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Exhibition Game @ Forest Park Balloon Race When we first heard that the Great Forest Park Balloon Race organizers wanted the St. Louis Ultimate players to put on an exhibition at this year's event we were pleasantly surprised. This is the 27th year of this annual race. We are thrilled that UMB Bank has agreed to be our sponsors. Scheduled for September 18th, we will be playing at 2 pm on the fairway parallel to Lindell near Skinker. We have selected two highly skilled coed teams that will be competing for a chance to win a hot air balloon ride. The St. Louis coed team, known as the Go-Gos are expected to qualify for nationals this year. The St. Louis men's team will participate in Regionals and Sectionals. Many of those players will be participating in this exhibition game. Ultimate, often called Ultimate frisbee, began 31 years ago. It has not yet become mainstream, but we are on our way. Actually the roots go back to 1940 when students at Yale would toss tin pie pans around campus from the Frisbee Pie Company, shouting "Fris...bee!" The first plastic flying disc was invented in 1947. Ultimate was created by students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey in 1967-68. Today Ultimate is played in 42 countries, with national and world championships. Programs in Sweden, Norway, and Japan receive government funding. City and club leagues, which attract the recreational player, have seen tremendous growth. An estimated 100,00 people now play Ultimate - about half of those players are in the United States - and the numbers continue to grow. As a result of the sport's recent acceptance into the World Games in Japan in 2001, high school students are taking it up and more people will likely go out for any one of the 200 college teams across the nation. The St. Louis Ultimate Association is always looking for players, novice and experienced alike. This is an affordable sport. All that is required besides a playing field is a disk, eight cones to mark the two end zones and a good pair of cleats. The sport is very appealing because it combines athleticism, grace, and precision. Ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its basis athletic requirements, however the rules are much simpler, which allows the game to be self-officiated. Since Ultimate was conceived, this form of self-empowerment on the field of play has gone far beyond being a mere convenience factor. The concept called "playing by the Spirit of the Game" has become ingrained in the basic philosophy of the sport; is written into the rules; and is practiced at all levels of play, from corporate leagues to the World Championships. Like many fast moving sports, Ultimate is fiercely aggressive. The requirement to cooperate while competing make Ultimate a test of an individual's character as well as athletic ability. As one popular Ultimate quote states, "Ultimate doesn't build character, it reveals it." The St. Louis Ultimate Association, the umbrella group for St. Louis clubs, organizes a summer league, tournaments, and posts open practices and games on it's web site. For more information on Ultimate in St. Louis visit our web site: www.stlouis-ultimate.org For information on Ultimate nationally contact the Ultimate Players Association at www.upa.org or call 800-UPA-GETH and for international events contact the World Flying Disc Federation at www.wfdf.org Quicktime movie of Channel 4 news coverage.
The growth of ultimate around the world. 1968 United States Basic Rules of Ultimate Ultimate is simple in its rules and structure; requires little personal or field equipment; is universally self-officiated; and is played with a flying disc. These aspects of the sport have contributed to the sports' steady international growth.
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