So what is Ultimate Frisbee? I get asked this question a lot. Still a relatively new sport, people honestly believe it just involves throwing the frisbee, or disc, around with no real strategy. Sometimes people even think that the sport looks like to this...

Their smug grins turn to faces of awe, when I tell them that it's a game that actually has rules and points to score. Basically the game involves a series of offensive plays to pass the disc down the field in order to pass and catch it in the end zone. Meanwhile, the other team takes the defensive, and they flip-flop back and forth if the disc is dropped. Although the sport itself is both competitive and hysterically fun, I must draw attention to the the soul of Ultimate: the people.

Frisbee players are just a different breed of human. They play purely for the love of the game, and prove to be the most inclusive and good spirited people you will ever meet. Because of its novelty, one could claim that Ultimate is kind of a hippie sport. Now what does that mean? Because the sport is kind of outside of the normative, you get a whole slew of distinctive characters and personalities that aren't afraid to be who they are. At tournaments people can be found wearing anything from long colorful shorts and backwards baseball caps to dinosaur costumes and tutus. They don't give a rat's ass about what people think, and quite frankly, no one around them thinks judgmentally.

After a long point, one can find players on the sidelines doubled over in pain as they just aggressively chased their man on defense around the mud-caked field, because yes, Ultimate is actually athletically taxing. Typically those that play Frisbee played other sports in the past, but these people usually we're not the best on their previous sports team, which is perfectly okay! Usually, they hovered around the average or slightly more than average skill level, so thus they were humbled. They know how to appreciate the game for what it is and how it's played and aren't focused on being the shining star. Now imagine a team full of those kind of people: good-spirited, down-to-earth, and a blast to be around.

Now, I've only been playing Ultimate for a little over a year, but I feel like I've been chucking discs for much longer than that. I joined the Jive Turkeys at the start of my sophomore year, and I don't think I could have made a better decision. Immediately I was welcomed with open arms as I clumsily learned the intensive focus it takes to learn the flick, or forehand pass. Quite honestly, it took me a few weeks to get that one down. Despite my naivety and embarrassment, the returning players pressed me to keep on trying and never gave up on me. Even after that first practice, their friendliness flourished, as I distinctly remember one of the Captains inviting everyone to sit together in the Caf once it was over. What was this? People were being inclusive? I had been so used to the cliquey, predetermined lunch tables at high school, and now people I barely knew wanted to actually get to us better? This inclusive attitude never subsided either. Everyone was invited to parties, no one got turned away at the door, and no one felt left out. And although there are always some seemingly odd and quirky personalities, it made the Frisbee team exactly what it was supposed to be. Because most of us would never be friends with each other if it weren't for Jive, it made us all the more closer.

Once you've been on the team for awhile, you find yourself signing up for tournaments at far away places. What they don't tell you is that theses competitions are where it's at. This is where you bond with everyone. This is where you meet all of the other quirky ultimate players dressed in WWE costumes or as pop or punk bands 90s bands. This is where you see the spirit of the game. At the start of the first point, you can feel the excitement between both of the teams. Everyone is polite and well-mannered, no matter if a team wins or loses, or a foul is called. And at the end, you make the trek back home, sore and knackered, but closer with the team than you ever were before.

Once I decided to study abroad in the UK, I realized that I was going to really miss not only the sport, but the people that play alongside me. Lucky enough, the University of East Anglia, and the school I would be living at for the next three months, had an Ultimate team: Aye Aye. At the first practice, or as they call it, training, I was a bit nervous. I was throwing discs among freshers, trying to blend in and disguise my "Americaness." Quickly I looked at the way that the returning players interacted with each other. They poked fun at each other, were loud, excited to play, and exactly the type of people that existed back home. After a few weeks, I slowly wormed my way in. But like most frisbee folk, they welcomed me with open arms. After playing a tournament with them this past weekend, I know I've made some friends for life, and it's such a shame that I'll be leaving them in just a few short weeks.

Aye Aye has also made me realize that frisbee is a familial sport. Because there are both boys and girls playing on a team together, you get much closer than if you were just a friend group hanging out. You go through the ups and downs of games together, see the gross sides of each other, and quite frankly spend too much time together. But here in England, they have actual families within Aye Aye. There's a big event where everyone gets an older player as their mum or dad, similar to a big in a sorority/fraternity. These ties or for life. One highlight of the tournament this weekend was when our minibus was three miles away from campus after the long journey back to Norwich, and the clutch simply stopped working. Keep in mind we were on a motorway. After a few strenuous tries, the player that was driving gave up and his frisbee father gave it a go. It still took a few times, but eventually he got the car rolling again. Quietly, the first driver said, "Really sorry about that Dad." To which he replied, "It's alright Son, that's what dads are for."

Frisbee people have each other's back. They become your brothers and sisters. They are all inclusive people that accept you for who you are and expect you to do the same. There are no fronts. No lies. It's just a collection of similar minded, quirky people who simply love the sport in all of its entirety.