chicago Wildfire to the Chicago Union, and with that we brought some different internal branding, some different team elements, and things like that, and that's resulted in some very good success on the field," head coach Dave Woods said.
Woods said they preach the 3 C's: community, competition, and communication. It's that last one that's key in the sport of Ultimate Disc, since you can only advance the disc by passing it to a teammate.
"Since it requires both a thrower and a receiver to score, that's why it's called the ultimate team sport," Woods said. "I have the belief that teams are successful when they communicate effectively and efficiently. So I preach that first and foremost."
"Unlike other sports, you can't go isolation. You can't just take the ball and dribble it, or kick it to yourself, or whatever. So you have to pass it to someone else to advance the disc and to score it," Union player Pawel Janas said.
Woods doesn't always stick to the sideline. Occasionally he gets in on the action as a player. How well that goes depends on who you talk to.
"I play when I'm called to, yes. I have been known to warm up and take the field. The fact that I can come out here and have an impact on the team, either on the field or off, is pretty special," Woods said.
Zahn: "Coach says he gets in there sometimes?"
Janas: "No, absolutely not. I don't know what coach is saying. No, no, no. We have 35 people on the roster, and he would be 45th person."
Zahn: "You know he can watch this, right?"
Janas: "I hope he does. I tell him this every day. 'Coach, you're too old, you're too slow, we have a lot better players.'"
All joking aside, Woods clearly is doing something right, at least when it comes to coaching. This team is having success, and having fun, and really this is a sport you can't play at a high level if you don't absolutely love doing it.
Zahn: So, what do you love about it?
Janas: "So many things. I think just the camaraderie that you get out of playing it. How many people in their mid to late 20s and 30s decide to practice and play together for 30 hours a week, and do this silly sport?"
Woods: "It is a labor of love. It requires a lot of time; a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get your body able to play at this competitive level weeks and weeks in a row. All of us work our full-time jobs; but, yeah, it is a big passion for everybody on the team."
That passion has led to a lot of wins, and the team is hoping eventually their first league championship.
The Union take on the Minnesota Wind Chill on Saturday night in a battle for first place in the 6-team Central Division. The Union have the 4th best record overall in the 25-team league.
