How did Ultimate Frisbee begin? What’s the journey been like for a sport that everyone has had some exposure to, whether we played it during a family picnic or whether played in leagues – nationally or internationally. What’s the history of this self-officiated sport?
How did Ultimate Frisbee begin?
Dating back to the 1960s, Ultimate Frisbee, which is now referred as Ultimate, is a non-contact team sport played with a disc (a frisbee). It combines elements of football, rugby and basketball, with a unique set of rules and a spirit of sportsmanship which is further reinforced by the fact that it’s self-officiating. Yep, there are no referees – the players are required to resolve their disputes on field, in that moment by understanding and going by the rules of the game.
The origins of Ultimate Frisbee can be traced to several different sources. One of the earliest instances of people playing a game similar to Ultimate took place at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, in the late 1960s. A group of students, including Joel Silver, Johnny Hines, Buzzy Hellring, and others, developed a game they called “Ultimate Frisbee” during their lunch breaks. They used a Frisbee instead of a ball and incorporated elements from various sports.
Around the same time, in 1968, a group of students at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, created a similar game called “Gut Line.” Their game also involved throwing a Frisbee into the opposing team’s end zone.
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The two games eventually merged in 1970 when Joel Silver, together with Jared Kass and Bob Saudek from Columbia High School, joined forces with students from Lafayette College. They organised the first intercollegiate Ultimate Frisbee game between the two schools on Thanksgiving Day, 1972, at a park in Maplewood, New Jersey.
In the early years, Ultimate Frisbee was mostly played on college campuses and gained popularity through informal games and tournaments. It attracted a passionate following, and the sport began spreading to other universities and regions. The first intercollegiate tournament, known as the “Easterns,” was held in 1975 at Yale University and featured teams from various schools in the Northeastern United States.
Quoting from Lafayette College, Referring to Joel Silver, John Hasnas’ said:
“We were all freshmen here, and he taught us the game, and we played it on the Quad all the time,” says Hasnas, a professor at Georgetown University, who still keeps a copy of a 1972 New York Times article about the first intercollegiate game played between Rutgers and Princeton. “I underlined this quote saying the game could catch on. I show it to people 30 and 40 years later; it’s now a big sport played by colleges all over the country, but we were the first.”
As Ultimate Frisbee grew, the need for standardised rules and guidelines became apparent. In 1979, the Ultimate Players Association (UPA) was founded to serve as the governing body for the sport. The UPA, later renamed USA Ultimate, established a set of rules and regulations and organised national championships, which now has over 63,000 members!
How Ultimate Frisbee has grown through the years & its future
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ultimate Frisbee continued to expand, both in terms of participation and competitive play. International tournaments were introduced, such as the World Ultimate Club Championships, which began in 1983 – held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The sport gained recognition and attracted players from around the world.
In recent years, Ultimate Frisbee has continued to grow in popularity. It has become more structured and organised, with professional leagues emerging in different countries. The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) was established in 2012 and has teams across the United States and Canada. The Premier Ultimate League (PUL) was founded in 2019 and focuses on gender equity, with mixed-gender teams – something that is strongly encouraged.
As shared on their homepage:
“To achieve equity in the sport of ultimate by increasing accessibility to the sport for, and visibility of women, transgender, intersex, non-binary, genderqueer, and gender-fluid people through high-quality competition, leadership experiences, and community partnerships. Our league strives for gender, racial, and economic diversity in the sport of ultimate.”
Ultimate Frisbee has also gained recognition from international sports organisations. In 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted recognition to the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), the international governing body for the sport. This recognition marked a significant milestone in the sport’s development and opened the possibility of Ultimate Frisbee being included in future Olympic Games, something we hope to see in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (fingers crossed!).
This journey means that today, Ultimate Frisbee is played by millions of people worldwide, from casual pickup games in parks with family, friends and their dogs! And of course in schools to competitive leagues and international tournaments. Its emphasis on fair play, self-officiating, and the “spirit of the game” continues to make it a unique and beloved sport among players of all ages and skill levels – living up to its ‘Ultimate’ name!
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Building on this, we here at School of Ultimate wish to help contribute and grow the Ultimate game, by sharing its principles, rules by coaching it in our practical sessions in Mumbai.
To know more about learning and developing the skills of Ultimate Frisbee, check out our About Us page.
