Madison Cannon ’18 was fielding basketball scholarships as a senior in high school from some top schools across the country. What those coaches didn’t know was how burned out she felt. She soon left the hardwood behind her when her brother spoke with her about a sport he was playing at Lehigh that he thought she’d love: Ultimate.
Also known as Ultimate Frisbee, the game adopts rules and strategies from several sports, including basketball, football, and soccer, and is played with a flying disc passed by an offense looking to score as it moves the disc downfield to their opponent’s end zone. The game, often credited to a Lafayette College dropout (we get why you’d leave), dates back to the counterculture 1960s and today is played by millions around the world.
Cannon’s brother proved instrumental in a few things: Cannon’s decision to attend Lehigh and her decision to play a new sport.
“My brother got me into sports,” she says. “He guided me as a young athlete, so I trusted him.”
Coming to Lehigh may not have been too hard a decision since her grandfather and uncles were alumni. Cannon’s twin sister even surprised the family by altering her plans and calling South Mountain home for four years.
Cannon joined Lehigh’s women’s team, Gravity, for all four years. In three of them, the team made it to nationals, where it earned third place in 2018 and Cannon was named the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year.
“While the accolades are nice, it is a team sport,” she says. “Juliet Chung ’18 was my Tom Brady.”
After graduation, Cannon continued to play on mixed (men and women) and all-women’s teams. She played three years in New York City with Xist as well as with Frisbee of Long Island (FLI).
In 2022, she joined Grit in Washington, D.C. The team was ranked in the top five and earned a bid to nationals. Grit took second place at regionals in 2023 and again earned a bid to nationals.
Where she plays hinges on where Cannon is working and living. Following Lehigh, this English and entrepreneurship double major worked in real estate as a project coordinator, property manager, leasing agent, and tenant services coordinator.
“I helped my mother manage properties while in high school and also had internships at commercial and residential firms while at Lehigh,” she says.
While Cannon likes the work, Ultimate is still where her heart lies.
Her professional debut came in 2022 when she played in New York with Gridlock, a team in the Premier Ultimate League (PUL). In 2023, she played professionally with Surge, a PUL team based in Philadelphia.
The international stage was also hers as Cannon was recruited by a teammate to play on a mixed team for Columbia. While the world competition was held that year in the United States, she still competed with players from across the globe.
“Throughout my life I have built a family and found mentors through sports,” she says. “Ultimate brings joy — it unleashes my competitive spirit, makes me focus on team goals, introduces me to people from around the world, and most importantly, has formed friendships that matter.”
Photo credits: Sandy Canetti and Brian Canniff at Ultiphotos.com