Extraordinary spirit of game sets Ultimate Frisbee apart from traditional team sports.

VUL encourages competitive play and respect among competitors

By Jeffrey Yip

Under the sweet kiss of the warm July sun on a Monday evening, two of the Vancouver Ultimate League’s Division 4 teams, Random Fling and In My Pants, are set to take to the field.

For those who are unfamiliar with the sport Ultimate Frisbee, or ‘ulti’ as it is affectionately referred to by the players, it’s a flying disc sport.

The objective of the game is simple: score goals. A goal is scored when a player throws the disc to a teammate and it is caught in their opponents’ end zone. Players can not run with the disc, but must advance the disc with successive throws to other teammates. In the VUL, first team to score 13, wins. While winning is always fun, the most important part of Ultimate is the spirit of the game.

Ultimate Canada, the governing body for Ultimate in Canada, says that the “Spirit of the Game is at the heart of Ultimate and is a defining characteristic of the sport.  With no referees, ultimate relies on the spirit of the game, placing the onus of sportsmanship and honourable play on the players themselves.”

“Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play.”

The idea of spirit might seem outside of the realm of sports and its win-at-all-costs mentality, Ulti players take it seriously.

“It’s why I play––spirit, and the whole theory and philosophy behind the game,” says Mark Godard, a veteran of Random Fling.

“There’s a spirit score awarded at the end of the game and there’s also a spirit game played at the end of the game.”

A spirit score is awarded to the other team based on a set of criteria designed by the VUL. For instance, spirit points can be awarded for outstanding sportsmanship or spirited resolution of disputes. At the end of the year, the VUL recognizes the teams with the top spirit scores with a party and award ceremony. Spirit games are played at the end of the game to further the idea of community.

“I think the community spirit is an important part of recreational ultimate…and I think that’s the most important thing the VUL offers,” says Paul Nielson, nine-year Ulti veteran and captain of Random Fling.

The VUL began in 1986 with only a handful of teams. Within a few years it had grown to 12 teams. Today the VUL boasts over 230 teams with its members numbering over 4,000 during the busy summer season.

“We are the largest adult sport league in Vancouver,” says Art Hawkins, Executive Director of the VUL.

The VUL hosts numerous clinics and introductory programs for new and novice players, various tournaments throughout the season and a big year end barbecue to celebrate the end of the summer season. But while the VUL has developed a great sense of community spirit, there is a feeling that things are changing.

“Between the community spirit and the spirit of the game, it’s a different experience than you’d get from any other sport. It’s what differentiates the sport from others and what attracts people to it,” says Nielson.

“But, over the past two or three years there’s been less of an obvious feeling of community spirit. I think it’s been eroded a bit,” says Nielson.

“We’ve had our fair share of teams over the past couple of years that just haven’t got it and have been less fun to play against.”

Roger Lum, captain of In My Pants, agrees with Nielson and the VUL’s waning spirit.

“The game is built around spirit and self-refereeing and I think some players take advantage of that. Being a self-refereed sport it’s important that players maintain the spirit of the game,” says Lum. According to Lum, as the VUL grows, it takes in younger players, many of whom have played competitively with high school teams, where winning is more important than spirit. And because of that, Lum believes that both the “spirit of the game” and VUL community spirit are becoming increasingly hard to maintain.

“It’s always been a recreational casual sport and that’s worked up until now, but I think at some point it has to be organized differently,” says Lum.

Hawkins acknowledges that the league is changing, but believes strongly that recreational Ultimate has the potential to be even greater than it is.

“Now the challenge will be to meet the expectations of members with regard to multiple formats: 7-on-7, 5-on-5, single gender play, developmental leagues, etc,” said Hawkins.

But even with these challenges facing the VUL, both Lum and Nielson couldn’t see themselves playing any other sport.

“Yeah, these are the perfect days to be playing Ultimate. It’s 18 degrees, it’s sunny, you’re out having fun with your friends and the team we just played against was a good time and that’s what the VUL is all about,” says Nielson.