GC&SU students start ultimate disc club, ready for Spring Break tourney

Ultimate disc, or ultimate frisbee to the layman, is a fast paced, non-contact team sport that combines aspects of soccer, basketball and football.

“Most people compare it to soccer with no offsides or football without any stopping of play,” said Zach Cowan, a member of Georgia College & State University’s ultimate disc club team, Disconnected.

“There’s no league play. Just tournament play, which is sponsored by universities,” Cowan said.

Disconnected has 15 members who compete in tournaments against club teams from other universities throughout the southeast. The university hosting the tournament usually throws a party for the teams.

During Spring Break, many teams come down from the north to compete in tournaments.

“It’s a fun way to hang out and get to know each other,” said Cowan.

The game is played by two seven member teams who pass the disc to teammates downfield. Once a player catches the disc, the player must declare a pivot foot and can no longer run.

The object of ultimate disc is to score goals by passing the disc to a teammate in the opponent’s endzone, much like in football. If a pass is incomplete, intercepted, or goes out of bounds, there is a change of possession.

The game is played until one team scores 14 points. A typical game can last from one to one and a half hours.

As with any sport, ultimate disc is very competitive and the teams play to win, but the players never lose sight of what is missing in many sports today, sportsmanship.

“When you’re off the field and the game’s over, the competition just drops,” said Cowan. “Any kind of argument you had with another team is gone at the end of the game.”

Except for line judges at some of the larger tournaments, there are no officials. Ultimate disc relies on the honor system. Players are responsible for obeying the rules and calling any fouls themselves.

“The coolest thing about disc is the spirit of the game,” said Cowan.

Disconnected holds practices throughout the week and regularly plays in weekend tournaments.

“We want everyone to come out and play,” said Donald Whitehead, a member of Disconnected.

The next tournament is Spring Fever in Savannah, Ga. Feb. 19-20.

Anyone interested in playing ultimate disc can contact the club president, Philip Smith, at skiman_pds@yahoo.com.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 4 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry