Explaining the sport of Ultimate to an outsider can often be difficult and confusing. Here are some suggestions and examples you can use in a variety of situations to help paint a quick and detailed picture of the sport to someone who is unfamiliar with Ultimate.
How to explain Ultimate to family-friends, relatives, and local news outlets:
Ultimate is an outdoor team sport. Each team plays seven players at a time on a field about the size of a soccer field. The objective is to pass the disc amongst your teammates until a player can catch it in the endzone for a score, much like in football. When you are in possession of the Frisbee you are not allowed to move, you can only advance the disc upfield by passing it to a teammate. Meanwhile, the defenders are trying to intercept it or cause you to throw an incompletion so that they can take over on offense. The main positions are handlers, who are the better throwers, kind of like the quarterbacks of the team. And cutters, who are usually faster or taller players, acting similar to receivers in football. It incorporates the quick motion of basketball, the cutting of football, and the endurance of soccer. Games are usually played to 15 scores, and last about an hour and half. It’s very competitive and much more organized than you would think. It is also one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
How to explain Ultimate to the elderly:
You: I play Ultimate Frisbee.
Old person: What?
You: Ultimate Frisbee.
Old Person: Ultimate whatnow?
You: ULTIMATE FRISBEE, FRISBEE!
Old Person: What’s what did you say huh?
You: SOCCER!!! I PLAYED A SOCCER TOURNAMENT!!!
Old Person: Oh soccer! How Lovely.
How to explain Ultimate to roommates, peers, and friends your age:
Dude, Ultimate is sick. It’s competitive and addicting and fun to play. And basically you go to a bunch of tournaments and travel all over the country. Every tournament has a sweet party where everyone gets totally wasted from all the teams, and you hook up with chicks/dudes from other teams. Then you rally on Sunday after raging all night and play some more frisbee. It’s sick dude. Seriously, you should play.
How to explain Ultimate to the guy/girl you are interested in hooking up with (surprisingly similar to explaining Ultimate to the elderly):
You: I can’t go out tonight because I got Ultimate Frisbee practice. We have a tournament this weekend.
Potential Hook-up: What’s Ultimate Frisbee?
You: What?
Potential Hook-up: Ultimate Frisbee?
You: Huh what?
Potential Hook-up: Wait? What did you say?
You: I said I can’t go out tonight because I have pick-up basketball, and my band is going on tour this weekend.
Potential Hook-up: Ooohhhh. I thought you said something about Ultimate Frisbee.
You: What’s Ultimate Frisbee?
Potential Hook-up: Huh what?
How to explain Ultimate to the woman next to you on your team’s flight, or the older couple in line with you at your team hotel continental breakfast, or even the tournament towns’ local proprietors:
We are all traveling together for a big Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Ultimate Frisbee is basically a sport where you take a Frisbee and you have a bunch of dogs… and you throw the Frisbee and the dog goes and chases it down, and there is a big thing painted on the grass, and where ever your dog lands you get so many points depending on what part of the target they land on. Think of it kinda like a big dart boards game but with dogs and Frisbees. And who ever scores the most points with dog darts wins.
Hopefully these suggestions will help many of you in the future, as you look to help explain and promote the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to new people you may potentially come across.
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