What goes around, comes around: De La Salle Ultimate

Ultimate Frisbee is a growing sport in many parts of the country, most especially in Metro Manila, as it offers leisure while promoting competitiveness. What started out as a pastime by expats has now evolved into a more common sport, with the international community dubbing the country as one of the most competitive and rising Ultimate Frisbee nations in Asia, with around two to three thousand players and 400 teams nationwide.

In DLSU-Manila, Ultimate Frisbee has gained a following as well. The approximation of students who play Ultimate Frisbee is at around 200 players, most of whom pursue their passion for Frisbee through the University Frisbee club, De La Salle Ultimate (DLSU). However, for the members of De La Salle Ultimate, it has been more than a game played on the field.

Brief history

Originally, DLSU-STC had a Frisbee club that was already regarded as their varsity team. JP De Vera, along with Jom Titular and their other friends, had already thought of bringing that Ultimate Frisbee experience to Taft even before they were in college and they had tried countless times to create an official club ever since. Although there was already a Frisbee club back then, it was not officially recognized by the school and only floated under the radar. They made numerous attempts, all of which ended with rejection.

It was not until the second term of AY 2015-2016 that the club, with the help of Mr. Roy Sy from STC, was given permission to officially operate in the University. This allowed them to recruit more players from the student body and also to represent the University whilst competing in various tournaments. This was something that they have always been eager to do and just recently, they emerged as champions in the National Ultimate Collegiate Championship, sweeping the tournament with a 7-0 record.

Club activities

DLSU began their recruitment during the latter part of the second term of A.Y. 2015-2016. The turnout of those who registered for the club shocked De Vera, who now leads the organization as the president.

“I was expecting maybe 50 or 60 members and it just surprised me when we had 140,” he says.

The requirements to get in are simple, you just have to be physically able to play; one does not necessarily have to know how to play Ultimate Frisbee to join.

“The goal of the org is to teach Ultimate if you don’t know it yet and for people who already have experience with Ultimate, laro tayo, ganun,” De Vera adds.

There are no tryouts to get in the club. However, there are tryouts to get in the competitive team that represents the school in tournaments. Their goal is to send off as many teams as possible to as many tournaments as possible.

Due to a lack of a field to play on, the org is currently trying to pitch in at STC so they can hold weekly trainings every Friday or Saturday mornings. Prior to the third term, they already initiated their first two training sessions over the summer; one in Cuenca, Alabang and one in the Sunken Garden in UP-Diliman.

Moving forward

With the fact that Ultimate Frisbee is still a rising sport and that a movement for Ultimate Frisbee to be a UAAP sport is in process, the future may be bright for DLSU. However, DLSU-Manila’s lack of a field in campus deems to be a setback for the club moving forward.

“The problem here is we don’t have a field to train in, but you know in five to ten years, if we can find a way to get a field and practice on it regularly then why not right?”, De Vera explains.

Along with this, another problem DLSU faces is the difficulty of continuity and consistency for the club in the years to come. De Vera entered the University in 2013 and he is now on his third year. The solution he says is persistence when it comes to recruitment and setting the path for the future heads of the club.

“For a club to be started by people who’s already as old as me, or rather, who’s already on their way out, it’s hard to keep that sense of system,” he mentions.

With their dream now recognized as a reality, De Vera and DLSU will now look to create greater goals for themselves moving forward. Their prominence in the game of Ultimate Frisbee will definitely bring glory to La Salle as much as they create glory for themselves.

“La Salle is actually one of the top four teams in the Philippines when it comes to Frisbee so you know, thankful kami na naabutan namin as college students pa kami na na-recognize yung Frisbee as an organization,” De Vera says.