New Frisbee club flies

It is 175 grams of pure fun.

Ultimate Frisbee is quickly growing into a new trend for students to participate in after school. They meet on the practice field after school to play with each other for about an hour.

“I play Ultimate Frisbee because it is fun and my friends introduced it to me,” said senior Tyler Knickerbocker. “We have a lot of fun every week. There’s never a day when we don’t play.”

The club keeps attracting new members because of its laid-back atmosphere, relaxed rules, and camaraderie. People come for a variety of reasons and on a nice day you could typically find upwards of 30 people playing. Students tend to play pickup games and work on perfecting their techniques.

Ultimate has different ways to throw a Frisbee than just the standard backhand. Depending on how the opposing team’s defense is covering you, one could throw a hammer (a pass thrown overhand, almost like a baseball) or a forehand.

“I go because is fun to play, it is good exercise, it keeps you in good shape, and sets a precedent for the rest of your life of staying in shape,” said senior Ultimate Frisbee Club member Matt Rigsby.

Ultimate Frisbee has seen a lot of growth in the last ten years, and is one of the world’s fastest growing sports. The Ultimate Players Association, the governing body for the sport in the United States, has seen its membership increase 168%, since 2003 to 30,000.

Currently, students just play after school with other kids that are in the club. However, the club is looking to play with other schools in the area.

“I’m excited to possibly pursue competition against other schools. I think we can put our team against any other team due to the chemistry we have built during our weekly practices,” said senior Jason Tate, president of the Ultimate Frisbee Club.

Even after high school, students would be able to continue playing Ultimate Frisbee. College teams are becoming more and more intense with their competition and number of teams that play. There are over 700 collegiate teams throughout the nation, and this number is constantly growing as the sport starts to receive more attention, fans, and players.

“[Ultimate Frisbee] is good competition and a great interactive sport,” said senior Robert Miller. “It’s the game of the future.”