the ultimate

i used to be a regular (some might say fanatical) ultimate frisbee player, but i haven't played much in the last few years since we moved out of the city.

ultimate frisbee is like a cross between american football and netball - it's a team sport (7 a side) played with a flying disc (frisbee is actually a brand name, and ultimate is usually played with a 175g. ultrastar disc, not a frisbee). the american football bit is that it is played on a field with endzones, and you have to throw into the endzone to one of your teammates to score (not through a goal). the netball bit is that you can't run with the disc when you have it (but there aren't any of the zone restrictions that netball has). it's a fast-paced non-contact (well, in theory at least) sport that requires a lot of fitness and skill (catching and throwing for starters).

the best aspect of the game, though, is that there are no referees or umpires - the players make their own calls, including for fouls and other infringements like in/out of bounds and 'travelling' (similar rule to basketball). there are accomodations in the rules for disputed calls, though naturally these can get a bit heated. the over-arching principle and primary ethos of the sport, however, is the spirit of the game. players and teams that play with good 'spirit' are highly esteemed, and similarly those that have bad spirit are shunned or ostracised. you might think this would mean that it's a bit of a 'sissy' sport that lacks passion, but that couldn't be further from the truth. ultimate players love their sport passionately, and play (and party) hard (one of my cherished frisbee t-shirts - of which i have many - carries the slogan "work hard, play harder").

ultimate is a fast-growing sport, here in australia and around the world. it is very likely that it will become an olympic sport in the next 20 years, and is already included in the world games. it has held it's own world championships for the last 20 years or so, as well as world club championships. at the 'worlds' held in finland earlier this year, australia came THIRD in the open (men's) division, which is by far the best we've ever done (previous best was 6th i think). in this tournament we beat both finland and sweden for the first time ever, with the latter no fluke because we did it twice, including the 'bronze medal' playoff game. historically speaking this is an incredible feat, as sweden has been one of the dominant countries, winning worlds in 1996 when the u.s. was beaten for the first time. in the 'gold medal' game this year, canada beat the u.s. to become world champions for the second time (the first was in 1998). there are a heap of great pictures from this year's worlds here.

the australian flying disc association has an excellent website, which has a heap of news, articles and other information. australia is actually hosting the world club championships in perth in 2006, so any sandgropers reading this keep an eye out. i definitely plan to be part of it, but obviously in the masters division (a nice way of saying 'the old buggers').