COUNTLESS IRISH PEOPLE will spend this summer on soccer, GAA and rugby pitches, but for those seeking something slightly different from the more established sports, Ultimate Frisbee could be ideal.
While it may sound like a relatively novel activity, Ultimate Frisbee has actually existed in one form or another since the 1960s — though it only started up in Ireland in 1995.
It takes place in an area that’s the same as a football pitch length-wise, though it’s only half its width. Seven players compete on each side and the purpose of the game is for both teams to try to move a disc into the end zone at the end of the pitch. Similarly to netball, everyone can run apart from the player in possession, who must stand still while attempting to pick out a pass. Possession is guaranteed unless you drop the disc, throw it out of bounds, or if it’s intercepted by the other team.
“We always say it’s a mix between American football and netball, because like American football, you’re trying to get it to an end zone and like netball, you can’t move with a disc. It’s obviously more nuanced but that’s the general line we take,” Conor Casey, Dublin Women’s Ultimate Organiser, tells The42.
Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Divisions have now been established in various parts of Ireland, and Casey highlights the significant growth of the sport in this country over the past decade.
“I started in secondary school in 2005,” he recalls. “We learned it off our brothers who were in college at the time. We were the first school to do it. We played a few tournaments against colleges and then we all went to college and played there. Then I left college and started playing club. There are now 12 or 13 schools doing it.”
One of the keys to its success in consistently attracting new participants, Casey says, is the accessibility of the sport.
“Anyone can play. There are all sorts of levels. You have the older lads, who have been doing it so long and only want to play it casually, and that’s fine. You’ve got the young athletic players who like to play but don’t want to play at a higher level. Then you have the super athletic players who came in from GAA and just took to it and now it’s all they play.
“So it really depends on who you’re playing with. You can play whatever you want really. At the highest level, you have to be athletic. If you want to play a game with your friends, you can be as athletic if you want. But there’s a fair old mix.”
One of the most unique aspects of the sport is that — at all levels — there are no referees. Minimal contact generally results in a foul being awarded, but it is left up to the players involved to make these calls.
“We call it ‘making a call,’” Casey explains. “So if something happens that you think is illegal, you make a call. The very first rule of the sport is that you don’t lie. So it’s understood that you’ve read the rules and you don’t lie. If there’s disagreement, you go back to the last uncontested point in play. If you cheat, everyone’s going to know and no one will want to play with you.”
Anyone who’s witnessed sport at the highest level knows that it can be rife with tension at the best of times, so surely this self-regulation policy with regard to officiating creates excessive levels of friction?
“You’d be surprised how little [arguments] happen,” he says. “It can happen. I’ve had an argument or two at a final and when it’s a particularly tense moment. At next goal wins, it might get a little heated.
“But you’re expected to be as calm as possible, listening to what the other person has to say. After about 30 seconds, you have to make a call one way or the other. But for a very competitive game, it can be very calm.”
While it tends to be highly popular between June and August, Ultimate Frisbee is by no means a sport that’s played exclusively in summer. Hardcore players will compete all year round, effectively, moving indoors during the colder winter months.
In an attempt to take advantage of the extra free time that many people have between June and August, Casey is running the Dublin Summer League in Fairview Park (Mondays, 7-8pm, starting on 1 June) for beginners.
“We have a section for people who’ve never been involved before. Everyone says, ‘I’ve never played, I won’t come,’ and we’re like ‘that’s the whole point’. Everyone starts on a level playing field and we expect people to have no idea what’s going on.”
Casey is also involved in fundraising to get world-champion competitors over to run some clinics for players in Ireland — another move he hopes will further increase the popularity and standard of the sport on these shores.
“We’re going to get them over to run some clinics for beginner girls, for experienced girls, for some on national teams who are heading off to championships every year.
“But the flights are expensive, so we’re going to put them up, get them money for food and then pay for their flights. So we’re looking to raise as much as we can of it.
“The rest has to be covered by people who attend the clinics, but we’re trying to make the cost of it as small as possible. But we don’t want people spending 60 quid to come to a clinic. We’d rather they spend a fiver or zero.”
Not that Irish teams have been performing especially poorly themselves on the world stage, however. Several sides from Ireland will be competing at an upcoming international club tournament in July, and Casey is optimistic that teams from this country can realistically challenge for a gold medal.
Such ambitions are another indicator of the enormous strides the sport has made on these shores of late.
“When I first started playing club ultimate in 2009, there were five clubs in the country who played in the Championship,” Casey says. “Now it’s gotten to the stage where there are 20-24 teams wanting to enter. It’s gotten to the stage where we needed to set up a regionals before nationals to see what division you go into. So it’s grown a huge amount in the country.
