Is UPrep’s fastest-growing sport really a sport?
Ultimate players have endured a plethora of snide comments, teasing, and outright disbelief of their sport being considered a “real sport.” Ultimate, by definition, is a non-contact sport involving a plastic disk thrown and caught to score points. (Fun Fact: it’s actually not called a Frisbee!) The question is still widely debated: is ultimate the ultimate sport, or not a sport at all?
Freshman Daran Anand, an ultimate player, is annoyed by the constant tearing down of one of his favorite sports. “I have to defend it at every practice,” he said. “Everyone will acknowledge it as a hobby, but not a sport.”
Sophomore Ailey Birkeland, however, believes that ultimate doesn’t even fit the basic requirements of a sport.“I think [a sport] involves competition, athletics, and entertainment,” he said. Ultimate is not widely known, and those who don’t play often claim it is boring. “There is no audience for it, therefore it does not provide entertainment,” Birkeland said.
One of the most common jabs to ultimate is that because there is no referee, it can’t be taken seriously. Fouls, points, and penalties are all called by the players. While some may have images of leisurely tossing of a Frisbee on a beach, those who play it claim that the real game is a completely different picture.
“Soccer games, for example, can get pretty intense and people can get kind of rude,” said junior Stella Biehl. “Ultimate has a more friendly atmosphere, but the competition is still there. People are very serious about that.”
World-class ultimate player and coach Moses Rifkin said that it’s baffling to him why ultimate is questioned.
“I have no idea why it wouldn’t be considered a sport,” he said. Rifkin also believes that teasing about ultimate can quickly become personal to those who feel as strongly about the sport as he does. “It’s a little upsetting because I care so much about it. It’s like if someone said that your parents aren’t real humans,” he said.
Unfortunately, for those who play, ultimate isn’t widely televised and is a relatively new sport. Because of this, it isn’t in the Olympic Games. Instead, it’s in the JV Olympics, along with other sports that are trying to gain entry into the real games. This is a blow to serious players, who find it degrading to see their sport played along with Tug-o-War and other JV Olympics oddities.
“There is also another common misconception,” said sophomore Michael Lu. “That ultimate is only pickup. But there’s leagues, and in fact [they hold] a world championship every four years.”
Ultimate does fit the requirements for sport. The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘sport’ as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”
Therefore technically, to all those who mock ultimate, you are wrong. Sorry! This doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t still lightly tease. Just so nobody’s ego inflates too much.
By Olivia Poolos