You’ve heard of ultimate frisbee — you know, that game with the hippies running around barefoot, throwing around a disc and enjoying Janoris Jenkins’ favorite pastime.
Chances are you’ve come across it at the park or outside your dorm room. You may have even played a time or two.
But ultimate has become much more than that friendly game of pick-up.. Just look at the UF men’s and women’s club teams.
During the spring semester, you can see them practicing at Lake Alice Field several times a week. Not to mention the regular conditioning workouts, and the tournaments they compete in throughout the country.
It’s no surprise both are premier college ultimate teams, ranking in the top 30 nationally — the women recently placed 13th at the 2012 D-I College Women’s Championships, and the men own national titles in 2006 and 2010.
Florida has become a national powerhouse in the ultimate scene, producing some of the top talent in the country each year. Most notable is Brodie Smith, who has gone on to become a YouTube hit, creating ultimate tutorials and even a Frisbee trick-shot series that has gone viral and rivaled the likes of Dude Perfect, the basketball trick-shot artists.
Smith now plays professionally in the American Ultimate Disc League, headlining for the Indianapolis Alley Cats.
You heard right, it’s a professional sport now. You can replace those hippies with bona fide athletes — yes, the ones who play “real sports” like football and basketball — and imagine the only thing being passed around now is a disc.
The AUDL, currently in its inaugural season, consists of eight teams located in the Northeast and Midwest. Expansion plans have been set to create teams throughout the country by 2014, including Jacksonville and Orlando.
It has garnered enough attention to make it into SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays, and is making the push to become a marketable sport, selling products ranging from player jerseys to autographed discs. The only thing left is for “Air Bud: Just Huck It” to hit the big screen.
This should not come as a surprise. Now played in more than 42 countries worldwide, nearly five million Americans play ultimate each year, making it one of the fastest-growing sports in just over 40 years of existence.
And despite all of its growth, ultimate has stuck to its roots. At most levels of the game, it revolves around a rule called “Spirit of the Game,” making it a self-officiated sport.
The best part, heckling is allowed — even in the pro league. Hell, it’s encouraged, as long as it doesn’t venture into taunting.
So next time you see someone walking around campus with a disc, remember, they might be more than a stoner — maybe even a future pro athlete.
Just like the football players.
Contact Corey McCall at cmccall@alligator.org.
