Ultimate Frisbee – extreme frisbee for beginners

Women’s fitness is increasingly geared towards making you lose weight, not feeling engaged with life and powerful. Blah. Ultimate frisbee is one way to re-address the balance…

Sick of articles that tell you how to get your ‘bikini body’, but never how to enjoy getting fit? As time goes on, women’s fitness becomes increasingly focused on losing weight – and the options provided for workouts are so limited.

There are plenty of fun and funky ways you can get fit without boring hours running on the treadmill or sitting through a yoga class, just because it’s the ‘in thing’ for women to do.

While men are encouraged to play any number of different sports, there is a real anti-competition focus on women’s fitness. Most girls will play netball or hockey while at school, but the drop-off rate in the teenage years is huge as they become sidetracked by part-time jobs, study, friends and man-lovin’.

If you’re thinking about getting into a sport, but you don’t know where to start, you might like to try Ultimate Frisbee. Never heard of it? You’re not alone. Ultimate Frisbee is a superb sport for those who have been out of the competitive atmosphere for some time, as most people don’t start playing until they’re adults. So you don’t have to compete against people who have been playing since they could walk!

Ultimate frisbee is a seven-a-side team sport, with similarities to netball and football. Team members must pass the frisbee to one another without it hitting the ground. Players aren’t allowed to run with the frisbee. A team can score by catching the frisbee on the full in the ‘endzone’, an area similar to the in-goal area on a rugby pitch.

The sport provides fantastic exercise as well as a chance to gain new skills. Don’t panic if you wouldn’t have a clue about how to throw a frisbee. Most people learn from scratch when they begin playing. As well as the exercise benefits, Ultimate Frisbee also gives you plenty of chances to socialise. Frisbee players have manfolk as well as ladies, are always up for a party and are always keen to meet new people – especially new female players!

While most people start playing at university, there are also plenty of opportunities for younger players. There are junior programs for Under 17s and Under 19s across the UK with lots of tournaments and plenty of representative opportunities. The Great Britain Under 19s women are currently training to compete at the World Championships in Vancouver in August of this year.

To get involved you will need commitment and dedication, not only to the sport, but to socialising and travelling.

To find your nearest club, head to www.ukultimate.com.