Say the phrase “Ultimate Frisbee” and you’ll likely conjure up images of bandana-wrapped dreadlocks on the quad, or perhaps the culminating scene in the movie “P.C.U.” where a canine teammate catches the winning score.
Maybe, if you are one of the sport’s ardent followers, it conjures memories of practice, workouts, and the day you got hooked.
For more and more Coloradans, this last group of synaptic associations is becoming the norm.
From its anti-establishment origins four decades ago on the East Coast
to its recent rise among college and high school athletes, “Ultimate,”
as it’s simply known, has found a natural breeding groundfor its ilk in
Colorado.
Ultimate is a field sport played by two teams of seven that combines
elements of football, soccer, and basketball. The pitch resembles a
football field with a 70-yard playing surface and 25-yard end zones.
Each time a team catches the disc in their opponent’s end zone, they
score one point. Games are typically played to 15.
To advance the disc up the field, players must complete passes between
teammates. Players cannot run with the disc. Once a catch is made,
players must establish a pivot foot and pass to a teammate.
The game moves at high speeds with give-and-go passing and long strikes known as “hucks.”
 Women, at a high school tournament, will try anything to stop the opposition.
The sport’s official disc was a Frisbee—a trademarked product from the Wham-O Corporation—until 1991 when the sport’s leaders opted to use another company’s disc. The Discraft Ultra-Star has been the official disc of Ultimate since.
Though likely invented in Massachusetts, Ultimate’s rules were first codified in the late 1960s by students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J.
Founders included players who would go on to compete in the first intercollegiate game. The Rutgers vs. Princeton match echoed the first college football game.
From there, Ultimate spread to college campuses and major cities where recreational leagues and tournaments started to spring up.
Where the Disc First Landed
In Colorado, the sport took root in the late 1970s in Boulder, whose college intramural programs were the genesis for a club team.
“They were playing on East Folsom Field just east of the CU stadium,” recalls Bob Pease, one of Boulder’s Ultimate pioneers. “I had played a little pick-up Ultimate and knew I liked the game, but when I watched these guys playing I was like, ‘I have to try that.’”
Pease and company evolved into a traveling men’s team known as the Stains and then later, the Coup. They frequented tournaments in Ultimate-friendly college towns such as Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, Calif.
Competition was tough, according to Pease and Stains teammate Randy Ricks, because there were only two slots available in the national championships from the entire western United States. The Santa Barbara Condors—a club whose 30-year tenure among the sport’s elite teams is unrivaled—and San Francisco’s Flying Circus dominated the region.
The nucleus of these early Boulder teams still competes in the Ultimate Players Association’s (UPA) Masters Division, now under the team name Old & In the Way, earning championships in 1999 and 2005 and placing second three times in between. Their success in 1999 earned them a slot at the 2000 World Championships where they bested many national all-star teams to win a gold medal.
The younger generation of Colorado Ultimate players is now bred and fed by the increasingly popular college game.
According to the UPA, the Boulder-based national governing body for the sport, the number of teams competing in the UPA College Series has tripled since 1995.
The University of Colorado fields competitive men’s and women’s teams—nicknamed Mamabird and Kali, respectively. Both teams are in the top echelon of college Ultimate programs. Mamabird won its first and only national championship in 2004.
In addition to fine college programs, Colorado is home to some of the nation’s best club teams—those that travel and compete in the prestigious UPA Club Series each autumn.
Johnny Bravo, a Boulder-based men’s team, finished the 2006 season with a two-point loss in the semifinals to eventual champions Seattle Sockeye. Last season, Johnny Bravo finished in the top four for the first time. A national championship is not far out of reach.
Rare Air, Boulder’s competitive women’s team, also lost in the semifinals of the women’s division. Rare Air was originally known as Babylon Sisters and then as DV8.
Colorado has had competitive women’s teams since 1986, according to Allie Boyd, a Rare Air veteran. The 2006 season marked the first time a Colorado women’s team made the semifinals at Club Nationals.
Other teams in Fort Collins and Denver are among the nation’s best, competing for berths in Nationals each October in Sarasota, Fla.
Why the Disc Will Always Fly Here
But for those not interested in the rigors of practice and team commitment, there are still ample opportunities to play along the Front Range. Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs all boast seasonal recreational leagues open to players of all levels.
Ultimate’s “Spirit of the Game”—the tenet that puts enjoyment of the game above win-at-all-costs attitudes—beckons seasoned veterans and beginners alike with a welcoming environment.
From the local leagues up to international competitions, this Spirit of the Game, indoctrinated in the rules, binds players to conduct themselves with sportsmanship and integrity. And this core value is one of the many reasons Ultimate is exploding on its next frontier: high school.
Four years ago there were about a dozen high school teams in Colorado. Now there are almost 30, according to Derek Gottlieb, who doubles as the UPA’s State Youth Coordinator for Colorado and as the coach at Colorado Academy in Denver.
Growth at the high school level can be attributed to several factors, such as the ample supply of talented adult players who act as coaches, but also because many barriers to organization and competition simply don’t exist in Ultimate.
A disc, a field, and some friends (OK, and cones to mark the field) are all one needs to start a game.
The sport’s novelty—its nascence—is certainly still one of its selling points.
Parents aren’t fighting other parents on the sidelines, nor are they getting ejected for heckling the officials.
Many high school teams developed out of a group of kids playing after school or at lunch.
“It's something that kids can take genuine ownership over, genuine credit for,” says Gottlieb. “No one pushes their child into Ultimate at age four, and no one plays the sport for the money or the fame or any extrinsic value.”
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