The Discy Birds are back and in full swing to start the season. We went 3-1 in a start-of-season tournament while missing some key players and in some pretty bad weather. With the addition of a JV team this year, our numbers are only growing, even after the season has started. We’ve had three new players join since last Thursday, two of them playing in our tournament this past Saturday, meaning that if you’re looking for something enjoyable to do this spring or just a way to get out of doing track and field, we’re still open to taking on more people!
A brief explanation of the sport for those that don’t know how it works. I think it’s easiest to explain in football terms. There are seven players from each team on the field at a time. Three of them are called handlers and act as quarterbacks who throw the disc, and four of them are cutters who act as wide receivers and catch the throws from the handlers. You make your way down the field trying to score a touchdown in the endzone for a point. The first team to get to 13 points wins. The couple caveats are that you cannot run with the disc, it’s a non-contact sport, and it’s much more fast-paced than football.
If I were to best describe the sport of ultimate frisbee, I’d call it a combination of backyard football and soccer. You get both the quick pace and amount of running of a soccer game and the highly exaggerated, highlight-reel plays of a game of backyard football. That’s why so many people find it to be a fun sport; you can take an athlete from almost any other sport and use their strength to your advantage. Whether that be speed, stamina, height, or whatever, 50% of it is purely just being a good athlete. The best part of the sport is easily the cool plays. The full-field throws, the diving catches and blocks, and the ankle-breaking cuts all bring life to the game. They make for quite a spectacle to watch, and they happen more often than you’d think too.
My one dream for this season is to see a fan section at a game. If the gong were to make its way to the frisbee field, that would make history. While it’s not exactly the most rowdy sport, we can change that, and since it’s self-officiated, there’s no refs to stop you from playing instruments. In short, I think the team’s got a lot of potential this season, and we’d love to have a little support from the students. Also, if you’re interested in joining the team, we’d love to have you, just reach out to Mr. Malecek.
