The Year 12 students of Alperton Community School were given the opportunity to experience the game of Ultimate Frisbee during Activity Week last Monday. Led by Mr. Lazaroo, a group of volunteers from the local community facilitated the Ultimate Frisbee taster sessions for almost 150 students over the course of the entire day. The volunteers coached students on how to improve their throwing and catching technique, whilst also introducing the fundamental rules of the sport. Soon after, the students were able to play matches against each other based on their form classes and showcase their newly acquired skills. There was a lot of friendly and positive competition amongst the students and the session was ultimate-ly fun for all the students, volunteers as well as accompanying staff members who joined in.
Special thanks to the volunteers (from left): Chris, Joshua (top), Patrick (bottom), Dzikry (top), Dylan (bottom), Ryan, Jarron, Mr. Lazaroo, Akshat, Roisin, Chee Ling, Camille, Carla and Dipali (not pictured), without whom the taster session would not have been possible. Their support not only meant that the event ran smoothly, but students were also able to receive more personalised coaching from smaller breakout groups, which helped accelerate the development of their skills during their session. In addition to the coaching, the volunteers who ranged from fresh university students to working adults, all of which have distinct backgrounds of education and playing ultimate were able to share their unique experiences and provide valuable insights into university life and getting-into-ultimate to the Year 12 students.
In the future we aim to run more Ultimate sessions on a regular basis, getting UK Ultimate involved in the forthcoming year to help expand the involvement and accessibility of this sport to a wider range of students at ACS.
Quote from students:
“It was a wonderful experience playing with different people. We’d love to have more sessions at Alperton community School. “
“I loved playing frisbee and would really love to play again.”
“I really enjoyed the ultimate frisbee session and I learnt how to play properly with the help of volunteers, so a big thank you to the volunteers who helped us to understand how frisbee works. It is a fun and interactive sport, I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
During the course of the day, the same students were also participating in a journalism workshop led by Ms. Patel. This in turn offered the opportunity for a few groups of students to take a deeper dive into the perspective of ultimate players by conducting informal interviews with fellow volunteers about their views and experiences of playing Ultimate. As part of this workshop, students were able to capture some footage and scenes on the pitch, and use this in line with their data to develop their writing and reporting skills.
About Ultimate
The sport, officially known as just ‘Ultimate’ (but is sometimes called ‘Ultimate Frisbee’) is a non-contact team sport that is not only fun and exciting, but also embodies high athleticism. Ultimate combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of football such as running, jumping and occasionally diving, with the skills of throwing a Frisbee (disc) to a teammate. The unique throwing styles and flight options of the disc make every throw different in its nature. This sport is often described as a combination of netball – because you cannot run with the disc and American football – because you score a point for catching the disc in an ‘end-zone’. Ultimate is usually played by two 7-person teams in an outdoor setting or 5-a-side in an indoor setting. It can be played in a mixed-gender or single-gender division, but in all cases encompasses the highest spirit of sportsmanship and integrity from all players irrespective of their background – known as ‘Spirit of the Game’.
Did you know:
Ultimate is taught and played in many high schools across the UK (as well as schools in other countries). Although the sport is not as well known to members of the public, it is played competitively at school level, university level, club level as well as national and international level. In 2015, Ultimate was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
UK Ultimate (UKU) is the National Governing Body for the sport of ultimate in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Visit their website https://www.ukultimate.com/ for further information about this sport or to get support from a member of their team.
For schools to get involved with Ultimate – https://www.ukultimate.com/schools
