Ultimate Frisbee’s popularity expands on campuses
By Scobel Wiggins, AP /The Democrat-Herald
For some college students Ultimate Frisbee is not only a serious and competitive pastime, but also a fast-growing sport.
For some college students Ultimate Frisbee is not only a serious and competitive pastime, but also a fast-growing sport that offers a unique sense of sportsmanship and community to those involved.
Commonly referred to simply as “Ultimate,” the sport was created in 1968 by a group of high school students in Maplewood, N.J. Ultimate is played by two teams, and the objective is to score by catching the Frisbee or flying disc in the other team’s end zone.
The sport is played in more than 42 countries, according to USA Ultimate, the sport’s national governing body. The organization’s most recent statistics show that college Ultimate memberships increased from 9,951 in 2004 to 16,058 in 2011.
“The sport has grown exponentially. You see new teams springing up all over the place,” says Emma Kahle, a senior at Columbia University who is also the captain of the school’s women’s Ultimate team. “It’s worldwide, too.”
Jasmine Barta is a Summer 2013 Paste BN Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.