Ultimate is my passion
A disc and a shot glass. Just another normal day at a tournament.
Ultimate (frisbee) is my passion. It’s the ultimate sport in my mind, and many will agree. It is the one thing that I know I will be passionate about for the rest of my life. It is how I’ve met many of my closest friends, and how I’ve met every guy that I’ve ever dated. Why am I so passionate? Let me explain!
[This is part of the Indie Art Travel Project, Day 5 Prompt: What else (besides travel) are you passionate about?]
So I just came back from my favorite ultimate tournament, Fools Fest in Fredericksburg, VA, USA. This was a weekend full of ultimate, sunshine, grass, dogs, babies, families, food, beer, wine, dancing, silly games, costumes, and music. It might seem strange that one event could encompass so much, but that is just what the ultimate community is about.
On the field
When I’m on the field, nothing else matters. I’m more present in my body than any other time, and making a good play makes me happy. Being a part of a team also brings out a special feeling. These are people that I might have trained with for years, or people that I just met, but either way, the bond and love for our sport links us together.
As a sport, I love the purity of it. The movements, the strategies, everything can get complicated if you get into it enough. But the basic part of ultimate is that if you are faster, or smarter, or more athletic than your opponent, then you have a chance to beat them.
It’s not about how we can bend the rules or stretch the clock to try to win. It annoys the heck out of me to watch sports where the players are “acting” to try to get the referee to make a call, or where the game gets stopped every 10 seconds because of a violation. The rules are there as a guideline, and the Spirit of the Game tells us to play by the rules to have the best experience.
I love this sport for the moments of purity. Beating an opponent to the disc, or throwing the perfect throw for that exact person at that exact moment, the feeling of the disc in your hand when you didn’t think you could catch it. I live for these moments of pure skill and athleticism that say I just reached a high point in my physical ability.
Off the field
It’s not just the sport that I love…it’s the people too. These are the chillest, coolest, most swag wearing people that I know, and I’d like to think I’m a little chiller and cooler by association. I love that people who are casual about playing ultimate can find a way to play just about anywhere in the world. I love that people who are really serious about playing will travel to just about anywhere for Worlds. I love that my list of Facebook friends is dominated by people in several continents who share this same sport and lifestyle with me, and can relate to my post-tournament Monday blues. (Although, I should maybe start weaning down the numbers of FB friends I have because it is a little overwhelming at this point.)
One last thing…
If I were to believe in heaven, it would be an everlasting ultimate tournament. There would be plush, grassy fields, friends from all over the world, live music, and lots of ultimate. Oh yeah, and no one would ever get injured!
More ultimate:
