Last year, at California's state tournament two teams were playing in the game to go to the nineth place game. Player A was making a hard mark on every player of the other team. To the point where if the opponent was trying to break his mark he would foul him. In college and club this is excepted, but was it ok for him to do this in a youth high school game?
The bay area youth scene may think this as unneeded play. It is believed by progressives that this is just fine. If the kids are used to soft play, then they will not be prepared for college and club where the play is alot more physical. Who cares if this game isn't for the championship? Shouldn't you always play your hardest? Games are played to determine a winner and a loser. This may be a reason why Ultimate in the bay area is not progressing like it should. Players from the Northwest and East Coast are coming out of there youth programs and starting for club and college teams all across the nation. Why do we need to keep this sport down? If this was a fun spirited tournament than I would understand, but this is the last tournament of the year and the most important one. Why not leave it all out on the field?
The opposing coach came over at half time and asked if that certain player could stop his agressive mark. The coaches both agreed but the game was a little tainted after that. Why ask something like that? Both teams are playing for something: pride.
The negative side of this is that you lose the integrity that ultimate has. Fun, SOTG (Spirit of the game), and fare play are what make the sport unique. It seems that ultimate loses these things when the game becomes more competitive. This writer does believe that you can have real hard competition, but still have the SOTG concept intact. This requires great coaching and guidance. It has been observed that some coaches are all about winning and don't believe that SOTG should even be apart of the sport. But SOTG is what gives the game it's edge and keeps players from leaving. To many sports lose there players because they just don't think it's fun anymore.
Who's right? Are the progressives that want the sport to turn competitive and leave it's hippie aspect in the dust or the ultra conservatives that believe the sport doesn't need any changing? Neither! What needs to be done is that the sport needs to carefully examine itself and realize what is best for it. Both groups are going to lobby for change or lack of, but you can have both. There is no need to abandon it. Ultimate is great because of it's SOTG aspect. That's what makes it Ultimate, but it does need to change. We need to advance our players and give the ones that want it more competitive, what they want.
This is one players response to the article:
"I started playing Ultimate last year as a senior in high school. I fell in love with the concept of a sport being all about the spirit of the game, it was the draw of the sport. Now that's not to say that i don't like being competitive, I was by far one of the most competitive players on my team. It sucks to lose, but we did it with spirit, most of the time, which made it more enjoyable. My team was not the best out there, but we played with all our hearts, and won a few spirit trophies, even when we took dead last. I have played many high school sports with Ultimate being the only sport in which i actually had conversations with the other teams, and made friends that i would talk to the next time we played each other in a tournament. I believe that Ultimate should always be about the spirit of the game, but could sometimes use a little bit of a competitive edge. As Ultimate players we should always keep in mind that the attraction of the sport is not only the cool tricks, or the amazing lay outs, but also the spirit of the game."
Megan Crask
Granada Facebreakers Fem-captain
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