Friday, October 1, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 15
Frisbee teams hope to increase popularity of sport in Midwest
Continued from page 10A
such an easy task. For example, once a player catches the Frisbee, he or she has to stop running and establish a pivot foot. From there they attempt to throw the disc to one of their teammates, and then that player has to stop. Spotts said that even though the person in possession of the Frisbee was not moving didn't mean other players weren't.
"You're constantly running and sprinting," he said. "Whether you get the Frisbee passed to you or not, you have to go find a new spot. You probably have to run a couple of miles during each game at top speed."
Garan Camastro, Evanston, III., graduate student and member of Betty, the Jayhawk women's ultimate team, said that she liked ultimate because the athletic aspects of the game were so diverse. She also said that the sport tended to intimidate some women because it was so challenging, but that this year Betty had a lot of potential.
"I can definitely see us going to the nationals this year," she said. "We are trying to find girls who can make ultimate their No. 1 priority."
Both the women's and men's teams qualified for the national tournament last year in Boulder, Colo., though neither was successful. Camastro said that teams in the Midwest tended to struggle because of a lack of participation.
"People here aren't brought up on ultimate like other sports," she said. "Plus, Kansas is so windy that it takes a while for people to learn the fundamentals."
Spotts said that ultimate seemed to intimidate men as well.
"People say I'd like to come play, but I can't throw a Frisbee" he said. "Well, we can teach you."
Both Spotts and Camastro said that lack of exposure was one of the main reasons people tended to be wary of ultimate. Spotts said that for a lot of people the only time they had seen ultimate was in movies such as PCU, which gave the game an unfair stereotype.
"There are no dogs," he said. "And it's
not a bunch of pot-smoking hippies. The game has that stigma attached to it."
The men's next tournament is Halloween weekend when the team travels to Fayetteville, Ark. Spotts said the team had a good chance of winning and definitely should place in the top five. However, he said that the main season was next semester when there were more tournaments.
"It's a little more hard-core in the spring," he said. "We'll probably travel to four tournaments and host one."
Last weekend, the ultimate team had a tournament at ShenK Complex, 23rd and Iowa streets, that attracted 18 teams from across the Midwest. Spotts said the tournament was a good way for both teams to get some experience and get an idea of what they needed to work on in practice.
"It was a good tournament," he said. "Some bad habits were revealed, so now we can fine-tune practice a little bit more."
Anyone interested in learning more about ultimate can call Will Spotts at 841-0671 or e-mail him at wspotts@falcon.cc.ukans.edu.
— Edited by Darrin Peschka
Kelley Kneib, Olathe resident, jumps to make a catch as Amy Boylan, Leawood sophomore closes in. Both are part of the women's ultimate team. Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
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