Rather than explaining ultimate Frisbee, Pittsburgh Thunderbirds coach David Hogan would show a highlight video to anyone inquiring about the sport.

He feels the visual of the fast-paced and growing game would be better than words could describe.

“If you have a sports background and you enjoy football, basketball and soccer, you'll see the same movements and plays being replicated,” Hogan said.

The Thunderbirds have had a pretty good brand of ultimate Frisbee in their short existence.

Last year, in their inaugural season in the American Ultimate Disc League, the Thunderbirds reached the playoffs and look to continue being a factor into 2016. Their home opener is against Detroit at 7 p.m. Saturday at Founder's Field in Cheswick.

The Thunderbirds (2-0) won their season opener at Detroit, 25-16, on April 9.

The AUDL is a 26-team professional ultimate Frisbee league that was founded in 2012. The Thunderbirds play in the Midwest Division.

“We have dual expectations,” Hogan said. “To get at least to where we were last year, finishing second in the division and then seeing if we can better that, whether it's winning the division or making the final four.”

About half of the Thunderbirds' roster played at Pitt, which has one of the top ultimate club programs in the country. Pitt won back-to-back Division I national championships in 2012-13.

Hogan, a Virginia native, played at Pitt, but a leg injury shortened his career. He wanted to stay involved in the sport so he became the team's videographer and eventually an assistant coach.

Pitt coach Nick Kaczmarek plays for the Thunderbirds and another former Pitt player, Tyler DiGirolamo, set the AUDL single-season record with 86 assists.

Other Pitt alumni are Thunderbirds captains David Vatz and Ethan Beardsley.

“Compared to a lot of teams in the league, we're pretty home grown,” Vatz said. “We have a lot of guys who played in high school here or came here and played in college, who stuck around the area.”

Vatz, 30, started playing ultimate while at Mt. Lebanon and instantly found a connection.

“A few friends and I started a team my freshman year of high school,” Vatz said. “In my first game ever, we had a huge comeback. I think we were down 12-8 or something like that and came back and won. From that moment on, I was hooked.”

Beardsley, a Warren native, last year led the AUDL in goals, which are akin to touchdowns in football, but count for one point. He was a member of Pitt's two national championship teams.

“I was introduced to the game at Pitt,” he said. “I knew it was a thing you could do in college, but when I heard there was a team in Pittsburgh I knew I had to get involved. It's pretty cool to get to play semi-professionally.”

The AUDL has tripled in size since its inception and has a deal with ESPN to show a game every Saturday on ESPN3, the network's online service. The Thunderbirds were featured on ESPN3 twice last year.

“That was a pretty big deal,” Beardsley said. “Any exposure is good, but to have a legitimate source like ESPN is pretty big and pretty exciting.”

The Thunderbirds return a core group that won a first-round playoff game against Chicago last season and lost to Madison in the quarterfinals. They added a few players, including four from Michigan, one from Ohio and another from Florida.

Hogan said his team is still meshing in the early part of the season.

“It's about getting people to apply their talents together, understanding what each player brings to the table, and knowing where they fit in the very large puzzle that is a team,” Hogan said.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

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