Beach Ultimate is a team sport practiced by men and women of all ages. Teams consist of 5 players. The objective of the game is to catch the Frisbee (from now on referred to as 'disc') in the endzone of the opponent (like in American Football) to score a point.
It is not allowed to run with the disc in hand. The player in possession of the disc establishes a pivot foot (like in basketball) and throws to a teammate.
Defense is like basketball as well: defenders try and stay close to the offenders and block the disc. Once a disc in intercepted or touches the ground the teams switch from defense to offense and visa versa.
Physical contact is considered a foul. When a player is fouled he/she will call 'Foul' and the play stops. If the opponent agrees, the fouled-upon player gets the disc and the play continues. If not, the disc goes back to the thrower. Because Beach Ultimate revolves around fair play, personal responsibility and respect for the opponent, there are NO REFEREES. Even at World Championships there are no referees.
Hence the name Ultimate. It asks the ultimate in fair play and respect for your opponent to be able to play this physically challenging sport without a referee. Stamina, speed, jumping and diving are all involved, but off course not at all levels. Having fun with the disc and working together as a team is the most important thing.
Sound like fun! Interested in holding your own Beach Ultimate Tournament or event. It's never been easier, thanks to the efforts of BULA. Click the logo to the right to find out how BULA can help you to get started and promote your event the BULA way.
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Click on the dude above for BULA tournament listings
The Spirit of the Game Committee of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has published a 4-game Spirit of the Game scoresheet. The sheet reduces paper use by 75% and simplifies the work for teams and administrators by displaying four games on one sheet.
The new scoresheet can be found here. An editable version can be downloaded here. WFDF believes that an important part of maintaining and promoting good spirit of the game is by providing direct feedback, and we encourage the collection of spirit scores at the end of each game and the awarding of a spirit prize at the end of all Ultimate tournaments.
Last month the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) released the revised version of the Official Ultimate Rules (link). Today we have made the Beach Ultimate appendices available to all Beach Ultimate Lovers.
Look at these great shots from this year's Flat Out Nelson tourney in New Zealand. They were taken by the famous NZSnaps.com, official photographer at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in Japan last year.
The website and registration for 2013 BULA & WFDF European Championships of Beach Ultimate (ECBU2013) are ready and can be accessed at www.ecbu2013.org
The ECBU2013 will be held on Calafell Beach, Tarragona (Spain) 27-30 June 2013.
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has approved the ECBU2013 as a WFDF event. This means that the WFDF will provide supervision and guidance on administrative and protocol issues like event Opening and Closing ceremonies, awards ceremonies, insurance policy, waiver of liability policies etc. as part of the WFDF requirements for sanctioned events.
BULA, and BULA Europe, are taking care of media, promotion, sponsorship and overall event management, while the Peixets Ultimate Club is responsible for the players and all local matters.
All European nations have been invited to send national teams to participate in 7 divisions: Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, Women Masters, Mixed Masters, and Grand Masters divisions.
If you can't come and play, no worries; we are lining up an awesome online live experience at live.ecbu2013.org. This will include live scoring of all games, live video and daily highlight, incorporation of user generated content, and a lot more. The WFDF and BULA encourage the use of the #ECBU2013 tag for all related pictures, videos, blog posts, tweets, etc.... Once the live.ecbu2013.org is fully functional, tagged content will be displayed there.
We are expecting lots of exciting things to happen in the next 7 months. If you want to stay informed I suggest that you select on of the following options:
The World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC) took place there recently and (social) media was widely present.
While the WUGC was taking place, I met Matt Kass from BULA Japan in San Francisco. Matt was so kind to offer me this disc from the the Ebashi Beach Ultimate Cup:
This year marked the tenth annual Against The Grain (ATG) Beach Ultimate tournament. Twenty teams from all over gathered at Seaside, Oregon, July 14 and 15 to play in either the 4v4 or 5v5 division.
The teams from Seattle managed to sweep the title in both divisions...but there was a strong showing in 5v5 finals by a team USA reunion team (players who went to World Championships of Beach Ultimate last summer).
The TD was quoted saying: "A lot of it is about the friendships we develop and getting to know new people".
Agreed! Beach Ultimate is great for that. No wonder I have heard only good things about ATG :-) Here are some pictures of this year's tournament.
Hawaii has always been a place where we hoped Beach Ultimate would be played. However, most beaches just don't have (enough) sand. Today however we found out that there are indeed some crazy people slogging through through the sand.
Even better, there is a highly spirited league where teams cheer for the other team after the game, and where raffle tickets are given out to the most spirited man and woman on each team (by the opposing team) after each game.
Every July, players flock to the same groomed beaches to celebrate a new summer by playing a little Ultimate. But these teams aren't overlooking the Pacific in Santa Monica or even from the Atlantic in Wildwood, New Jersey. Instead they are gathering in the heart of the country, looking out over Lake Michigan.
Sandblast, is returning to Montrose Beach, minutes from downtown Chicago, for its 12th consecutive year this July 7-8. Despite boasting a number of familiar teams returning year after year, this tournament is almost unrecognizable from its original self. What was once a small-scale tournament for Chicago players to get together has transformed into a major Ultimate event that attracts spectators, sponsors, and teams from around the country.
Today we announced that the 2013 European Championships of Beach Ultimate (ECBU2013) will be held on Calafell Beach, Tarragona (Spain) from Thursday 27th June - Sunday 30th June 2013.
This news was communicated through an ECBU2013-Open-Letter.pdf to the players and all European nations will be invited to send national teams to participate in the Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, Mixed Masters, and/or Grand Masters divisions.
The official website (www.ecbu2013.org) will be open in a few months. If you want to stay informed:
Easter weekend is always a holy weekend for Beach Ultimate Lovers with its mecca in Rimini for Paganello. Again it was a great weekend that was topped off by great finals. The Open final was won by the Scandal from Chicago, edging out the equally flamboyant international pickup team SeXXXpensive 10-9.
Luca Miglioretto from SeXXXpensive making a sick layout!
In the meantime, an African Easter tradition is also growing: FEAST (Frisbee East Africa Sand Tournament). This tournament in Mombasa, feeling the heat from the Indian Ocean, was won by Team Uganda who had to travel 27 hours in a bumpy bus to beat South Sudan 13-9.
Beach Ultimate is getting support in Australia... The first ever Australian Beach Nationals are going to happen May 19-20 on the lovely southern beaches of the Gold Coast.
There will be Open, Women and Mixed divisions.
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