Ultimate is a great sport. I’ve found a group who play in town on Mondays and Wednesdays. It’s a mixed crowd. The guy who organizes things is a short, middle-aged guy who played on a world championship team. I mention his size because in Ultimate it helps to be tall. So much of the game is about extension that guys with long arms and a good vertical leap are at a major advantage. Of course, you also have to be quick and have good endurance, but height is a big advantage. To see a guy who can’t be more than 5′5” playing at level is impressive.
Overall, the folks who play are pretty friendly and helpful. There’s an aging hippy who yells too much, but other than that they’re pretty helpful. This is of utmost importance in a game that is built around sportsmanship. Everything about Ultimate is about ‘spirit.’ Even at the national championship (oddly enough, held in Sarasota every year) there are no officials. You have lines-people and an arbitrator, but most calls are made by the players. If you foul someone and you know you fouled them, you’re obligated to call the foul. The rules leave little room for argument and everything is built around being a good sport. That doesn’t mean that competition isn’t fierce. Even in pick-up games people get excited and sacrifice their bodies to score points. It just means that if you get fouled, you say you were fouled, and if they person who fouled you doesn’t understand what they did, you just tell them. The game understands that competition need not be aggressive and when there is aggression, there’s no reason to carry more than a few seconds. The rules force this mentality on the players, meaning that most Ultimate games you see will be civil. New College won the Spirit Award at most tournaments. We often didn’t win any games, but were great sports, and that was something we took great pride in. We had trick plays and we dressed in costumes. That’s what makes the game so great.
It’s also an incredibly difficult sport. A handler (the person throwing the disc) must deliver a piece of plastic at high velocity in the middle of heavy traffic. A good handler can make the disc curve and float and dip and rise in a variety of ways. Quarterbacks are under more pressure and must throw harder, but the ways you can throw the ball are much less complicated. Meanwhile, the receiver must streak the way soccer player streak (in quick bursts) while catching the high velocity disc. The best handlers lead their receivers like a quarterback, and the best receivers are expected to go horizontal (lay out) to make their catches (and the defenders are meant to do the same). Defense is equally difficult, and because there’s no contact, you have to have great timing and body control to gain position (you can’t just put a body on a weaker player to force position).
The game is high-scoring and fast and with seven players per side, the strategies are complicated. You could make it a professional sport. It’s like soccer, but higher scoring (good for Americans). If you get the chance, learn to play. I love this game.
