JSU
Ultimate
Frisbee
by Benjamin Nunnally
A
sk JSU Ultimate Frisbee player Wesley Moore what he loves most about
the game, and he’s probably going
to tell you that it’s the airtime. Frisbees fly
a lot harder and faster than most would expect, with players charging along the field
underneath to get in position to catch. Usually who manages to grab the disc out of
the air comes down to who jumps the highest, whose hands stretch farthest into the
air.
“The other day I caught one over my friend
on the other team,” said Moore, “and he
turned to me and said my feet went up to
his shoulder. I don’t think I’ve ever jumped
that high in my life.”
22
Ultimate is something like soccer and football, focused around taking the frisbee while
it’s in your team’s hands across the field and
into the opponent’s end zone. Players sprint
across the field to get in position for passes,
since running the frisbee isn’t an option —
when holding the disc, a player has to stay in
one place. They throw the frisbee backhand
or “flick” it, usually forced into the latter by
blockers on the other team.
“Flicks can be deadly accurate but you don’t
have as much power,” said Will Kenney, a
team captain for JSU’s Ultimate Frisbee.
The team existed informally for several years
before a second coming about a year back,
during which the team sought and received
March 2014
INSIGHT