Frisbee which has long been a popular pastime in the West has now evolved into a serious sport called Ultimate Frisbee. The game was introduced in 1968 at Columbia High School in New Jersey, USA by Joel Silver. It has now spread across the globe and over 100 countries, including India have taken to Ultimate Frisbee in a big way.

Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport played with flying discs on both grass and sand. There are no officials to run the matches; players officiate themselves in the spirit of the sport. On grass, it is a team of seven and comprises four men and three women, while on sand, a team consists of five players — three men and two women. The ratio of players alternates after every two points.

The game is played in an arena 40 metres wide and 100 metres long, and a match lasts for 75 minutes.

Frisbee has gained international recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but it is yet to become an Olympic sport, and there are speculations that it will be part of the 2032 Olympics in Australia. It is governed by an international apex body called World Flying Disc Federation and a national body in India called Flying Disc Sports Federation of India, which was formed in 2010.

Players’ perspective

According to Aishwarya J, an ardent exponent of the game and secretary of Karnataka Ultimate Players Association (KUPA), frisbee is played across the nation in several cities including Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Goa, Kochi, Alappuzha, Jaipur and Trivandrum among other places. The game is also supported by NGOs who have introduced this sport to underprivileged children and those from economically weaker sections to develop their sporting skills.

“In India, the game has its largest base in Karnataka. There are over a thousand players who play Ultimate Frisbee either for recreation or as a competitive sport. That apart, there are 18 clubs which seriously conduct Ultimate Frisbee tournaments in Bengaluru,” says Aishwarya.

The State Association also organises tournaments in schools and colleges. It recently conducted an inter-state tournament where Karnataka won a silver. Institutions such as Jain and Azim Premji universities, National Law College, IIM, IISc and others, have been at the forefront to promote the sport.

Players enjoying a game of Ultimate Frisbee | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“The game has huge potential in this city and state, and needs a lot of support not only from the general public but also from governmental organisations to develop at the grassroots level,” she adds.

“I was introduced to the sport as a law student in 2016 and have been promoting it ever since. In 2019, after I became a competition committee member of the National Federation, I quit law to fully focus on Ultimate Frisbee,” says Aishwarya, who became secretary of KUPA in 2023.

Sumedha Kandpal, a player-turned-coach began playing 13 years ago when she was an art educator in a school in Ahmedabad. “What appealed to me about Ultimate Frisbee were the simple rules and the fact that it is a safe, non-contact sport. After several years as a player, I became a coach. With Ultimate Frisbee, there are no peers or hierarchy, everybody is on the same level,” she says. 

The Indian Ultimate Frisbee team that won the silver medal at Japan  | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Today, Sumedha represents a club called Air Traffic Control in Bengaluru.

Similarly, what attracted Rishvanjas Raghavan, a Karnataka player, was the uniqueness of the sport. “I was drawn to the sport while I was an undergraduate at Ashoka University in Delhi. Though I played cricket and volleyball, what attracted me to frisbee is its novelty. There is nothing more joyful for a beginner than to throw the disc, catch it, and score a goal,” says Rishvanjas, who plays for Learning to Fly, a team which was formed in 2005. 

Free for all

One of the positive aspects of the game is gender equality and parity in the team composition. However, that was not the case during the early days of the sport in India. Sumedha says, “When I began playing this sport, there were hardly one or two women and the team was usually dominated by male players. Slowly the ratio has increased. Now, we have approximately equal number of women players in a team.”

She adds the game has certain inherent challenges. “We still need to attract more women players to the sport. We also need to have dedicated spaces to play. As of now we play in a football stadium or any other arena which has a flat surface.”

According to Rishvanjas, the game is gaining popularity in Bengaluru. “Earlier we had only six or seven teams; today the city has 20 teams that participate in competitions and state tournaments.”

Obstacles to overcome

Rishvanjas admits that spectator interest in frisbee is not as big as in other sports. “However, we livestream national tournaments on YouTube, which is watched by several thousand people. Though it is not as big as it is in the United State where there are a million players, the number is steadily growing in India. Hopefully, by the time frisbee is an Olympic sport, India would have built a strong player,” he says.

As an office bearer, Aishwarya adds, “I will do whatever possible to spread awareness of the game in Bengaluru and the State.”