The Ultimate Guide To Ultimate Frisbee

Spring is in the air. I can feel it in my veins, struggling to explode out of my fingers and toes. My blood is finally pumping again, after long days and hours and weeks of freezing cold. I feel alive again.

And what better way to celebrate spring (and life!) than with Ultimate Frisbee?

So now you're going to tell me that you don't know what Ultimate Frisbee is (sigh). That means that you have to start at the beginning, with Ultimate Frisbee: What the Heck Is It? A.K.A. the Beginner's Guide.

After that, you might want to check out my Ultimate Frisbee how-to guide. Because, now that you know what it is, you're dying to play. Right? Of course you are.

Once you've gotten a feel for the game, you should swing by and enter your two cents in the debate of  Ultimate Frisbee Vs. All Other Sports.

On a sadder note, if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Ultimate player, then you probably already know about the passing of Walter Frederick Morrison, the inventor of the Frisbee. Here are some of the reactions from the Ultimate community to the news.

Writing Doldrums

Us writers love writing. That's why we sit down in front of our laptops and do the best to express ourselves after a long day of working our regular jobs, caring for our families, taking care of our homes and ourselves, right? We bound out of bed every morning with chapters percolating in our heads and our fingers just itching to get words down on a page, don't we?

Well, some of the time. The fact is, love isn't always daydreams and fairytales. It also requires a lot of hard work. It's often hard to take the time to write with everything else that's going on in the world. Face it, a lot of the process of writing for (the hope of) a living can be pretty thankless. There are those bright moments when someone loves one of your turns of phrase, or a submission gets accepted, or you earn your first dollar as a published author. But otherwise, we spend long hours working on projects that might never see the light of day. We have to squeeze writing into those cracks and crannies of time that are left over after we've taken care of everything else, and no one is going to give us a medal for doing so.

So what's a writer to do? How to avoid slipping into the Writing Doldrums?

In my recent struggles with the Doldrums, I've found a few things that seem to help.

It helps to get out of the house and away from the computer once in a while. I try to get out at least once a week to play Ultimate - good exercise, and good people. And today, I attended the Maryland Wine Festival for the first time. The music was good, the food was tasty, and I now know how to say Gewurztraminer.

Also, I try and get as much feedback as possible, from individuals, writers' groups, editors, and teachers. This improves my writing, and it also signals to my brain in a real way that what I'm doing isn't pointless. There are people out there willing to look at what I've done and put in their two cents. I'm not operating in a vacuum.

Last but not least, I try not to be so hard on myself. Whenever I'm putting pen to paper and making any sort of an effort towards getting published, I'm already working on achieving a dream. Whether or not I do end up making it as a published author, I'm doing something that's important to me, somthing that I love. And there's so much to be said for that.

Still, sometimes all of this isn't enough, and I end up slipping into those dreaded Writing Doldrums. What about you? Any experiences with the Doldrums? And what did you do to escape them?

Midsummer Disc Dreams Now Available!

Good news! My short story Midsummer Disc Dreams, a rousing, action-packed tale about the wonderful sport of Ultimate Frisbee is now available from outdoor literary magazine In the Mist.

I'm sure there are quite a few people out there who have never heard about Ultimate Frisbee before. It's a sport similar to soccer or football, played with a Frisbee instead of a ball. However, the players will tell you that it's much more than a sport. It's a place you can go as an absolute stranger across the U.S. and around the world to meet people who will welcome you with open arms. Most games are pick-up, open to anyone and everyone who wants to play. Beginners are always welcome at the casual pick-up games. There are no referees; rules are upheld by the players themselves, based on the 'spirit of game,' a code of honor that directs players to be honest, friendly, and fair. What better way to stay healthy and be social at the same time?

Click here to read my story, and others stories by women who love the outdoors.

Want to know more about Ultimate Frisbee? Click here! We're always looking for new players.

Ultimate Frisbee Season!

The smell of grass is in the air, the cherry trees are blossoming, and in the Mid Atlantic region it's that time of year again - time to lace up the cleats, pack up your light and dark shirts, and head out to throw some disc!

I've been playing Ultimate Frisbee for about four years now. I can honestly say, I've never been happier. I was never much of an athlete through elementary and high school (except for a couple of years of track and field). Writing can sometimes lend itself to a somewhat sedentary, secluded lifestyle, and having the balance of an active team sport is all but indispensable to me.

Others will disagree, I'm sure, but Ultimate is the ultimate sport. I mean, you can tell just by looking at the name. The threshold to entry is very low; all you need is a pair of running shoes, running shorts, a light and dark shirt, and a friend with a disc and cones. You can get a decent disc from a toy store for less than $5. In addition, just about anyone can throw a frisbee. I've had trouble with baseballs, softballs, basketballs, footballs, and just about every kind of ball out there. The "ball" shape just doesn't seem like it's meant to fly. As Stancil Johnson says, "When a ball dreams, it dreams it's a frisbee." I could get a decent pass off every now and then on my very first day. Pickup games, unless you're in an intense Ultimate region such as California, tend to be very casual. All ages are welcome, and no one will be mocked or turned aside from lack of skill. And then, of course, there's the Spirit of the Game. There are no referees; calls are made by the players themselves, and in my experience, the players are always more than fair.

If that doesn't sound like heaven, I don't know what does. I can't wait until next week! If you live anywhere near Eldersburg, check out Freedom Ultimate Now.