Ladies and gentlemen, here is your 2024-2026 board! This group of people will be spending the next 2 years doing their best to serve you, the LAOUT community, to make sure you have the opportunity to play as much ultimate as your bodies can handle.
Gunnar Ristroph
Gunnar found his passion for ultimate in Austin, Texas, where he embraced the community and camaraderie he found in pick-up games. Professionally, he co-founded and served as CEO of an aerospace and defense products company, successfully leading it until its sale in 2020. He now channels that business expertise into his service as Financial Director for LAOUT. Gunnar enjoys the outdoors, mostly through biking and climbing.
Mei-Lien Converse
Mei-Lien Converse grew up in Madison, WI and has been playing ultimate for over 10 yrs now. She had been talking about moving to LA for over 10 yrs and finally in late October of 2021 she made the jump and moved here. She works for Ultiworld as a camera operator, coaches youth sports and is on the hunt for a graphic design job in the LA area. In her off time she also enjoys dog sitting, traveling to new places and eating great food. Back in Madison, she first played mixed ultimate and helped create some new teams that still exist today. A couple years ago moved to women’s and have been playing that ever since. She currently plays for a masters team called Aged Cheddar out of WI and Wildfire from San Diego. She joined LAOUT with some encouragement from current board members and can’t wait to continue improving and expanding the LA ultimate community.
Bobby Aholt
Bobby first picked up a disc in Junior High when a couple of friends decided to try something new at lunch. He rediscovered the sport after college when another group of friends wanted to try something new to stay in shape. Years later he is still in love with the sport and the community. You’ll see him out on the field throwing hammers and jogging on defense. The rest of the time he’s hanging out with his family and going to theme parks.
Mike “Luigi” Schlesinger
Mike started playing ultimate in 2009 and has been involved with LAOUT since 2012. Through LAOUT-sponsored leagues, tournaments, and pickup games he has made lasting friendships with many of the wonderful people and dogs of the community. He is excited to have this opportunity to give back to the organization. In his time on the board he hopes to help the LAOUT leagues continue to run smoothly and be as much fun as humanly possible. Off the field Mike works as an engineer and spends as much time skiing as he can.
Tyler “TK” Kenny
YMCA ultimate in high school summer camp led to UCI Ultimate, which led to all of the orange county pick up games! Now I’m addicted and will sign up for anything Ultimate any day of the week. From serving on the equity committee, to mascot shenanigans for Astra and the Aviators, to captaining Hurricane for winter league and Treehouse for fall, I’m dedicated to building this sport with you.
Jan Smogorzewski
Jan Smogorzewski has been playing ultimate for 17 years in Los Angeles and is excited to give back to the sport and organization that has given him so much.
Abe Ho
After initially dismissing the “stack” at tryouts at Cal Poly SLO, Abe rediscovered the sport after college and now plays as much as he can. You can often find him at West Side pickup games on grass or sand. When he’s not on the field, he’s either listening to music, spending time with his dog, or coding.
Joshua Seal
After starting an ultimate club in high school in 2009, he played and coached multiple seasons with Dozen at Texas A&M and other mixed teams before moving out to the Golden State in 2017 to work in Hollywood. After getting swept away by Tinseltown and a brief stay in Montreal, he started getting involved with the local mixed teams and leagues. Now involved with the Leiout beach tournament and LA Aviators team, he will be serving the LAOUT board for the first time this year. Outside of playing ultimate or designing team jerseys, he’s animating on your favorite blockbuster films and TV shows, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or enjoying lazy days with his wife and dog.
Kat Curry
After 39 years and two careers, there is still nothing I love doing more than playing ultimate. I started playing at Brown University on the men’s team and co-founded the women’s team there. Two of those women are now on my Great Grand Master’s team, a testament to how much fun we had playing together. Teams I’ve been on have been to club Nationals 5 times and also to Worlds. Since retiring from my job as an animator, I got certified as a trainer with a specialization in youth sports. It’s my great joy to help people have as long a career in this sport as I have, and to give the gift of utlmate to anyone who wants to learn.
Ted Lannert
Ted started playing ultimate in 2010 in high school in the Chicago suburbs. Later that year, the University of Dayton in Ohio was his first formal playing experience. He played league and club in both Cincinnati and Washington D.C prior to moving to LA in 2017. Here in LA, he has played in pickups, leagues, and club in the greater LA area. He was a founding member of the LA mixed club team Spoiler Alert and has a passion for teaching the game.
Lukmon Babajide
Lukmon Babajide grew up in Houston, TX and has been playing ultimate since his senior year in high school. He moved to Los Angeles in 2022 from the NY/NJ area due to issues with weather. His hobbies including community organizing (which he has been trying to get back into while in LA), travel, anime, listening to music, and (obviously) discing. He enjoys many different sports including basketball, volleyball, and tennis (mainly as a spectator) but has been most involved in the unique communities of ultimate frisbee. Lukmon works in the mental health space with a particular interest in diversity and politics which shapes most, if not all, of what he does.
Josiah Gamble
Josiah started his ultimate career with his college team the Tennessee Tech golden beagles back in 2008. Well only playing one year with the team he instantly became the favorite of every single player in the entire world. He has played primarily in the Southeast for teams such as: freaks uv nature in Huntsville, nooga by nature in Chattanooga, and masters stalwarts Old Number 7.