Try something new: ultimate frisbee

The University of York has almost 60 sports clubs but some of these are decidedly more popular than others. During the last week of term I went to a few club training sessions to take a look at some of the less well-known sports that the University has to offer.

I started with Ultimate Frisbee: it was a hot, sunny day when I headed down to the 22 acres fields where the club meets for their training sessions. I chatted to Steve Eyre, the captain, and Hamish MacIver, the president, as they set out the cones to indicate the playing field. Steve explained that the number of people at the session would be slightly reduced due to exams and people going home already. Seven people turned up however and this was enough for a session.

I went to the session with only a vague understanding of Ultimate Frisbee from reading a little bit about it on the internet. Here are some of the key rules Steve explained to me so I wouldn’t get too lost during the session:

• No contact: fouls are given if a player physically interferes with his opponent
• No referees: the game is self-officiated and so relies on honesty and respect between teams
• No moving with the disc: once holding the disc, players can not run but must stand with one foot planted as a pivot and throw the disc before moving again
• The disc can only be held for 10 seconds: a nearby defender counts out loud and if 10 seconds expires, possession is transferred to the other team
• Points are scored by passing the disc to a player in the defensive end zone After each point, direction of attack is reversed and substitutions can be made.

So, now you know the basic rules, let’s get back to the session. It started with a warm up with all the players jogging around the field, including doing sidesteps and kicks, to loosen their muscles. The after stretching their arms and legs, they started drills, including long and short throwing, as well as defending. Not renowned for my catching ability, I thought it best just to be a spectator and so I stood on the sidelines, taking notes and photos. After 20 minutes running around in the hot sun, everyone was boiling and they took a quick drinks break, before carrying on with drills.

Then they decided to have a mini game. Normally there are seven players on each team with up to 20 subs. However with only seven players at this session that wasn’t going to work! Instead they played three on three with one sub switching in for different players. It was strange to hear the defenders counting out loud the time the disc had been held for and on a few occasions the disc was put on the ground for the other team to take possession as the holder had gone over the 10 seconds time limit. It was even stranger to see all the players officiating the game but the fairness and friendliness was a delight to see and didn’t detract from competitive nature at all. Steve told me after that the Uni team won an award for being the Most Spirited Team at the Mixed Trials and the Spirit of the Game is a key aspect in keeping the game honest, fair, fun and friendly.

Steve called the session to an end after about an hour so that everyone could get changed in time to go to watch England’s last World Cup group game. I really enjoyed the session and it was fantastic to learn about a new sport from such friendly people.

If you’re interested in Ultimate Frisbee, see the website here. There are Open, Mixed, Uni and Womens teams so there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get involved!

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