Two Webster students and their love for Frisbee led to the forming of Uber Ultimate Underground Ultimate Frisbee League (UUUUFL). While the name is a mouthful, juniors Ian Wright and Cameron White formed the club two years ago, the idea being they would simply play Ultimate Frisbee.
“We started off mainly with music majors because that’s what Ian and I were freshman year, and our other friends,” White said.
Senior Charles Whitehead is another team member who said he considers himself to be one of the more experienced players, as he played competitively in high school. He said he enjoys teaching those who are new to the sport. He said the game is not strictly about athletic ability, it is about how you play.
Ultimate Frisbee is more than throwing a disc back and forth with friends in a park. The sport itself is referred to as ‘Ultimate,’ according to the USA Ultimate website. The website describes a few rules to the game, many of which transfer into other sports. White describes Ultimate Frisbee as a cross between Frisbee, soccer and football.
The game is played on a rectangular field and begins with two teams of seven players each lined up in their end zone. The defense throws the Frisbee to the offense and the game begins. A player can not run with the disc and has 10 seconds to throw it. Just like any other sport, offense switches every time the disc goes out of bounds.
Points are scored when the offense scores in the defense’s end zone. However, the sport is noncontact. If this rule is broken, it is a foul.
“It’s a non-contact sport, which is always nice for people who don’t want to kill themselves [with work],” White said.
Even with the no-touching rule, Whitehead said the game can still get pretty aggressive. Any time you put a team together of competitive people, it can get heated when it comes to final score, he said.
“We’re playing for pride, we’re playing for the win, and it’s a fast-paced game,” Whitehead said.
With the competitive nature of the group, Whitehead, White and Wright all said they wish for the team to eventually play competitively. Wright said they have communicated with Washington University, but the idea is still in its infancy.
White said the most complex thing the club has had to deal with is figuring out who they will “pass the torch down to” when club members begin to graduate. The people he plays with are a good group of people who are very welcoming, he said.
“We’re pretty blessed in that we haven’t had too many big things that have threatened to bring down the club,” White said.
Over the past two years, the three boys said they were happy to see the number of players grow. What started out with around four people has grown to an average of 30.
Wright said UUUUFL does not have tryouts and they accept anybody. A lot of people tell him they cannot throw a Frisbee, and Wright said the team does not let that be a problem. Whitehead said if they want to be better, he wants to help them.
UUUUFL is approaching their winter sabbatical, but will pick back up with recruitment and practices they hold at the Eden Seminary grounds. Wright said if anyone wants to join the team, they can contact him or White through Facebook. They will then add them to the UUUUFL Facebook page.
“If you’re on the fence about Ultimate Frisbee because you’re worried about how intense it is, give it a try,” Whitehead said.
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