Nuggets of Fantastic Enlightenment - Part 1

As an added feature for the benefit of LUDA's members and fans, we will regularly be posting the following History Lessons, Links, and Rules of the week to further your knowledge about Ultimate.

Much of this has been sent to Fire At The Circus members in the past, but now it will be accessible to all (and FATC members, I'll continue to write new editions in the near future).

For you Ultimate nerds out there, I may be glossing over some of the details in these lessons, so feel free to add comments as appropriate if we miss anything or get something wrong.

Thanks - CB

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HISTORY LESSON OF THE WEEK: Most sources trace the founding of Ultimate to Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey in 1968. A team-based Frisbee game was introduced to Joel Silver during a summer camp, and he took it to school with him that year (Wham-O had only patented Frisbees since the 50s). In Fall of 1968, Silver, as a joke, proposed to CHS’s student council that a committee be formed to explore adding Frisbee to the school curriculum. The motion passed, of course. Silver and his friends developed the game, initially playing in the school parking lot with unlimited endzones. Silver called it “the ultimate sports experience,” and the name Ultimate Frisbee stuck around. Silver, along with Jonny Hines and Buzzy Hellring, developed the first set of rules that we now call the First Edition of the official rules (we are now on the 11th Edition). CHS is still listed as the first copyright in 1970 in the rulebook, if you have a copy. The game spread when the kids from CHS went off to college, and so on. Joel Silver, by the way, is now one of biggest movie producers in Hollywood, having produced the Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Matrix franchises, among others.

LINK OF THE WEEK: http://upa.org  
The Ultimate Players Association is the national governing body for the sport and currently runs the championship series, which Fire at the Circus plans on participating in beginning this fall. Their website is not the slickest of all time, but is full of good info if you navigate the site for a while, including tournament schedules and results, rules, outreach programs, etc. Everyone who plays in the series (beginning with Sectionals) will have to become a UPA member this year, so it will be good to be familiar with what they have to offer.

Since the next section is rules, here’s a bonus link to the rules page: http://upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th  

RULE OF THE WEEK: Section XVI.J. of the rulebook deals with Traveling. Travel calls can be disruptive, so it pays to know how you need to be set and what to be able to look for. Plant your pivot foot!

Traveling: The thrower must establish a pivot at the appropriate spot on the field and keep all or part of the pivot in contact with that spot until the throw is released. Failure to do so is a travel and results in a stoppage of play and a check.
1. In addition, each of the following is a travel:
a. A player catches the disc and either speeds up, changes direction or does not stop as quickly as possible before establishing a pivot (XV.B).
b. A player receives a pass while running or jumping, and releases a pass after the third ground contact and before establishing a pivot (XV.C).
c. Purposeful bobbling (including tipping, delaying, guiding, brushing, or the like) to oneself in order to advance the disc in any direction from where it initially was contacted (XV.A).
d. The thrower fails to touch the disc to the ground when required (XIII.B).
2. Exceptions:
a. If a non-standing player loses contact with the pivot spot in order to stand up, it is not a travel, provided the new pivot is established at the same location.
b. It is not a travel if a player catches the disc and releases a pass before the third ground contact (XV.C).
c. If play stops, the thrower may reset the pivot.