Words by Jennifer Stafford-Brown. Jennifer is the lead author for
a number of Edexcel endorsed BTEC course text books and a
senior external examiner
LEADERSHIP
Ultima
This article will be for students studying the level 2 BTEC
sport course aged 14-16 yrs
This article is aimed at covering parts of BTEC First Sport
Unit 5 : Planning and Leading Sports Activities, Grading
criteria covered:
Part P1, Part P2, Part P3, Part P4, Part M2, Part M3
part M4, Part D2
S
ummer is here! It’s that time of year
when you can’t go anywhere without
your shorts, shades and sun screen (and
occasionally, in Britain, an umbrella too)!
No doubt, many of you will be dusting off
your Frisbee to take down to the park or
beach to have some fun with your friends.
However, did you know that Frisbee is now a sport in its
own right and goes under the name of ‘Ultimate’? You and
your friends could make up a team and take part in
Ultimate competitions around the country or indeed around
the world, how cool does that sound?
Here to tell us more is Simon Hill. Simon works for UK
Ultimate, the National Governing Body for ultimate and is
currently the coach of the Great Britain team.
What is Ultimate all about?
a37
Ultimate is a fast-paced team sport played with a Frisbee
(disc). Players pass the disc up field to score a point by
catching the disc in the opponent's endzone. The player
holding the disc cannot run. Defenders attempt to intercept
the passes; or force an error from the attacking team.
There are more than 1 million players worldwide. In the
UK, the sport has become well established in the university
sector. Now schools around the country are grabbing the
disc and setting up clubs or introducing it into the
curriculum.
Ultimate is simple and cheap: you only need a disc and some
space to play! As it is non-contact, it works well as a mixed-
gender sport. One of the most appealing aspects for many
people is that ultimate is played without referees. Fair play
and respect for opponents is written into the rules: ultimate
players call it The Spirit of the Game.
36 SPORT IQ 14-16 : MAY 2009