Ultimate 101
The sport of Ultimate originated in the fall of 1968 when a student at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey named Joel Silver proposed his idea of a new sport to the student council. Silver had learned about the sport from an instructor, Jared Kass, at Mt. Hermon summer school earlier that year. The next year, the first game was played between students and the sport quickly took off from there. Within a few short years, the first collegiate game took place in 1972 between Rutgers and Princeton. Coincidentally, the two schools played the first game of Ultimate on the same ground that the first collegiate football game was played on exactly 103 years prior, with the result being the same - a two point victory for Rutgers. The sport grew from it's East coast beginnings and soon spread across the United States. In 1984, the first College Nationals made up exclusively of collegiate teams took place with Stanford being crowned the winner. With tremendous growth of college and club teams, there was also the creation of players associations. In 1979, the Ultimate Players Association (now USA Ultimate) was formed and has been a leader in growing the sport and organizing tournaments throughout the country. Ultimate soon found it's popularity internationally and in 1981, the European Flying Disc Federation (EFDF) was formed. EFDF went on to form the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) to be the international governing body for disc sports. In 2001, Ultimate was included as a medal sport for the first time at the World Games in Japan. The sport of Ultimate has consistently been among the fastest growing sports in the United States over the past couple decades. In just over 40 years, the sport now boasts almost five million Americans who play the sport at least once per year. That growth has set the stage for the next step for Ultimate, the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). The AUDL is starting its inaugural season in the East coast, where the sport's roots started and our focus is having the AUDL play a major role in the continued growth and excitement for the sport we love, Ultimate.
Basic Rules
1. Field - The field of play is 53.3 yards wide and 80 yards long with 20 yard long endzones on both sides.
2. Game Format - The length of game is divided up into four 15 minute quarters with an overtime period of 5 minutes.
3. Initiating Play - Players line up in their respective endzones and the defense throws or "pulls" the disc to the offense for them to receive to start gameplay.
4. Gameplay - Offensive players move the disc down field by passing to one another. Players may not run with the disc and must establish a pivot foot as soon as they receive.
5. Possession - If the disc is thrown out of bounds, dropped, blocked, and hits the ground or is intercepted, the result is a turnover in which the defense now becomes the offense and vice versa.
6. Scoring - A goal is scored when an offense player catches the disc in the endzone of attack. Players must signal readiness to play the next point 40 seconds after the score.
7. Substitutions - Player substitutions are allowed before a pull, after a point is scored, or if an injury occurs.
8. Infractions - Various fouls for both offense and defense may occur and result in yardage penalties.
9. Officiating - Four officials will be on field at all times to spot infractions and issue penalties.
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