“Our results abroad seem to be getting better. Our premier open team in Dublin compete against teams in the UK all the time and abroad. The Irish national team are competing in the top seven or eight in Europe and the world more often, whereas before, they would have finished lower.
“Only 10 years ago, people might have only turned up to play games. Now we’re implementing fitness plans, eating right, stretching, and doing all we can to make sure we’re actually ready for the game.”
Thanks to Mark Earley and Conor Casey for providing the pics.
For more info on the Dublin Summer League, click here, while info on Dublin’s Golden Cup can be found here.
Looking for a new sport to try this summer? Here's what Ultimate Frisbee has to offer
COUNTLESS IRISH PEOPLE will spend this summer on soccer, GAA and rugby pitches, but for those seeking something slightly different from the more established sports, Ultimate Frisbee could be ideal.
While it may sound like a relatively novel activity, Ultimate Frisbee has actually existed in one form or another since the 1960s — though it only started up in Ireland in 1995.
It takes place in an area that’s the same as a football pitch length-wise, though it’s only half its width. Seven players compete on each side and the purpose of the game is for both teams to try to move a disc into the end zone at the end of the pitch. Similarly to netball, everyone can run apart from the player in possession, who must stand still while attempting to pick out a pass. Possession is guaranteed unless you drop the disc, throw it out of bounds, or if it’s intercepted by the other team.
Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Divisions have now been established in various parts of Ireland, and Casey highlights the significant growth of the sport in this country over the past decade.
“I started in secondary school in 2005,” he recalls. “We learned it off our brothers who were in college at the time. We were the first school to do it. We played a few tournaments against colleges and then we all went to college and played there. Then I left college and started playing club. There are now 12 or 13 schools doing it.”
One of the keys to its success in consistently attracting new participants, Casey says, is the accessibility of the sport.
“So it really depends on who you’re playing with. You can play whatever you want really. At the highest level, you have to be athletic. If you want to play a game with your friends, you can be as athletic if you want. But there’s a fair old mix.”
(Pic credit: Dublin’s Golden Cup – www.dublinsgoldencup.com)
One of the most unique aspects of the sport is that — at all levels — there are no referees. Minimal contact generally results in a foul being awarded, but it is left up to the players involved to make these calls.
Anyone who’s witnessed sport at the highest level knows that it can be rife with tension at the best of times, so surely this self-regulation policy with regard to officiating creates excessive levels of friction?
“You’d be surprised how little [arguments] happen,” he says. “It can happen. I’ve had an argument or two at a final and when it’s a particularly tense moment. At next goal wins, it might get a little heated.
While it tends to be highly popular between June and August, Ultimate Frisbee is by no means a sport that’s played exclusively in summer. Hardcore players will compete all year round, effectively, moving indoors during the colder winter months.
In an attempt to take advantage of the extra free time that many people have between June and August, Casey is running the Dublin Summer League in Fairview Park (Mondays, 7-8pm, starting on 1 June) for beginners.
Casey is also involved in fundraising to get world-champion competitors over to run some clinics for players in Ireland — another move he hopes will further increase the popularity and standard of the sport on these shores.
“But the flights are expensive, so we’re going to put them up, get them money for food and then pay for their flights. So we’re looking to raise as much as we can of it.
“The rest has to be covered by people who attend the clinics, but we’re trying to make the cost of it as small as possible. But we don’t want people spending 60 quid to come to a clinic. We’d rather they spend a fiver or zero.”
(Pic credit: Dublin’s Golden Cup – www.dublinsgoldencup.com)
Not that Irish teams have been performing especially poorly themselves on the world stage, however. Several sides from Ireland will be competing at an upcoming international club tournament in July, and Casey is optimistic that teams from this country can realistically challenge for a gold medal.
Such ambitions are another indicator of the enormous strides the sport has made on these shores of late.
“When I first started playing club ultimate in 2009, there were five clubs in the country who played in the Championship,” Casey says. “Now it’s gotten to the stage where there are 20-24 teams wanting to enter. It’s gotten to the stage where we needed to set up a regionals before nationals to see what division you go into. So it’s grown a huge amount in the country.
“Only 10 years ago, people might have only turned up to play games. Now we’re implementing fitness plans, eating right, stretching, and doing all we can to make sure we’re actually ready for the game.”
Thanks to Mark Earley and Conor Casey for providing the pics.
For more info on the Dublin Summer League, click here, while info on Dublin’s Golden Cup can be found here.
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