Ultimate Frisbee is a sport that is quickly gaining popularity and momentum, especially here in the Boston area. This blog post is all about ways you and your child can get involved in the movement.
I’ll start with a little bit of background. I’ve been playing for about three years now, and I absolutely love the atmosphere that USA Ultimate has created out of a grass roots movement based on fun above all in a sports environment. The three core values of the sport are fun, character and spirit of the game. Spirit of the game refers to the fact that the game is entirely self-officiated and relies on the first two core values to support the culture of respect and good sportsmanship that Ultimate rests on. Check out the USA Ultimate website for more information on rules of the game: http://www.usaultimate.org/index.html.
As you can tell, these values fit right in with Viking’s priorities of bringing fun sports experiences to our campers, promoting sportsmanship, and fostering relationships. Many Ultimate players like myself who enjoyed the community of relationships they found in college Ultimate Frisbee teams continue to seek the opportunity to play and have fun in an atmosphere of healthy competition. High school and youth leagues are available now, too! Check out the USA Ultimate site. The Boston Ultimate Disc Association also offers club and hat leagues throughout the year for players of all levels to continue playing if we end up getting your children hooked. It kind of reminds me of the way CIT’s at Viking Camps feel so connected to the organization that they continue to be a part of our mission even after their prime competitive and learning time as come and passed. Ultimate players and CIT’s recognize that there is always room to grow and develop skills in different ways.
For beginning Ultimate Frisbee players, the best games to do center around just learning the feel of an official 175 gram ultimate Frisbee and getting the fundamentals down of a basic throw. See how many tosses you and a partner can get in a row throwing back and forth without dropping the disc! Try to beat your record each time. Be sure to share with your coaches all of your milestones and improvements! To make this more challenging, try increasing the distance between you and your partner.
Another game for beginners is a version of monkey in the middle. In Ultimate, the defender guarding the player with the disc is called, “the mark.” So this game is all about practicing the skill of how to, “put on a mark.” The Mark Monkey runs to whoever has the disc and tries to, “get a D,” which means they have to hit the disc in the air so the opponent doesn’t get it. It’s important to remember that the mark isn’t allowed to hit the disc out of the thrower’s hands before the disc leaves his or her hands. If the Mark Monkey doesn’t get any D’s after 10 throws, switch one of the throwers to the Mark Monkey and repeat!
Frisbee golf is another Ultimate player’s favorite pastime. It’s great for improving the accuracy of throws and working on gaining distance. Players can agree upon a course at the start of the game, such as the flagpole, the big tree and the soccer goal, or agree to choose the next “hole,” after each previous hole is completed. The player who ends with the least amount of throws to the targets wins.
Hopefully this is enough to get you and your child started! We will also be introducing some of this in some of our camps this summer. Ask for Coach Chelsey or Coach Rob, also an experienced Ultimate player, with any Frisbee-related questions.