By Nathan Sanders, Ultimate Frisbee Captain and Masters Physics student
Last Wednesday afternoon, The Ultimate Frisbee teams took on the adverse weather to face off against local rivals Exeter University in two wet and windy battles.
In the first game Bristol 2s took on Exeter 3s, both teams hoping to take home their first win of the season. Bristol started strong playing a Zone defence which managed to completely shut down the Exeter’s Offence. Some excellent tactical play from our team combined with some outstanding performances from the boys of Bristol saw them lead 8-1 at half-time and steam roll through to a 15-1 victory.
Bristol 2s captain, Charlie 'Toastie' Haslam, had this to say: 'I’m really proud of my boys, it’s good to see the hard work they’ve been putting in at training recently, we’ve come out the wrong side of some very close games and it feels nice to have a win under the belt going into the new year fixtures.'
As the rain started to ease off, Bristol 1 took on Exeter 1 and after having a really strong start Bristol went into halftime leading 8-2, with both teams playing Zone defence in the hope of containing the other teams flow of play.
As the rain eased off and the wind grew weaker the success of the Zone defence started to sway and Exeter were able to take a couple of extra points before Bristol then transitioned into playing Man Defence and were able to see out the game to a 13-6 win; which now sees us sitting at second in the table and currently in a qualifying spot for Division 1 Nationals In April.
Man of the match for the first team game went to second year James Senior who had an outstanding performance and special mention went Kouri Vaughan who played his debut for the men’s first team and was the highest scoring player of the game including a layout Callahan in the first moments of the game.
But for those who aren’t familiar with the sport, what is Ultimate Frisbee?
Ultimate Frisbee is a fast-paced non-contact passing game which brings together the best aspects of many other sports. It is played on a field that is similar to an American Football Field with a central zone and two End-Zones at either end.
The rules are simple; the game is played 7-a-side over 70 minutes, you are forbidden to move when you have the disc and the objective is to score as many points as possible; to score a point a member of your team must catch a thrown pass in the End-Zone. What sets Ultimate Frisbee apart from all other sports is that it is self-refereed, all players adhere to the rules of the game and all agree to play honestly by the rules as part of ‘Spirit of the game’. It is the responsibility of all players to make sure the game is played by the rules and any breaches in the rules result in a fair and just outcome.
How do you get into the sport?
Ultimate Frisbee has been voted the number one BUCS sport you should try at University, and 95% of our members have never played before they joined Bristol. It’s a great sport to get involved with at University as it doesn’t require a huge time or financial commitment and you can see yourself improving so quickly week after week while still having a lot of fun.
It’s never too late to get involved in the sport, as most people are complete beginners at university it is the best time to get involved, everyone at the club is very welcoming and willing to help you out. When I joined all of the experienced players were really friendly and made me really enjoy being apart of the team, and now I regularly compete with the first team and it has made my time at university all the more enjoyable.
Find us on Facebook at University Of Bristol Ultimate Frisbee.
Featured image by University of Bristol Ultimate Frisbee
Did you see any of the Ultimate Frisbee last week? Let us know if you're keen to get involved!
