WHAT ISN’T ULTIMATE ABOUT ULTIMATE FRISBEE?

Ultimate frisbee being ultimate and frisbee-like

What’s not to like about frisbee on the Downs? At this stage you should ignore the fact that at the moment that Downs are a swamp of mud and rain and weird sinking marshy bits, because when the sun shines on Brizzle, frisbee is more than halfway to being an idyllic summer sport.

Yes, but how do you play it, I hear you say?

These are the ingredients for a good game of Ultimate Frisbee (outdoors):

• 7 players on a side
• 1 Disc (the proper term for a frisbee)
• 2 End Zones (similar to an end-zone in American football or a try line in rugby)
• Your Frisbee skills

Some fun Frisbee lingo:

• In order to score a point, a member of your team must catch the disc in the End Zone
• If you catch the disc one-handed (and if you do, you feel pretty damn good about yourself), then this is called a ‘grab’.
• If you dive to catch the disc, this is called ‘laying out’ and will be applauded by admiring teammates and opponents alike. The size of the cheer depends on the amount of mud you get on you. More mud equals more respect.
• ‘Chilly’ is the term shouted at you when you have the disc in space, which essentially means ‘Remain calm, you have time to consider your throw as there are no opponents nearby’ or something to that effect.

There is a lot of running involved in Ultimate. As a football player, I was a little sceptical before experiencing Ultimate, expecting to stand around chucking a Frisbee about.

I was very wrong; it is knackering and a very skilful, very fun and very competitive game. All in all, definitely a good way to keep fit so learn the jargon, join the team and get playing.

Over the weekend whilst you were lying in bed recovering from your hangover, the newest recruits to Bristol’s Ultimate Frisbee team, named ‘Mythago’, headed to Plymouth to compete in a Beginners’ Tournament.

Mythago ready to roar into action

The Beginners’ team beat two teams from Exeter and went on to win convincingly against Marjon in the Quarter-Finals 7-5. The team didn’t make it past a more experienced Plymouth side in the semis and lost the third-place play-off in a close match ending 6-5 to finish in 4th place overall.

Club member Phil Smith was impressed with their promising start.

‘The Mythago Beginners were an absolute pleasure to play with, all really enthusiastic and willing to learn. They improved loads throughout the weekend, and to finish 4th out of 16 as the least experienced set of Beginners was amazing’.

If Twitter is any indication, the team’s performance was matched only by their off-the-field antics. However, The Tab should point out that none of the players represented their university whilst intoxicated, but merely took advantage of a few alcoholic beverages in order to promote the fantastic team spirit Mythago have going on their ‘Banter Bus’.