Histories are not tidy tales. They aren’t a line of dates that tuck neatly in behind each other. They’re messy, like kids on a playground who refuse to stand in line, push and shove and stay out past the last bell. Then they bang on the door and throw themselves against it, smearing their faces against the glass.

Stella’s history is like this. Her faces range from the UNLINED TO THE EXPERIENCED. She works as a lawyer, a teacher, in web design and in a lab. She is an environmentalist, a doctor, LIVES FOR VANILLA LATTES (walking, skinny) and doesn’t work at all. She’s a writer, a large animal vet and (we think) a SPY. She has come from Burlington, Montreal, North Bay, Edmonton, Australia, France and Toronto to play. She has a penchant for making up games, names and directions.

As a general rule, Stella WINS MORE THAN SHE LOSES. But because rules are made to be broken, SHE WORKS HARD TO PREVENT THIS. She collectively sweats twice a week, then travels to play in TO, Montreal, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Florida on weekends. When she gets home she works a little harder.

She looks good in ORANGE PEAS AND CORN.

But if you’re a stickler for details, Stella is the LONGEST RUNNING women’s ultimate team in Eastern Canada. With TWO THREE NATIONAL TITLES (1998, 2002, 2005) under her collective belt, she has played in five more national finals. Combined with other Eastern players, she has three times battled her way to the UPA Championship series and TWICE FINISHED THE TOP CANADIAN WOMEN’S TEAM at the competition (2001, 2002).

Stella’s ROOTS are strong and deep; in the past decade, she has nurtured a long line of CANADIAN WOMEN’S, COED AND JUNIOR NATIONAL AND WORLD CUP TEAM MEMBERS (Joanna McNutt Quarry, Tanis Lugsdin Frame, Nikki Brackstone Clarke, Hali Gernon, Stef Chow, Nalan Yuksel, Erin Huck, Gillian McFeteridge, Alison Lemay, Rasa Augaitis, Alyson Walker, Shannon Elliott, Jenn Kwok, Alison Fischer, Marie St. Jacques, Myriam Hebabi, Danielle Fortin, Jenna McBride).

Building on this success, expertise and a love for the game she can’t wash out, Stella’s still growing. SHE TAKES NOTHING FOR GRANTED. And that’s why she’s diving for it, the last one in the playground, jumping in puddles and making a mess ‘til the streetlights go on.