But really, what is Ultimate Frisbee?

If you’ve ever wondered what Ultimate Frisbee is like, you’re not alone.

Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact, self-officiating team sport. Yes, you read that right: self-officiating.

For someone who normally watches soccer or football, this sounds crazy. How do you play a competitive, team sport without any officials calling the shots?

The teams that played in the USA Ultimate Club Regional Championship at the National Sports Center proved that responsibility, honesty and sportsmanship keep the game moving.

Let’s cover the basics:

Two teams of seven play on a field similar to a football or soccer field, only narrower. An end zone is located at both ends of the field, and each team defends its own end zone and aims to catch the Frisbee (or disc) in the opposite team’s end zone to score a goal.

Games are played until the first team reaches 15 points, with a margin of two goals. Halftime takes place when one team’s score reaches half of the game total.

You can compare the start of the game to a kick-off, except in Ultimate Frisbee, it’s called a throw-off. There’s a coin flip to decide who obtains possession of the ball first, and each team stands in its end zone until the first throw, which is referred to as the ‘pull,’ is completed.

The hard part? Once a player catches the Frisbee, he or she can’t move; so the Frisbee must be transferred from player to player in a sort of ‘stop-and-go’ pattern.

How to obtain possession of the Frisbee? The disc can be dropped, out-of bounds, or intercepted by the defensive team.

So, if the game’s self-officiating, what happens when a player makes a foul? 

If someone fouls, a player from the other team calls the foul and the play is discussed. If the fouling player disagrees on the call, he or she can call ‘contest,’ and the disc is returned to the previous thrower. If the player agrees with the call, he or she calls “uncontested,” and most of the time, possession of the disc transfers to the opposite team.

That’s enough of the basics to understand the objective of Ultimate Frisbee, but for more rules and guidelines, consult USA Ultimate’s 11th Edition Rules. 

The USA Ultimate Club Regional Championship took place on Sunday, Sept. 22. 

Need more visuals? Keep scrolling for additional photographs from the event.