Ultimate frisbee: Sport, and local community, on the rise

SALT LAKE CITY — To the uninitiated, the mass of bodies sprinting up and down a field at Liberty Park on a given Monday night might appear simply as chaos. They don't wear jerseys, and there are no differentiating marks. They chase an LED-powered lighted disc, a flying beacon against a darkening sky and the only light available beyond two conveniently placed light posts.

They’re playing ultimate frisbee, at one of several long-running games in the Salt Lake City area. The Monday night Liberty Park game has run for over seven years — any time of the year, rain or shine.

“It’s shifted quite a bit over the years,” said Matt Johnson, an attendee from the game’s inception. “There’s half a dozen of us who (are) still here from the beginning.”

Ultimate Frisbee, or simply “ultimate” to many regulars, is a sport on the rise at one of the fastest rates in the country. Invented in 1968, the game has grown to the point where over 800,000 Americans play it regularly, more than double the combined totals of rugby and lacrosse, according to ultimatepeace.org.

Game play is simple. Two “end zones,” much like American football, sit on either side of a long field. The goal is simply to catch the frisbee, or disc, in the opponent’s end zone, scoring a point. Any individual holding the disc must remain immobile aside from a designated pivot foot, while all others move freely. If the disc is dropped or hits the ground before being caught, possession changes hands. At the competitive level, the game is played seven-on-seven.

It’s a communal game, one played without referees, but for the very highest competitive levels. The local ultimate community is small but close-knit and functions almost like a sporting fraternity for traveling players.

“It’s a very spirit-driven sport and community,” said Nicholas Jennings, a Monday night regular who also competes at higher levels. “You go and you make friends instantly. I could go anywhere in the country and say that I’m an ultimate player, and I would be accepted instantly and have immediate friends in common.”

Nowhere is this camaraderie more evident than the weekly Monday night game where players of all talent levels are accepted. Some have been playing for years at elite levels.

“If you take the 15 best players here, it’d be hardcore,” said Lon Jeffries, another regular.

Despite this, amateurs are not only tolerated, but are also encouraged to attend. Newbies making a mistake aren’t chastised, but rather patiently schooled on how to improve by more seasoned players.

“We love to have new people,” said Johnson. “It’s always great to have regulars, but it’s also really fun to see new people who’ve never played before get to learn the game.”

For some, the experience grows into something they take more seriously. Club teams exist around the state, and last year marked the inauguration of the Salt Lake Lions, a professional team in the American Ultimate Disc League.

Isaac Conley, one of the state’s elite players who’s been at it since age 12, played for the Lions in their opening season, but like others who compete at higher levels, still joins at games like Liberty Park on a regular basis. Conley compared the growth of ultimate to another sport burgeoning in recent years on North American soil.

“Think about MLS soccer,” said Conley. “That’s the estimated and hopeful growth.”

Major League Soccer began competition in 1996, toiling in relative obscurity for roughly a decade before slowly picking up steam in recent years. Like ultimate frisbee, it’s a simple game to understand and costs very little to get started on.

Getting involved is as easy as showing up. The Monday night game is just one of many locally throughout a given week at different locations, with varying skill levels involved. Not all take place at night, of course.

“If people are willing to learn how all this works, they can actually get pretty involved pretty quickly,” said Jeffries.

The prevailing message from all regulars to those intrigued by the sport remained clear: Don’t be intimidated. Come to a game, even just to observe. Find a friend and practice throwing the disc. Go to utahultimate.org, recommended by Conley, to learn more and connect with the local community.

“In Utah the community is small,” said Conley. “We’re trying to change that.”

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