A Brief History
The Dogs of War were originally founded in the early '80s by a group of University of Central Florida students.
The team dissolved later in the decade.
In the fall of 2002, a group of UCF students started playing ultimate Frisbee on the Chem Green, later known as "the dojo." They attended the Tally Classic in the
spring of 2003 as the barefoot and khakis team. The closest game was an
8 point loss to a weak Clemson team. The future seemed dim for ultimate
at UCF.
The next year, recruits Daniel Bumgarner, Brennan Landreville and Cameron Amey joined the program, helping to build it from the base level. That same year, Adam Goldberg borne the Ultimate Frisbee Club at UCF. By a vote of all the members, the team would take on the
name of "Dogs of War." The new Dogs saw great growth as they ran hard, practiced hard and picked up the wily veteran - Shane Steward (native of Boston) - tall, experienced and athletic; eventually, they started beating teams from around the southeast, including winning the "Chump-ionship" at College Southerns. This team attended
Sectionals and lost in the game to go to Regionals to Clemson.
name of "Dogs of War." The new Dogs saw great growth as they ran hard, practiced hard and picked up the wily veteran - Shane Steward (native of Boston) - tall, experienced and athletic; eventually, they started beating teams from around the southeast, including winning the "Chump-ionship" at College Southerns. This team attended
Sectionals and lost in the game to go to Regionals to Clemson.
Come spring 2005, after the team had seen a dramatic increase in personnel during the fall, the Dogs had revamped their team with notable recruits Steve Schade, Ted Barnett and the Phil Stokes. This year saw the Dogs continue to show great promise as they traveled farther (Mardi Gras) and beat better and better teams (including Arkansas). The core got closer as a result of all the traveling and playing together. This team also, unfortunately, saw the end of the season at Sectionals. This time, Emory put the nail in the coffin for the Dogs of War. The new Dogs Finished 151st in the nation that year.
As 2006 rolled around, times seemed bleak with the results of last year's playoffs, recruiting lower than ever (only one freshman, Andrew Roca, joined the bunch), talk of players leaving, and other players getting close to graduating. Yet, the Dogs of War pulled together even tighter with the crucial aid of Shane Steward, who had left UCF a few years prior, returning to coach. The team grew tremendously this year from your average backyard bunch to easily the 4th best in the Section behind eventual national champs Florida, national semifinalists Georgia and national contender Georgia Tech. The atmosphere was different this year. Practice became mandatory, goals were set, the team crunched down on the fundamentals, and this opened the door for the legacy that the Dogs of War are today. For the first time, the new Dogs qualified for AC Regionals. Central Florida finished 52nd in the nation.
2007 - The Dogs had a very impressive preseason, getting a last
minute invite to CCC and finishing 11th out of the top 24. They also
successfully created a B-Team, Havoc, who had a very competitive season
traveling to Louisiana, North Carolina and all over Florida. Come
January, while northern teams still had not found their form, the Dogs
were rolling and came in 2nd out of 48 at the Florida Winter Classic.
They followed that performance by coming in 13th out of 64 at Trouble
in Vegas, tied for 5th at Terminus and 12th out of the top 24 at
Centex, considered the most prestigious tournament in college ultimate.
That season the Dogs beat notable contenders such as #8 Georgia, #11
Minnesota, #15 Illinois, #18 Oklahoma and #27 California. The team
finished 5th in the Atlantic Coast Region after a heart breaking loss
to James Madison, and fell short of their ultimate goal.
~Bill and Steve