Nicky grew up in Nashville, Tenn., as the oldest of three boys. He loved sports growing up, especially soccer. At University School of Nashville, one of his closest friends was persistent in convincing Nicky to play in an away ultimate tournament, and he has been hooked ever since.

Nicky spent his first year in college at McGill University in Montreal where he learned to bear the elements of winter while continuing to pursue ultimate. He transferred to Colorado College, looking for a smaller community. At CC, he joined the ultimate team and found a group who played with a pure love for the game. He studied English literature and joined the honor council. After graduation, he traveled around the U.S. with the NexGen Tour. He moved to New Orleans, where he taught high school math through Teach for America and coached the Tulane ultimate team, while also traveling to Atlanta to play for Chain Lightning. He then moved to D.C. where he worked in education policy and played for Truck Stop. He currently lives in Philadelphia where he works for the school district’s Charter Schools Office as the Assistant Director of Charter Quality and Policy.

Outside of ultimate, Nicky enjoys reading, riddles and number puzzles, board games, traveling and hiking.

To me “Live Ultimate” means to 1) love ultimate and do the crazy Frisbee things like catching red-eye flights straight into work / driving eight hours each way from New Orleans to Atlanta to play with Chain while I was in Teach for America; 2) bring the best elements of the game of ultimate – mutual respect for your opponents, moving away from a zero-sum game idea of sports – into other areas of your life; and 3) be an ambassador for the sport and the values you believe in.