Wednesday, January 27, 1999
Ultimate Frisbee popularity soars as UCLA, world sport
FRISBEE: Lack of NCAA pressures, referees let players enjoy the
game
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
"Everyone grows up in America learning to throw a frisbee,"
claimed P.J. Henry, one of two captains for the UCLA men’s Ultimate
Frisbee team.
And though it may not be as ingrained in American culture as
say, apple pie, a passion for Ultimate Frisbee is definitely
catching on.
It was borne upon the hard, rough asphalt of a high school
parking lot in New Jersey in 1968. Back then, inventor Joel Silver
predicted, "Someday people all over the world will be playing this
game."
Now, over 30 years later, those prophetic words have come true.
What was once called Frisbee Football has developed into a sport of
its own right known simply as "Ultimate".
Played in over 42 countries around the world, Ultimate will be a
medal sport in the 2001 World Games in Japan.
So what’s the appeal?
In the original rules, no boundaries were set for field size,
but Ultimate is usually played on a football-type field. To start,
seven players form each team line up on the endlines. One team
"pulls off," similar to a football kickoff, to the other and the
game is on.
Action is quick and constant. There are no timeouts and after
receiving the disc, a player only has 10 seconds to get rid of it
or suffer a turnover. Points are scored by catching the frisbee in
the endzone, and teams can choose to play to any odd number,
usually 13 or 15.
Although not as basic as it seems, the appeal lies in how
Ultimate pulls aspects of different sports together in a rather
unconventional way.
"It combines the best elements of every sport: football’s
strategy, basketball’s quickness, soccer’s use of the field," said
Henry.
But there is one thing all other sports have that Ultimate lacks
– referees. There are no zebra-clad officials in black and white
hovering over the athletes’ shoulders, getting in their way and
making the occasional bad call. It is completely up to the players
to judge the game and call the fouls.
So how does a sport survive and even flourish without such an
integral part of what we have come to associate with sports?
The answer is simple: it is the "Spirit of the Game." This is
not something specifically outlined in any rule book or Ultimate
Frisbee guide, yet it is deeply embedded in the mind of every
player.
"The sportsmanship is unlike any other," claimed Henry. "People
who play are gentlemen. They play hard, fight hard, but ultimately
gentlemen."
Karna Nisewaner, a co-captain of the women’s Ultimate team
attributes the sport’s success and the Spirit of the Game attitude
to "a lot of good people with positive energy."
Daneille Valentino agrees: "The attitude of Ultimate players in
general is always friendly – even the other team helps you
out."
UCLA Ultimate player Noriko Yamaguchi revels in the "intensity
you achieve by playing as a team without the rigidity of
referees."
If all this spirit of the game talk inspires beliefs that
Ultimate Frisbee is an uncompetitive sport full of polite wimps,
players of the sport would induce an individual to think again.
With no time limit on games, Ultimate players constantly run
until someone wins. They have quickness, speed and agility. They
can jump, dive and hurl their bodies through the air at full
speed.
"Ultimate players I’ve seen can stand up to any NCAA athlete,"
said Henry.
And at UCLA – a school full of NCAA-caliber athletes – Ultimate
Frisbee has found a home, not as a NCAA sport, but
intercollegiately through the club program.
The men’s team, known as Smaug, is currently in its fourth
season. Named partly after the mythological dragon in J.R.R.
Tolkein’s "The Hobbit" and partly referring to L.A.’s crystal clear
air quality, Smaug is ranked 44 out of over 200 teams in the
nation.
Earlier in the year the team’s highlight was a 7-13 loss to
UCSB, who is the reigning College Series champion and currently
ranked No. 2 in the country. Not bad for a team whose highest
ranking was 34 at the end of last season.
At this past weekend’s tournament, the men, who had originally
planned on having an A and B team, fielded only one team because of
dwindling membership and lack of commitment. Though it finished
with four losses and only two wins, Smaug seemed to have achieved
what it set out to do.
The team tossed its previous goal of becoming No. 25 in order to
focus on more important things.
"We decided that having goals as in wins and losses isn’t as
important as earning respect as a team," said Bryce Worcester, a
two-year veteran of the team. "We have specific goals, like certain
ways of playing and certain positions to work on. Our main goal is
earning respect from other teams while playing a fair game. It’s
respect, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. We figure that if we get respect and do the
best we can, we’ll get where we need to be."
The women’s team, called Blue Lightning, also played this
weekend and is enjoying its first season as an official club
sport.
Though it didn’t win any games, the women remain optimistic.
"I think we have a lot of fun," said Nisewaner. "We didn’t get
shut out of any games. We always scored points, and we made people
work for their victories."
Co-captain Christine Reyna agreed. "I thought we played hard, we
were looking really good." So good that they drew praise from the
National Champion Stanford coach.
"The Stanford coach’s comment to us was that this is the best
new team that she’s ever seen," claimed Nisewaner. "As we develop
as a team and more and more people come out, we’ll definitely
improve."
"I can see a lot of potential, a lot of raw athletic talent and
a lot of enthusiasm," added Reyna.
And the enthusiasm can only spread. Yet, the Ultimate Players
Association is reluctant to let Ultimate become an NCAA sport. Most
Ultimate players seem to agree with that stance. They don’t want
the pressure of the NCAA. The kind of pressure that is so intense
that one falls out of love with the sport and forgets why they
started playing in the first place.
"What (other sports) have evolved into, basically, you do as
much (fouling) as you can get away with, and people don’t get angry
because you do that, it’s just the way it’s played," said
Worcester. "You foul people and that’s part of the game. It’s like
a strategy. But I don’t think that I’d ever want frisbee to be like
that."
So, is the best game really Ultimate Frisbee? Can this brave new
sport survive, even at the international level where gold medals
are on the line? Or does a sport, by nature, inherently need
referees? What will happen to the spirit of this game in the 21st
century?
"The spirit of the game is so entrenched in the whole game that
if you got rid of it, it would probably be the same," said
Worcester. "I don’t know how it works, it doesn’t seem like it
should, but it does."
So Ultimate and its players will play on, and in the words of
Homer, they will "walk on wings and tread in air."Photos by DAVID
HILL
Dave Valente, a member of UCLA’s Ultimate Frisbee team, reaches
up to grab a pass.
Brett Weil, a fifth-year English student, gets ready to throw to
an Ultimate teammate.
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