 |
| Danger:2000 frantic Frisbee fanatics at play |
Direct link to this article:
http://www.whatisultimate.com/archive/article.asp?id=45 |
|
| The Scotsman ? | 11 August 1999 |
|
| About Worlds, St Andrews |
|
Wednesday, II August 1999 THE SCOTSMAN
Danger: 2,000 frantic Frisbee fanatics at play
JAMES ROUGVIE
IT'S fast, it's furious and it isn't for the fainthearted, as a first aid tent full of cuts, bruises and strains testified on the North Haugh at St Andrews yesterday.
Just a flick of the wrist from the genteel turf of the Old Course, more than 2,000 competitors began to joust for the World Ultimate Frisbee Championships, held in Scotland for the first time.
The sport, which grew up on the west coast of the United States as a gentle park pastime, has developed into organised mayhem where teams of seven on a pitch the size of a football field try to prevent the spinning disc reaching the "endzone".
The competitors from 29 countries, including the United States, New Zealand, Japan and Finland, are in St Andrews to encourage the sport over here.
The sport has grown throughout the world but is still in its infancy in Scotland, though the country is represented by two teams, ranked 37th and 38th out of 40 international clubs.
Spectators at the playing fields that are traditionally venues for rugby and hockey winced as more players were carried from the fray than from scrums.
In the first few hours of the tournament, staff at the first aid tent were working overtime to cope with ankle strains, bruises and knee injuries.
One player was taken to hospital after a Frisbee caused an eye injury.
There are rules but no referee. The tournament director, Charlie Mead. explained: "If you foul someone then in your heart of hearts you know you are to blame.
"Some will shout 'foul' and in most cases the players responsible will accept he is in the wrong, apologise, and the game will continue." Although players are not allowed to run with the disc - aficionados do not refer to it as a Frisbee -it is passed to team members in the endzone with others trying to prevent that happening, hence the contact.
Mr Mead said: "Once people see an UItinIate game they are hooked. I am convinced that within a year there will be more clubs popping up all over the country.
"It is fast and exciting and I believe we will see Ultimate being played in stadiums one day and thousands will come to watch it."
The US teams are top of the Ultimate league, with one called Death or Glory, from Boston, seeded number one in the world.
The two Scottish teams, Soup and Gael Force, are still learning: Soup were beaten by the Finnish team yesterday. |
|
| Archived by Sankurie | 22 March 2002 |
|
|
