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The History of Ultimate
Introduction
The history of the game Ultimate, short for “Ultimate Frisbee,” has only existed for 35 years. Since then, it’s existence is known by few and enjoyed by those that do. Recently, it has been added to school’s physical education curriculums and has started to pick up in popularity since it’s establishment in 1970.
History of Frisbee
The term “Frisbee” was first coined when it’s founder, William Russell Frisbie opened a bakery in Connecticut in 1871. Those that bought pies from the Frisbie Baking company soon found out that once the pie was eaten, the left over pie tin had great use as a flying disc. Ultimate was then discovered in 1968, when a group of students from New York came together to start a new game.
The beginning
In the fall of 1967, Joel Silver proposed to the Columbian Student Council to organize a Frisbee team as a joke. The idea was passed later into the spring. By then, Silver and a few members of the Columbian had already started to play. Initially, there were not as many rules as there are today. It began as football, except with a Frisbee. The teams did not have an official number of players that could play on each side; some of the games played had 20 to 30 people. It was also viewed as a chance for the core of Columbian, the intellectuals, to have a sport they could do relatively well in. It was primarily not a “jock” sport, since running and jumping across the field often required a sort of “grace,” as those who played Ultimate called it. Indeed, initially, half the teams were intellectuals, while the over half were dope-users who enjoyed having a game they could move freeform in.
By the summer of 1969, the Columbia parking lot had been built, which has become a popular and famous place on the Columbian campus. Because the lot was lit by powerful lights, the students could play there at night, after the day’s activities. Games at the parking lot included teams of 20 or more per side, but that was eventually whittled to seven because "that was the most you could fit in the parking lot," Leiwant, another one of the founders, said. Soon, it became known that a regular game could be found on the "field" almost every weekend night and during vacations. Soon, many attackers also assaulted students that played here.
Members of the Columbian Ultimate Frisbee team sent the rules to many other high schools in northern New Jersey, asking them to form Ultimate Frisbee teams. Millburn High School responded and on Nov. 7, 1970, the first game of Ultimate Frisbee between different schools was played. The Columbian Ultimate Frisbee team faced Millburn University, the Columbian team controlling many of the Columbian‘s most dominant players. Columbian won 43-10 in the Columbia parking lot. The game was covered by the Newark Evening News, and copies of the rules were subsequently requested by other schools. When the New Jersey Frisbee Conference was formed in the spring of 1971, it had five teams: Columbia, Dumont, Millburn, Mountain (now West Orange), and Nutley.
Ultimate Frisbee went on to receive a lot of new coverage, including from Yankees pitcher and sports commentator Jim Bouton. Ultimate Frisbee saw many intercollegiate games before being nominated as a medal sport in the Olympics.
Modifying the game
As the game progressed through its early stages and more and more games were played in the Columbian’s oldest fields, the rules were modified by Ultimate’s founders, Joel Silver, Hellring, and Hines. Visualizing a blend between soccer and basketball, they eliminated running as a legal move in the game and the system of downs, and added rules on defense. Also, as time went on, the founding fathers determined that a “one-hand only” version of the game could be established, where those that tried to use two-hands to capture the Frisbee would have to turnover possession to the other team.
Rules of the game
The rules of this game are very simple and easy to learn. There are five “original” rules that the founders of this game laid out and are pretty much the example for which all games were to follow.
For the first rule, the founding fathers wrote that "individual players may wear almost any aids they wish, including hats, helmets, or gloves as long as they do not endanger the safety of another player." Also, no player was allowed to "carry any sort of stick, bat or racket."
The second rule, because the game was developed in a parking lot, the playing field was said to have "no lateral boundaries; however it is best to choose a field with natural boundaries created by a hill, a river or a wall.”
The third rule, despite the perception that Ultimate was created as an anti-authoritarian alternative to mainstream sports, "a referee or referees may officiate, and if so their decision must be final.
The fourth rule, the founders wrote, "A team is awarded one point for each goal legally scored, and there is no other way to gain points."
The fifth rule, a note on team size, suggested that while "seven is the optimum number for each team, this sport can be played with as many as twenty or thirty for each team."
Casual
Another one of the perks of Ultimate Frisbee is that it can be played and enjoyed by anyone. Those without exception skill found the rules to be easy to learn and skill easy to develop within one sitting. Although those who play regularly often dominate the new players, in it’s early years, Ultimate Frisbee became the past-time for those just looking to have fun. Often students who played wore stiff jeans and other attire not usually worn for sports, allowing the game to become casual. Often, if there were not enough players, captains of the team would ask passer-bys to participate; and often they did.
Olympics
Almost thirty years after Silver proposed this unique game to the Columbian Student Council, Ultimate is now played by 42 different countries, with programs in Sweden, Norway, and Japan receiving government funding. It is estimated that at least 100,000 people play the sport worldwide, about half in the United States. Ultimate will be a medal sport in the 2001 World Games in Japan.
Ultimate Frisbee made its biggest gain in the late 1990’s. Today over 250 000 people play Ultimate in formal competition across 50 nations. The IXth World Championships were held in Germany 2000. Australia finished 6th in both the men's and women's competitions.
Today
Today, Ultimate Frisbee has become a favorite of some of the students in our high school from our physical education curriculum. There has also been a few informal leagues between students from Williamsville East and Williamsville South who meet together to practice and play Ultimate Frisbee outside of school.