Imagine a field that looks just like a football pitch. A feeling of tension has risen and has taken over the mood of the whole place. Two groups of seven warriors meet at the middle to decide who gets the first move. They then march to their end zones, soldiers ready for battle.
“Ultimate!” signals one group, waving the disc.
“Frisbee!” retorts the other.
The disc is thrown. The teams charge in. The game is on.
This is Ultimate.
Ultimate!
The sport known as Ultimate has been around since the early part of the second half of the twentieth century, born in the United States and now an international sport.
It involves two teams of seven, a field with two end zones, much like American Football, and a disc weighing around 175 grams. Similar to sports such as Rugby and Football, the objective of the game is to catch the disc inside the opponent’s end zone to score a point. The catch however, is that when you pass the disc to a teammate, one must be at a standstill.
Something that is very unique to the sport is that there are no referees who call the games. The game is mainly based on the assumption that everyone plays fair. The players are the ones responsible for the calls of the game such as the fouls. They, of course, are expected to call them with reason. Called The Spirit of the Game, this system has been in effect since the early days of the sport and has been very effective.
Growing popularity
Ultimate, over the recent years, has been gaining popularity in the Philippines. Many people are seen throwing discs in suburban parks or in quiet streets. Celebrities have also started playing the sport as a means to get fit. Competitions are organized to pit one team against another while some even have the sport in their Physical Education curriculum.
Many local schools have formed official and unofficial teams that represent them during tournaments. One such competition is the recently concluded National Ultimate Collegiate Championship (NUCC), a two day annual event held every May and is held in the Sunken Garden in the University of the Philippines Diliman.
De La Salle University was one of the schools that participated in the tournament, even though the team fielded is not an official squad. This collection of Lasallian frisbee enthusiasts has already been participating in the tournament for three years.
“Basically it’s a group of friends who are coincidentally all from La Salle. Some are alumni and some are students. Majority are based in the south. We play for different teams and we formed one team under La Salle for the sake of this tournament,” says team captain Emerson Ang. The team joins other contests as well but is not officially affiliated with the University.
During the tournament De La Salle University placed third overall after defeating Ateneo de Manila University, 11-10, in the battle for the bronze medal. UP Diliman claimed the championship once again in the annual tilt, defeating the University of Santo Tomas.
On the first day of the event, La Salle emerged as the leader of Group B, standing with four wins and just one loss. The sole defeat came against the University of Asia and The Pacific where they dropped an 11-10 decision. Though they tied the University of Santo Tomas in the standings, they were awarded the lead due to the fact that they trumped the squad from Espana in their head-to-head match-up earlier in the day.
“For this tournament, we weren’t able to train at all. We just met up on that day and said ‘Yeah, we’re gonna play’,” shares the team’s leader.
Ang has personally been playing Ultimate since 2009, saying that he was drawn to the sport because of the “team factor” that the game employs. He says, “It relies on the entire team working as an individual unit to achieve one goal.”
Honesty and integrity
The sport of Ultimate has caught the attention of Filipinos of all ages and is definitely one to try. It teaches its players to conduct themselves in a way that the knights of the past used to, practicing chivalry and mutual respect with the Spirit of the Game.
This game received a warm reception when it first arrived in the country and continues to expand its fan base. More and more people have played and enjoyed the sport, whether they play competitively or for fun. Indeed, this game has experienced a rise in the Philippines and looks to be a major Filipino pastime in the years to come.
