It’s not the Burning Bras, Burning Couches or Burning Bushes, but the Burning Skirts: the UCSB women’s ultimate Frisbee club team.

The Burning Skirts played four back-to-back games during the Santa Barbara Tournament on Jan. 25-26.

“We had a rough start [Sunday] morning,” junior Sarah Eminhizer said. “We came back for the last two games. We played a pretty good game against [UC] San Diego. [It is] the top team in the nation right now.”

Struggling with a 2-6 record, a berth to nationals will be difficult, particularly with #1 UCSD in Santa Barbara’s conference. Only two teams will be sent to nationals from the regional championships. Though advancing to the postseason looks grim, the team looks forward to its next tournament at Stanford on March 1-2.

“At practices we are really going to focus on getting back to basics, taking our time and just getting off some good passes,” senior captain Taylor Fry said. “I’m really looking forward to the Stanford tournament.”

Unfortunately, the team will not be playing this weekend at San Diego’s Presidents Day Tournament because of a scheduling conflict.

The Burning Skirts’ three-hour practices four days a week make up for not going to the tournament. The majority of the squad’s practices are spent scrimmaging, giving the team an opportunity to work on game skills and helping the nine rookies improve their technique.

“We have some damn good rookies this year,” Fry said. “We did a lot of recruiting over the summer because we had such a small team last year.”

Aside from practices and tournaments, the team attended the UCSB women’s basketball game against Pacific on Feb. 5 in commemoration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Members of the Burning Skirts, and players from the women’s lacrosse and rugby teams, represented UCSB club sports.

“The women’s ultimate team had a pretty good showing,” Sport Club Coordinator Carrie Gardner said. “The women’s basketball games attract a lot of community members, so it was really good publicity for us.”

In a sport where athletes wear skirts to play in the mud and on grass, the team has seen and appreciated support from its fellow athletes in Santa Barbara. The sporting community at large often does not even view ultimate Frisbee as a sport.

With the rough start to the season, the team hopes to improve so it will be as competitive as possible at the sectional and regional championships in April.

“We have a really strong team. It’s a new team,” Eminhizer said. “We’re doing really well this year. The girls are doing a great job.”

Upcoming Events:

Women’s lacrosse tournament Feb. 15-16 at Storke Field.