HISTORY

Until very recently (today) I thought I knew the origins of Ultimate. The standard published line has always been that in 1968 the student staff of the school paper started the game as a gag looking for something to do to occupy their free evenings. In those early days they would have 20 or 30 players on a team. Over time they developed the rules to eliminate running with the disc, limit team sizes, and set rules for defensive plays. As it turns out these guys from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey loved the game so much that they referred to it as “the ultimate game.” They named it accordingly and Ultimate was born. As those students began moving on to Universities they brought their love and passion for the game with them. This is when Ultimate began to walk.

For more information check out this site… http://www.whatisultimate.com/history/history_home_en.html

For a slightly altered version of the roots of Ultimate check out the story on this site… http://www.sful.org/news/JaredKass.asp

Today Ultimate is played all over the world. From its modest beginnings as a gag game in the 1960’s it has evolved to a highly competitive amateur sport played by more than 100,000 people around the world in more than 50 countries. There are competitions played on regional, national, and international levels. World Championships this year are held in Finland (http://www.wugc2004.org/). A quick search on Ultimate + Frisbee + Asia will let you know that Ultimate is not just big, it’s huge. In 2001 Ultimate even managed to break into the World Games which were hosted by Japan.

Now let’s forget about the history and think about the future. Ultimate is played in Asia. Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Philippines, and Taiwan all have Ultimate clubs. Only recently does Malaysia. I have heard of groups that have played here off and on but they were almost completely from the ex-pat community. If Malaysia is going to be the force in Ultimate that it rightfully should be then Malaysians must be the champions of the sport. This is not to say that ex-pats cannot join in the fun for I believe “the more people the more better.” However, for Malaysia to complete at a high level the sport needs to take root on the beach, in the city and in the kampung,

So are you interested in playing. Check out where the closest game is or check out the message boards and find out what’s going on. Curious about those other clubs in the region, check out our links page