You’ve thrown a Frisbee around in an open space somewhere, haven’t you? Most of us have in the backyard and except for the errant toss that ends up in your mother’s flower garden or one that separates an older relative from a grilled burger it has been very enjoyable.
In Newburyport, tossing a Frisbee around has moved into the organized stage thanks to the efforts of Newburyport teachers Brandon Sturma and Jen Griskin (pictured above). They started an Ultimate Frisbee club program last year and this year moved into a more official status.
Brandon, a high school history teacher, was quick to give credit to their sponsor, the Newburyport Youth Services, for making this spring season club team a reality. “They have been phenomenal. Right from the get-go the supervisor of youth services, Andrea Egmont, has helped us with fields, waivers, and organizational things.”
“This is the pilot year for Ultimate Frisbee,” explained Andrea in her city hall office. “I am pleased with the way it has gone. It’s a competitive sport without the attitude and we plan to promote it heavily next year”
Ultimate started in New Jersey in 1968 and according to the Ultimate website (www.upa.org) over 800,000 people claim that they play it at least 25 times each year.
Newburyport’s club team ended its six-match season this past week at Rupert Nock Middle School.
An Ultimate field is 70 yards by 40 yards with end zones that are 25 yards deep. There are seven players on each team. A team gets a point if they catch the Frisbee in the other team’s end zone. Players cannot run with the Frisbee after they catch it and have a certain period of time to get rid of the Frisbee after they catch it. A team loses possession if they drop the Frisbee or throw it out of bounds.
“A game goes to 15 points,” explained Brandon who started playing Ultimate about ten years ago at Hamilton College in New York. “Usually the more skilled the players are the quicker a game will be. Some of our games have gone two hours.”
Brandon noted that the traditional sport that many in Ultimate also play is soccer. The action is nearly nonstop in both sports.
The most intriguing part of this sport is the officiating, or should I say, lack of officiating. “There is no referee,” said Jen who learned Ultimate at Carleton College in Minnesota. “The players self-regulate. It requires players to be honest and respectful and yet still be competitive.”
The team bought their own shirts and each player decided what number and name would go on the back of the shirt. Some chose a last name and others went with a nickname. One of the players designed the logo on the front of the shirt.
“We have an awesome group of students playing for Newburyport now,” added Jen, an 8th grade Social Studies teacher. “We hope that more students will join us next spring.”
(Written for The Town Common – May 20th)
McClelland Miscellanea 
