Louis Douville Beaudoin started playing ultimate in Amherst, growing up in a thriving community where he honed his skills.
Earlier this month, he wasn’t in Amherst anymore. Instead, Douville Beaudoin was standing on an ultimate field in Wroclaw, Poland, alongside new teammates wearing the USA crest on their chests. Douville Beaudoin was one of 24 players who represented Team USA at the 2022 World Flying Disc Federation World Junior Ultimate Championships.
Not only did Douville Beaudoin play, he won — Team USA went undefeated throughout the tournament, winning all five pool play games to earn a bye in the playoffs. They then bested Italy and France in the finals to walk away with the championship.
“There’s definitely a lot of pressure when it comes to a national team setting like that. But the group of people on that team were so fun, and it really comes down to it just being more Frisbee,” Douville Beaudoin said. “I played so much here in Amherst that it just felt like an extension of that. If anything, the international level of ultimate is so fun just because you get to meet people all over the world who have the same interest.”
Having never played outside of the U.S., Douville Beaudoin said he was interested at how different countries played different styles of ultimate — Colombia played a ‘small ball’ kind of ultimate, with lots of quick lateral movements, while Austria played a more conventional game, stretching the field with long passes.
“It was really neat to see how different countries played differently from the U.S,. because having only really played within the Massachusetts bubble or like the New England bubble, seeing all the different styles of offense and defense was a really cool experience,” Douville Beaudoin said.
But as enriching as the on-field experience was for Douville Beaudoin, the trip was one that he’ll remember for a variety of other reasons. Douville Beaudoin is a quarter Polish, and got to meet some of his extended family members for the first time while playing in the tournament.
“It was super neat to play these big games and then go to the sideline and see not only my mom and dad, who were so critical in getting me there, but also relatives I’d never met and to be able to meet them in Poland where they’re from was really cool,” Douville Beaudoin said. “A great cherry on top of the experience.”
The Amherst native was also named his team’s spirit captain, a leadership role that helps ensure fair play on the field during each game. In addition, he helped facilitate post-game meetings that were held between teams after every game, where squads discussed how the match went. It was a role that allowed him to build more lasting one-on-one relationships with players from other teams.
“I got to build a deeper connection with the spirit captains of every other team we played, and that was that was a really cool experience,” Douville Beaudoin said. “Those are the people I really kept in contact with.”
As a result of being a spirit captain, Douville Beaudoin said he plans to meet up with some of the members of Team France that he became friends with during the tournament this fall when he travels to France with a friend. But besides getting closer to the other players in leadership roles, Douville Beaudoin and his teammates also made fond memories with their opponents in unexpected ways.
“One night… we were walking out of the dorms we were staying in and the Italian team that was also staying on the same floor came out with a speaker and started dancing outside. We joined in with them and ended up heading to the fifth floor and just dancing with all the the Italian players,” Douville Beaudoin recounted. “To do that, also knowing that we were playing them the next day… off the field we can be really friendly and get to know everyone… and then the next day we took the fields (with the) same level of intensity… and then afterwards, we celebrated with them again.”
This is hopefully just the beginning of Douville Beaudoin’s international career. Though he’ll age out of the Under-20 age group by the next time the World Junior Championships are held, he has three more opportunities to make the U24 team and is planning on trying out for the next cycle.
He’s grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity, and the people who helped him get there.
“(I’m) especially grateful for the sheer amount of support that got me there. I set up a GoFundMe to fundraise for this trip because it was very expensive. And it ultimately raised over the $4,500 goal that I set through 86 donors, the vast majority of which are part of the Amherst community,” Douville Beaudoin said. “That kind of support was overwhelming and just so amazing.”