Ultimate
Frisbee becoming favorite pastime of Indiana’s college students
By Howie Baker, THG Sports
Throwing the Frisbee has
become an American tradition. College students have thrown around the plastic
disc on campuses around the country for most of the past century. The
popularity of the Frisbee has been growing dramatically with a game that is
little-known to mainstream American but has become the world’s fastest growing
sport: Ultimate Frisbee.
Many of Indiana’s colleges
and universities compete against one another in Ultimate Frisbee contests each
spring. Some Indiana schools that field Ultimate teams include Indiana, Purdue,
BallState, Southern Indiana, Wabash, and Notre Dame.
What is Ultimate Frisbee?
The website
www.whatisultimate.com says the sport is “an exciting, non-contact team
sport, played by thousands the world over. It mixes the best features of sports
such as Soccer, Basketball, American Football and Netball into an elegantly
simple yet fascinating and demanding game. To compete at the top level, Ultimate
players require an unmatched degree of speed, stamina and
agility.” This website also has the history and rules of the sport, along
with a glossary of Ultimate terms and ways you can get involved in playing.
When interviewing some
Indiana University players, I asked them if Ultimate Frisbee was the same as Frisbee golf.
“Hell no! Only sissies play Frisbee Golf. Our sport has the word ‘Ultimate’ in
the name for a reason. We are taking Frisbee to the highest level—we are
pushing our minds, bodies, and souls to the breaking point,” said Kyle Wilson,
“Comparing Frisbee golf to Ultimate is like comparing a Geo Metro to a Ferrari.
It is fast-paced and it f******’ rocks! That’s why Ultimate guys get all the
hottest chicks while Frisbee golf players stay home doing the five knuckle
shuffle.”
Anyone interested in seeing
Ultimate Frisbee can check it out at the college nearest them. For information
about the University of Southern Indiana’s team, check
out
www.freewebs.com/usidiscjockeys. Their season is set to begin Saturday,
March 20.
Thanks
to Nick Benton for his help in compiling information for this article.
