HOME AND AWAY IRELAND'S ULTIMATE FRISBEE TEAMSAs competitors prepare for next month's ultimate frisbee World Championships, Gavin Cummiskeytakes a crash course on the rules of the sport and hears from the vice-captain of the Ireland team
The core of us were largely among the better students. There were also some druggie types. We were about evenly split between the better students and the half who smoked dope.
- Ed Summers, a founding father of "ultimate frisbee"
SAY WHAT you like about a piece on ultimate frisbee, but the art of flying discs was widely celebrated in China during the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It was also a regular curtain-raiser to the Christians and lions in The Colosseum.
Aristotle made vague references to it in his writings; the ancient-Greek philosopher even encouraged his young student Alexander the Great to hone his power grip and hyzer release during recess. This, most sports scholars agree, is how frisbee made it to the Far East.
Is all that true? No, of course not. Just needed a hook to reel in the reader. This is, after all, a severely neglected sport.
The "ultimate" part of the name came after trademark laws ruled out the simpler term "frisbee", which was patented for the line of discs produced by the Wham-o toy company.
The real origins of frisbee date back to the autumn of 1967 at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. A guy named Joel Silver proposed the formation of a frisbee team as "a joke". The proposal was seconded and all they had to do was find some opposition.
"It was a chance for the Columbian core - the intelligentsia and non-athletes of the school - to play a sport," said Silver.
The idea migrated to California and onto university campuses all over the US. By 1981 a formal European federation was formed. By 1984 there was an international governing body.
Between August 2nd and 9th, 21 men and 18 women will represent Ireland at the World Championships on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, Canada.
Irish teams - male as well as female - have dramatically improved since finishing dead last in their first major competition - the European championships in France five years ago; the men came sixth out of 16 and the woman 10th at last year's Euros in Southampton.
The Irish federation is self-funded, and it costs €100,000 to send two squads to Canada. Just over 10 per cent of that has been raised through fundraising and corporate sponsorship, so many players will pay out of their own pockets.
"But it means a lot to us to be representing our country," explains the men's vice-captain, Rob Kiely. "There is a high level of patriotic pride. We receive no funding from the Government as to be recognised by the Sports Council you need a constitution, auditable accounts, a governing body and a certain number of competitors registered . . . We've met all these criteria but they must be in place for three years."
By next September they will be eligible for grant relief.
Meanwhile, research on Youtube throws up plenty of skilful flicks and catches by skinny Americans and Canadians in funny hats.
But lest anyone dismiss ultimate frisbee, it should be noted the sport combines essential skills common to several other pursuits, obvious ones being Gaelic games and basketball. Appreciation of space and agility spring to mind.
Its core value - known as the "spirit of the game" - is, however, open to question. There are no referees; players call fouls on themselves - which immediately sets it apart from other sports.
"Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules and the basic joy of play," states the rulebook.
A noble philosophy but one, you suspect, unlikely to be adopted in Ulster GAA circles.
"It is non-contact in the same way basketball is," explains Kiely.
So, though contact is inevitable it just cannot be intentional?
"Right. If two guys are running side by side and there is incidental contact when jumping for the frisbee there is no foul.
"I found it amazing at the world championships how the 'spirit of the game' concept works and is adhered to."
Incidentally, both Irish teams are holders of the spirit award. Basically, they are the most sporting.
Surely there is gamesmanship?
"It has happened and the teams who have been playing it longer than others, like the States, have come up with different interpretations of the rules. Contact is a big part of American sports.
"There have been distasteful rows too, like between the French and Swedes last year in Southampton. The two captains needed to come together and sort it out."
The Ultimate Rulebook states players should be mindful of the fact that they are acting as referees in any arbitration between teams. In such situations, players must know the rules; be fair-minded and objective; be truthful; explain their viewpoint clearly and briefly; allow opponents a reasonable chance to speak; resolve disputes as quickly as possible; use respectful language.
The best rule has to be 1.5.2, whereby a player is expected to "compliment" opponents on good play or spirit. Rule 1.6.3 is also good; you are asked to refrain from "taunting or intimidating opposing players".
Intimidation (not taunting, mind) has always been a key element in competitive success. Michael Johnson, the great 200- and 400-metre runner, said he used to relish eyeballing younger sprinters before races; he knew he could psyche them out.
Granted, the "spirit" of ultimate frisbee has obvious parallels to golf - where calling a foul on oneself is demanded.
A cheat is the lowest form of sportsman, but testing the limits of the rules, through psychological warfare, is a universal trait of those who frequent the winners' enclosure.
The absence of referees means ultimate can never become an Olympic sport.
"The world championships in Vancouver is our Olympics. It is the highest level we can compete at," continues Kiely. "Some of the players have a background in athletics while there are two former Dublin minors in the squad (Cian Ó Móráin and Seamas Kinsella) so we have plenty of guys who know about (being) physically prepared."
Gonzaga College in Ranelagh - one of the first secondary schools to adopt frisbee competitively - is the training base.
There are up to 500 frisbee competitors on this island. They cannot all be geeks.
