What is Ultimate Anyway?

UPA: An Introduction to the Sport of Ultimate:

Ultimate combines elements of soccer, football and basketball in a fast-paced game, played with a frisbee, where everyone is a quarterback and everyone is a receiver. Ultimate began in 1968 in Maplewood, New Jersey when a group of Columbia High School students first played on an asphalt parking lot at their high school. As those students graduated from high school, the game spread to the college level. The first intercollegiate Ultimate game occured on Nov. 6, 1972, between
Princeton and Rutgers, in New Brunswick, NJ. They played on the anniversary of the first ever intercollegiate football game, also played between those same two schools.
Today, the game is played competitively by over 25,000 UPA and WFDF amateur athletes in over 35 countries, as well as countless casual players. Ultimate is played by people from all walks of life. From high school students, to the still thriving college game, to the highly competitive club teams all over the world, to the many thousands of people who play informal summer league. Ultimate is a game for everyone.

Ultimate in Ten Simple Rules:
Steve Courlang, UPA Juniors Director
Copyright (c) Ultimate Players Association, 1993

The Field -- A rectangular shape with endzones at each end. A regulation field
is 70 yards by 40 yards, with endzones 25 yards deep.

Initiate Play -- Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of
their respective endzone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the
offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.

Scoring -- Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's endzone,
the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.

Movement of the Disc -- The disc may be advanced in any direction by
completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person
with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender
guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.

Change of possession -- When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds,
drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the
disc and becomes the offense.

Substitutions -- Players not in the game may replace players in the game after
a score and during an injury timeout.

Non-contact -- No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and
screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.

Fouls -- When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When
a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was
retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the
play is redone.

Self-Refereeing -- Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls.
Players resolve their own disputes.

Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play.
Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between
players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

The complete, official UPA Ninth Edition Rules of Ultimate with all amendments
and clarifications are available by FTP from ftp.cs.wisc.edu in directory
/pub/ultimate, or via the World Wide Web at URL
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/ferguson/ultimate/ultimate-rules.html. HTML Version by George Ferguson, 8 Jun 1994.

Send mail to srs32@cornell.edu with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: August 02, 2004