Ultimate team competes with the Frisbee: RSO traveling to Kalamazoo this weekend for competition
Throwing around a Frisbee is more than just a summer pastime for some Central Michigan University students.
For the members of Ultimate at CMU, it is a sport with tactics, preparation, competition and teamwork.
Ultimate at CMU is a registered student organization designed for the playing of Ultimate, a popular flying disc sport.
“It has a mix of soccer and football,” said Saint Joseph senior Nate Trela, president of Ultimate at CMU. “It’s seven-on-seven, and the objective is to get to the end zone.”
This weekend, the group is headed to the 2010 Ultimate Players Association College Series in Kalamazoo to compete in the UPA Michigan College Open Sectionals.
Players will compete against 11 other teams in Michigan for a shot at the regional tournament.
The sport, officially called “Ultimate” due to trademark issues with the word Frisbee, has seen increased popularity in recent years. In Ultimate, the disc must be thrown from player to player, with the goal of reaching the opposing team’s end zone.
The player that catches the disk must not move and has to keep a foot planted on the ground as a pivot until the disc is released.
Commerse junior Jason Jaskiewicz, vice president of Ultimate at CMU, said there also is a tactical side to the game.
“There’s two positions in Ultimate,” he said. “A handler, which is the person who excels at throwing and controls the disc most of the time, and the cutters, who are the people who do a majority of the running and catching of the disc.”
Ultimate has broken up into various different games, and spread world-wide since becoming popular in the early 1970s. Jaskiewicz has a theory on the sport’s popularity.
“Mainly, it’s cheap. All you really need is a disc (which is) $10-$15, and maybe a good pair of cleats,” he said.
Jaskiewicz said the sport combines a variety of skills used in soccer, basketball, and distance running.
He said the team enjoys participating in tournaments.
“Usually we stay in the state. We travel to Kalamazoo, Western, Grand Rapids. We went to Cincinnati as well,” said Mount Pleasant senior Ryan Meier, travel liaison of Ultimate at CMU. “(We travel) probably one weekend every month.”
Every year, the club hosts a home tournament and attempts a trip to Georgia for spring break.
Trela assures that getting involved is very easy.
“I was looking for something to do during my freshman year, and I found this club,” he said. “It’s generally a good nature sport. It’s based on healthy competition. Just come out and give it a try.”
