Get to know Seattle Tempest #23 Drea Baroma
By Becca Weinberg, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - For most people, long bus rides due to limited school resources would not be a weekly event to look forward to. But for Seattle Tempest cutter Drea Baroma, the commute to middle school ultimate frisbee games became one of her most cherished team experiences.
Baroma grew up with a deep interest in team sports, and became interested in ultimate frisbee when her friends began playing in middle school. She played for her school team all throughout middle school, where she learned the more complex strategies of the sport and developed her skills. Her middle school didn’t have proper funding for their ultimate frisbee program, so Baroma and her teammates rode the public bus to get to the fields for their games. “Those times solidified a lot of friendships and kind of acted like a team bonding experience,” she said. “I guess that’s why I kept choosing to play ultimate every year in high school and even after that. The community was just so great.”
In high school, Baroma was fortunate to have multiple coaches who played professionally, which she believes influenced her time with Seattle Tempest. Hana Kawai, Sam Harkness, and Lisa Neimann, who are very well-known in the Seattle frisbee scene, were all mentioned as role models for Baroma as she continued learning to play. “Hana was my coach during high school, and then she became a support person and mentor for me after high school, and eventually we became teammates on Tempest for the 2022 and 2023 seasons,” Baroma said.
“Sam also played for the Cascades during my time in high school and I remember going to one of his games during that time. That was the first time I thought of the possibility of playing ultimate at an even higher level.”
Baroma has continued to immerse herself in the Seattle frisbee community through the connections she was able to build while learning how to play, and has also found numerous ways to give back. “I started coaching during my sophomore year in high school at a local middle school to fulfill volunteer hours. Little did I know, I would coach for almost every year after that until now,” she said. “AGE UP, a youth centered ultimate frisbee organization based in South Seattle, helped me learn more about communicating with young minds and essentially how to become a better coach by hosting in-person training sessions for us frisbee coaches in the South end of Seattle.” AGE UP is known to be run primarily by Seattle-based players and coaches who also grew up in the South end community and wanted to provide opportunities for young players to have chances for growth and development.
Baroma joined Seattle Tempest in 2022, and made an immediate impact as a downfield cutter with impressive catches and diving defensive plays. Across her three seasons with the team, Baroma has totaled 22 goals and 10 assists over 1,956 receiving yards. In 2024, she ranked in the top 88th percentile in the entire Western Ultimate League (WUL) in goals, receiving yards, and Effective Yards Per Turnover (EYPT).
Her favorite moment of playing with Tempest came during a home game in 2023, when she recorded a Callahan, a coveted statistic in ultimate frisbee where a defender intercepts a pass in their attacking endzone. It’s the only way to score unassisted, and is a very rare accomplishment. “When one of us gets a highlight like that, I believe it drives the rest of us to show out more,” Baroma remembered. “I can only speak for myself in this but I’m sure everyone loves the feeling of being a walking highlight. I know I love to see my teammates do something cool.”
Baroma looks to continue making electric plays in the upcoming season, and is excited to spend more time with her Tempest teammates. “My favorite part of playing with Tempest is the fact that I know I’m playing with some of the best players in the world,” she said. “Each of them are ballers- either seasoned vets with titles and reputations to defend or hungry rising stars eager to make a name for themselves. The combo of experience and raw ambition pushes the team to elevate our game, creating an environment that fosters constant growth and innovation.”
With her sights set on going back to championship weekend, Baroma is looking forward to bonding with the newest Tempest roster. “I think all other teams in the WUL are just as hungry as us and that always makes for an exciting challenge and exciting games,” she said. “I’m excited to see what changes our program will implement and how we will rise to meet the challenge as a team.” Keep an eye out for #23 as the Tempest season gets underway in March.
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Check out our previous Seattle Tempest articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Becca Weinberg here, and her work with Lookout Landing here.
Cover photo provided by the Seattle Tempest.
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