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A no-contact sport, Ultimate is played with what is colloquially known as a frisbee. Players must pass the disc to teammates in the opponent’s endzone to score. The teams play 7-a-side, and there are no restrictions on gender.
While the sport is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, it missed out on an Olympic spot at the shortlisting for new sports this year. The Indian Sports Ministry, however, has still not recognised the sport.
Sportskeeda spoke to Jess Mumford, the manager for the Indian Ultimate U-23 team, in a telephonic interview. Mumford has been an Ultimate trainer for a time, spending the last four years coaching high-schoolers in Brisbane, Australia.
She says the fact that the Sports Ministry does not recognise Ultimate as a sport is a big stumbling block. “We have had issues with registering ourselves as a sports team with visa officials because our sport is not technically recognised as one”, she says. The team is part of the Ultimate Association of India and is recognised by the World Flying Disc Federation, the highest governing body of the sport.
They receive no government funding, Mumford says, although a significant portion of her team consists of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. I asked her if this was a barrier in getting team members to interact with each other. “Initially, yes,” she says, but adds that employing systems where team members all interact with each other is extremely helpful. Mumford uses the buddy system, where each child on the team is assigned a companion or ‘buddy’.
This helps in many ways, she says. The diversity of the team means that it comprises members of varied linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds, for whom interaction may have otherwise been problematic, but the buddy system has helped counter this. “The children who cannot speak English are helped by those who can. Initially, we had problems getting some of the more economically disadvantaged children to interact with the others, but the buddy system and training together have helped immensely in bringing them closer together.”
A major venue for Ultimate in India is Chennai, and this is largely due to its coastline. “There are always people playing on the beaches there,” says Mumford, who also trains with them there. While Bengaluru is also active, Chennai remains the hub for the sport, and it is there that Mumford and her partner Dan Rule, who coaches the team, work.
There are four major tournaments on the Ultimate calendar, and three events are held to select a squad for these tournaments.
Mumford and Rule train 24 athletes from seven cities all across the country, and although it may seem that cities in the South of India are more active, the other major hubs for Ultimate in India are Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. They also train athletes from Hyderabad.
“There are three different languages spoken by our team members,” says Mumford, highlighting just how diverse the crowd really is. It is also unrestrictive in terms of gender, as the teams are not divided. Financial backgrounds also do not restrict entry, as Ultimate is a low-cost sport that requires minimal equipment and maintenance.
The costs involve travel and visa fees, but are otherwise low, Mumford tells me. The costs for poorer members are subsidised, and in addition several non-governmental organisations in Chennai help out. Members of the team include working professionals, who pay the way for poor students to participate in events. “The only condition is that the kids go to school and get an education,” says Mumford.
“Some of the kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are even picking up English,” she adds. “Everyone is friends with everybody else, and there is no hint of anybody’s socio-economic background coming into their interactions with each other.”
Mumford describes the sport as a good lesson in morality as well. “All calls are made by and amongst the players themselves, in what we describe as the ‘spirit of the game’,” she tells me. There is no external refereeing or regulation.”
The World under-23 Ultimate Championships will be held this July, from the 12th to the 18th in London, and Mumford says it has been “difficult” in terms of figuring out the paperwork. “The Ministry doesn’t recognise Ultimate as a sport at all, so registering our players has been a task,” she tells me. Rule on his part has been speaking to authorities to iron out these issues.
Ultimately, however, the sport seems set to gain more traction in India. Accessible to players across demographics, socio-economics and culture, Ultimate is on its way to greater glory in the years to come.
