Its players say that it is a combination of football and netball – only using a Frisbee, a plastic disc, instead of a ball. A non-contact team sport, Ultimate Frisbee involves players trying to get the disc into a scoring zone at the end of the pitch by throwing it to each other – no running is allowed while holding the Frisbee.

As Ultimate Frisbee has developed as a sport so has the emphasis on manners. Teams adhere to a code of fair play, fun and sportsmanship. This is most obvious in the fact that games don’t have an external referee. Instead players referee their own games according to “the spirit of the game”. If there is a dispute over whether a player has committed a foul, they must sort it out themselves. This means that although Ultimate Frisbee is a competitive game and the aim is to win, the key to enjoying it is respect and playing by the rules.

Although you can twist the rules of Ultimate Frisbee to accommodate any size group of people playing on any size pitch, in official matches teams are made up of seven people on a rectangular pitch, 64 metres by 37 metres, with a line drawn to create an end zone 18 metres deep with two 24-minute sessions.

Points are scored by passing the Frisbee to a player standing in the end zone. If the Frisbee is dropped or falls to the floor, the other team takes possession. Players mark each other and try to catch the Frisbee as it is thrown.

Once you catch the Frisbee you have 10 seconds to throw it on – this results in an exhilarating, fast-paced game.

There are clubs all over the country but it is very easy to start your own games and because it is so fast paced – even if you are not great at throwing and catching the Frisbee, you will get another go very quickly.

For more information see www.ukultimate.com.

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