Ultimate

I had a day trip over to Hull to watch 20yo in an ultimate frisbee tournament (University Mixed Indoors Nationals). 

The train journey across was smooth enough, and then a short bus trip out to the Allam Sports Centre on the University of Hull Campus. Day 1 was mostly pool matches, with games continuing through the weekend to determine place order for the 16 teams. Games of 22 minutes take place on basketball sized courts, with mixed teams of 5, alternating 3 women/2 men; 3 men/2 women every other point.  20yo and his Lancaster team mates won their first two pool games, but then had a reverse against the #1 seeds, Imperial. I’ve popped a couple of pictures from the Imperial game in extras (Lancaster in red), 20yo with disc in hand in one. If you’re new to the sport, I usually explain it as a blend of netball and american football: no running with the disc, no contact (1 metre exclusion zone) when disc in hand, possession turns over if disc dropped or intercepted (i.e., no scrabbling around for the disc once it’s on the ground), points scored by completing a catch in your opponent’s end zone. The whole tournament was played on two courts side by side, and it was more or less continuous play in the five hours that I stayed.

I used to play ‘ultimate’ (frisbee has been dropped from the sport’s name because of trademark issues) recreationally when I was a student at Lancaster, and it’s interesting to see how it has really developed as a sport. I guess my background experiences, and plenty of frisbee time with the kids when they were growing up, led 20yo down this path - and it’s really rewarding to see how he’s progressed with it. He’s men’s vice-captain in his final year, so it’s certainly keeping him busy.

I left them to it mid-afternoon, and as it was a nice day decided to walk back into town. En route I came across this fabulous mural celebrating the (mainly) musical heritage of Hull and East Yorkshire - from 60s girl groups, through 70s glam, folk royalty, 80s pop and indie and beyond. I will let you see who you can spot, but will post a picture key tomorrow (or if you’re impatient, you can click this link).