Ultimate expanding in popularity on campus from MWSU Campus Watch on Vimeo.
Jumping, sliding and diving are just a typical day in the life of Ultimate player, Kevin.
“I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal but I got out there and it’s a lot more competitive than people would think, They think it’s just throwing a Frisbee around but it’s actually a sport to some people,” Kevin Paniagua, sophomore in mechanical engineering said.
Known as “Ultimate,” students across the nation are playing the sport that is continuing to grow in popularity. Made up of seven players on each team, the goal is to get the Frisbee to the other side of the end zone without touching the ground. For sophomore Darin Young, this is his second year on the Ultimate team.
“Last semester they had pick up in the quad and so between class and after class I didn’t have anything to do so I just jumped in with them,” Young said.
According to USA Ultimate, a national governing body, the sport is popular in 42 countries. Three years ago, Ultimate players decided to start a team on campus. The Student Allocations Committee gives the team one-thousand five hundred dollars each school year to pay for entry fees, jerseys and travel expenses. This semester there are 15 more team members than last semester.
“We have a lot of freshman out here and they are all really athletic but we think the first competition will be a wakeup call to them but we are really excited about what our freshman class can do for us,” Paniagua said.
Ultimate players practice three times a week to prepare for their tournaments across the country. They travel to schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado. Next weekend they will be competing at the University of Texas at Dallas.