Every year, on the first Saturday of December, ultimate frisbee players, or flying disc enthusiasts, around the globe come together to celebrate International Spirit of the Game Day through hosted clinics, activities and events. Spirit of the Game (SOTG) is a unique component at the center of the sport: ultimate frisbee also known as just ultimate. As ultimate is self-officiated, each player holds a personal responsibility to adhere to the rules in order to maintain the integrity of the game and keep the game enjoyable.
Examples of good spirit include balancing highly competitive play while ensuring the safety of oneself, teammates and opponents or reacting calmly when a player is believed to have made a wrong call. SOTG is even in The World Flying Disc Federation’s rules and has its own spirit scoring system. So in honor of the holiday, Parkway United’s ultimate frisbee team geared up early Saturday morning, gathered in the fields to scrimmage and reflected on this core principle.
“My coaches make [SOTG] the most important thing because good spirit reflects your person. If you have good spirit, that means you care more about other people than trying to make the play [and possibly endangering] yourself and the other person,” senior Timmy Fry said.
Ultimate has grown exponentially over the past four years within the Parkway district. Just three years ago, Parkway United Ultimate Frisbee only had one co-ed team, but today, there are three boys teams — varsity A, varsity B and jv — as well as a separate girls team. Since the sport’s growth, Fry and seniors Drew Block and Nathan Thompson have played on the top varsity team every year. Their frisbee journey started five years ago when they were in eighth grade.
“One of my good friends [said], ‘Hey, my brother plays for this ultimate frisbee team.’ I’d never heard of it before, never seen it, [or] played it at all. I [thought] why not? Because I was just exploring sports, trying to find out what was fun, [I] ended up going to the first practice. The coaches were the main reason I stayed because they were great people,” Thompson said. “We didn’t win many games our first year, but the community was what I loved, so I stayed.”
To compromise with each of the four high schools’ schedules, Parkway United holds off-season pickup games every Saturday, at Parkway Central Middle’s fields. Block and Fry are two of the three nominated off-season captains, meaning they primarily encourage players to participate in the off-season workouts.
“Everyone who wants to try [ultimate] should come [to] Saturday scrimmages. They’re a lot of fun. It’s a great group of people who just have fun and it’s different from other sports — I’m not gonna say [it’s] not as competitive, but it’s more welcoming for other people who join,” Block said.
The trio has seen success throughout their career, but especially this past spring season, ending undefeated on varsity A and placing second in the state championships for the second year in a row. Additionally, after the season all three traveled to Colorado to compete in the 2024 U.S. Open Youth Club Championships (YCC) as a part of the St. Louis Under-20 Boys team: Moon Pigs. The Moon Pigs is a selective club team with players from across the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Two days of tryouts precede qualification, followed by practices twice a week throughout the summer leading up to the tournament.
“There were a lot of players [at the YCC], so you may not get to play as much as you would on your high school team, but it was a lot of fun because I got to hang out with a lot of people [and] talk to other teams to see what they’re all about,” Block said.
Despite such success, all three have faced some sort of injury while playing ultimate, from a wrist sprain to Achilles tendonitis to knee issues. Yet, their commitment and leadership remained consistent.
“The most challenging thing is injuries because you can’t really work out or do anything while you’re injured because you’re trying to heal. The second year I played, whenever I ran, my ankles would hurt for some reason. Then the next year, my right knee would hurt,” Fry said. “I probably should have [stopped playing], but I didn’t. I thought [that] if my pain while playing was manageable then I wasn’t hurt too bad. Also, it was during the state tournament and I thought that if my 75% was better than someone else’s 100% then I should keep playing for my team.”
So far, ultimate hasn’t cut any players, open to anyone interested this upcoming spring season. Interested players may contact coach Tim Dorsch with any questions or for more information.
“The fun thing about ultimate is [that] all you really need are cleats and a jersey and you can play. I think [that’s the reason] why it’s growing worldwide [is] because it’s super easy to play, really fun and you don’t have to know anything. You just have to show up and have an open mindset,” Fry said.
This story was originally published on Pathfinder on December 11, 2024.