The documentary Torched – The Story of the Austin Torch had its start a few years ago, when filmmaker Hoag Kepner started filming the Austin Torch, the first professional women’s/non-binary Ultimate Frisbee team in Texas. “And it was one of the first in the country,” Kepner says, “and they – along with a few other teams – launched a professional league in 2019 called the Premier Ultimate League.”
Kepner had an inside view of the early days of the team and the league because his brother Bonesaw (“[it’s] an old band name,” Kepner says) helped to create both.
“I saw it happening and I picked up a camera just to… I was thinking there might be a story here and I was getting into filmmaking,” he says. “so I started filming and then… COVID happened. And the film is sort of about their rise from the ashes of almost folding as a team, right at this critical juncture.”
Covid lockdowns put almost everything on hold, of course, and professional Ultimate Frisbee was no exception. That made for a rocky start for the Premier Ultimate League, but by 2022 the league was up and running again and Kepner was there with his camera.
“Luckily I had been filming since 2018, so I had all this great archival stuff,” he says, “and then I used that 2022 season to kind of wrap the whole story around.”
Kepner says he was a little surprised to discover that life on the road for the Torch felt very similar to his own years as a travelling musician. “Being on the road with them felt a lot like being on tour,” he says. “Just trying to find a place to eat and you’ve got five minutes to dress… go in the locker room, go out and play, you know? It's like we've been there as a band.”
The Premier Ultimate League is a professional sports league, but that doesn’t mean there’s a ton of money flying around. “The more I followed the team around,” Kepner says, “the more I started to understand how scrappy and DIY this thing was and how tenuous their grip on sustainability and just even existing was. And I was really intrigued by there being so many reasons for them not to do this. They have jobs, you know? This doesn't pay the bills. They have families. Some of them have children. And there's so many reasons not to do it, but they keep coming back, even after a global pandemic. And I was fascinated about why. I mean, they're chasing a plastic disc. But it's really about more than sports for this team. There's a real social advocacy initiative wrapped up in the team and they're really part of this whole movement towards more equity and exposure and resources for women's sports. And I hope the film helps that effort.”
The team has seen the film and they loved it (“that was my favorite screening,” Kepner says). And he’s hoping that others, including people who know nothing about Ultimate Frisbee, take something positive from Torched too.
“I hope general audiences who aren't even into sports will watch this and think to themselves, what is in my life that I love this much? And how can I maybe recommit to that? Or maybe [they’ll] be inspired by this team to dive deeper into that passion of [theirs]. I hope they sort of reflect on that. And I hope also that they open their minds to the viability and entertainment factor of women's sports.”
