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What’s Ultimate?

Some call it Ultimate Frisbee, but most players just say “Ultimate.” It was invented in 1968 by a bunch of kids in New Jersey. Basically, it combines elements of basketball, soccer, and football in one sport.

Two teams of seven, one offense and one defense, line up at opposing end zones. The defense “kicks off” or “throws a pull,” as it is called, and the offense receives. The offense then has to work the disc downfield and throw the disc to a teammate in the end zone; this results in one point.

If the disc is thrown to you, you have to stop and establish a pivot foot, just like in basketball. A defender then guards or “marks” the offensive player and counts out loud to 10, which is the time allowed to throw to another player. If the defender gets to 10, or the disc is dropped or thrown away, a turnover results, and the teams then switch roles.

Fields are 120 yards long and 40 yards wide, with 25-yard end zones—longer than a football field but narrower than a soccer field.

The players themselves referee the game. This is set forth by a set of rules called “Spirit of the Game.” If a player fouls or is fouled, the players must call a foul.

There are disputes at times, but these are discussed between the two parties involved, and a decision is made. Sometimes other team members and even spectators get involved. This is the core of Ultimate.

There are bunches of different ways to throw the disc—a backhand, forehand, and a host of upside down throws with crazy names like the “scoober,” the “hammer,” and the “thumber.”

Tournaments are two-day events with more than seven games being played over a weekend. Typically, players run 6 kilometers in a game. Multiply that by seven, and that’s a lot of running!

There are more than 300 college Ultimate teams and countless club teams or pick-up games. We compete against schools up and down the West and East coasts—Stanford, Yale, Humboldt, UCSC, UCSB, UCSD, Davis, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, and University of British Columbia.

There is a governing body, the Ultimate Players Association, which ranks teams and regulates play among college and club teams. Their Web site can be found at www.upa.org. Check it out. It is a very informative source for all Ultimate stuff. As college players, we pay dues to the UPA to have our team ranked and to play Ultimate.

Ezra Butterfield, senior anthropology major and Ultimate player for two years