Victoria Davis battles Garrett Braun for the disc at a weekly pickup game. (Photo by Jay Paul)
The Sports Center of Richmond is home to indoor soccer leagues, but one recent spring weekend, it played host to a sport of a different kind. It’s fast-paced like soccer, and punctuated by the gasping of players and the cheering of a small but enthusiastic group of onlookers. Instead of a soccer ball, though, a heavy flying disc was sailing through the air.
The game is Ultimate, and there’s a local organization that’s dedicated to the sport, Richmond Ultimate. In the game, there are two teams of seven members each. Points are scored by catching the disc in your end zone, a term borrowed from American football. If you catch the disc, you can’t run with it, meaning you have to advance it up the field with a series of passes between yourself and your teammates.
Those are the basics, but Chris Bowling, the president of Richmond Ultimate, says there’s another fundamental that he calls “spirit of the game.”
“You’re always trying to play fair, always trying to play to the best of your ability, and playing honestly and really striving to have a good environment,” he says. It means you call your own fouls, and that cheating and misrepresenting yourself or your team to gain an advantage is severely discouraged.
Bowling says that he and his board try to promote opportunities for anyone with interest and at any skill level to get out and play Ultimate. He says summer league participation usually ranges from players who have never played before to those who have played with Washington, D.C.’s professional team, the DC Breeze.
Those who are intimidated at the thought of playing in an organized league can follow @richmondultimate on Facebook and Instagram or @RVAultimate on Twitter and see when the group has an event for new players or get-togethers for informal pickup games where all are welcome.
For Bowling, it always comes back to the community of Ultimate. “I played baseball, basketball, soccer, all throughout elementary, middle and high school. I started playing this in high school, and I was hooked,” he says. “I like the camaraderie, the feel, that family mentality of playing with your team and knowing that, at the end of the day, the other team that you’re playing against is adhering to and abiding by the spirit of the game also.”
TRY IT OUT: Pickup games are offered throughout the year by Richmond Ultimate. There’s generally an open pickup session at 6 p.m. Fridays behind Albert V. Norrell Elementary School, 2000 Fendall Ave. Visit Richmond Ultimate on social media for more information.
