By Tom Rohrer
Olympia + Ultimate Frisbee – some will contend that it’s the perfect fit.
Even before the 2003 creation of the South Sound Ultimate Players, the fast-paced sport of Ultimate thrived in the area. Word of mouth pick-up games at the Evergreen State College served as the grassroots movement of the sport in the community.
Ten years later, the league has grown from offering only co-ed play to adding an all-female league in October. Co-ed teams follow a 5-to-2 ratio, requiring at least two women on the field and no more than five men at all times. All-female teams encourage women of all experience levels to play.
This past summer, SSUP organizer and Ultimate enthusiast Mike Santana arranged a series of all-female pick-up games at the Olympia Center. These games served as the blue print to propose a new league to Jeff Johnson and the Olympia Parks & Recreation Department.
Beginning on October 3, the Olympia Parks & Rec will kick off the area’s first all-female 4×4 indoor ultimate league.
Santana believes the league is formatted perfectly for beginning players and can provide participants with an opportunity to meet new people.
“I would say it’s for all levels of play and that is a great way for people new to the sport to learn the aspects of the game,” said Santana, who first started playing ultimate in the mid-1990s. “The level of fitness isn’t important because you can sub on the fly, sort of like hockey. A person can go for thirty seconds and tag out if needed.”
All games will be held inside the Lincoln Elementary School gymnasium away from the winter elements, including blustery winds.
“At first I didn’t believe in indoor play but I like the fact that it’s a smaller area, so players get lots of touches. That allows beginners to learn the game and the skills needed to play it,” said Beth Drake, who began playing Ultimate ten years ago as a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “And of course living in this area, rain and wind comes with the sport, so those factors can be challenging, especially for someone just starting out.”
Both Santana and Drake have competed in tournaments across the region and are part of the Olympia Traveling Team O’School that journeyed to Bogota, Columbia in February 2012.
As experienced players, the two are familiar with the fundamentals of the game, to the point where it has become second nature.
However, Santana and Drake stress that this experience is not necessary to participate in the new rec league.
Prior to this past spring, Diana Lofflin had never played a team sport, claiming that she was simply non-competitive.
Lofflin joined the Ultimate Spring League in an effort to connect with new people interested in a healthy and positive lifestyle. She had heard Ultimate was a social sport, and the rumors turned out to be true. After participating in the pick-up games this summer, Lofflin is excited by the possibility that women like herself will take part in the sport she loves.
“It’s a competitive sport, and yet there’s really good team spirit and it’s just a fun way to meet people and be social,” said Lofflin, who Santana credits with inviting most of the pick-up game players. “What was neat about the pickup games was that everyone was a beginner, so there wasn’t that level of self-consciousness. Everyone was learning together and building camaraderie and I think that’s what we will see when the league starts.”
“We always want new players, and what is different about Ultimate than other team sports is that at its highest level, ultimate is a co-ed sport. So we always are looking for women players. I met the right person in Lofflin because she’s a great promoter and marketer and got the pick-up games on Meetup.com,” said Santana.
“We just saw an opportunity to teach beginners how to play and bring friends together. One of the ladies playing brought her daughter, and her daughter brought a friend, so there was already that friendship. It’s cool to see a league forming, mostly because it’s a way to promote the sport and allow players to have a good time,” continued Santana.
Jeff Johnson, from Olympia Parks & Rec believes the league has the potential to grow in the future.
“Mike and the veteran players are great teachers for the beginner players and have done a great job there,” Johnson said. “I think the sport is growing into a year-round activity because of the indoor aspect and the experienced players in the area always want new players coming in.”
Along with the health benefits of the exercise, Drake believes becoming a part of the Ultimate community is a huge positive.
“I don’t know if it’s that the sport tends to draw that type of goofy, fun-loving people or just this area in general,” said Drake, a senior research associate at the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. “All the people I’ve met in the sport are great people.”
Both Lofflin and Drake are thankful for the efforts of Santana, crediting him with the growth of the league.
“I always admire Santana’s efforts. When he gets a vision he tries really hard even when the world is against him,” said Drake, a running and Frisbee throwing partner of Santana’s. “His vision to grow the sport in the community, and he has made it happen.”
“He’s a positive guy, someone you like being around, and that’s something common of all the players I’ve met,” said Lofflin, who works for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. “It’s awesome to be part of this.”
Santana wants to make sure he gets the motive of the league across to the public.
“This league is about having fun and if you have no experience, it doesn’t make a difference,” said Santana, who is an attorney. “It’s a fun league for beginner to intermediate and we hope to see people sign up.”
For more information on the City of Olympia Parks and Recreation’s 4×4 women’s ultimate Frisbee league, call Jeff Johnson at (360) 753-8380 or visit http://olympiawa.gov/city-services/parks/sports-information.
