Article September 29, 2003 Issue

Stoked on Spirit!

Two days of Ultimate Frisbee, fueled by ultimate truth

By Alexander Cook

I RECENTLY had the opportunity to play in a two-day Ultimate Frisbee tournament. It was the end of our season, and everyone had been looking forward to it for months. Over the two days we would play six two-hour games, each of which would involve running, and then more running.

I've played in many tournaments of this kind, and this one began as usual. At 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, we were on a grassfield, throwing, and leaping. (Ultimate, as players call the game, is similar to American football and rugby, only it's played with a Frisbee, with seven players on each team.) Our team was doing well, and it was easy to see that everyone loved being there.

By the end of the first game, we were all huffing and puffing. During the regular season this is where play would end—normally we play one game and that's it. But today we had three more to look forward to! Soon we were into the second game, and it felt very much like the first.