The Martlet

Walking around the UVic campus, you are likely to see Frisbees floating through the air. For most people, Frisbee is strictly a relaxing pastime reserved for picnics and beaches, and filling minutes between classes. But, for some people, Frisbee is much more.

Ultimate Frisbee has been rapidly expanding since its creation in the 1960s. Ultimate (as it is commonly known) is played at all levels from high school and college to club and even at the international level. It has quickly become a worldwide phenomenon, as 5,000 athletes from 26 nations competed in the most recent World Championships, hosted this year by Vancouver.

UVic is one of over 700 North American colleges and universities that have an ultimate Frisbee program. Although not recognized by the CIS or the NCAA, ultimate has flourished at the college and club level. The UVic men’s team, “UVictim” has been on the rise since 2005. The sport is growing at breakneck speed.

This year, UVictim had over 40 people come out to tryouts in September. That is double the number of players from only two years ago. UVictim entered two full teams in the fall tournament called Sundodger in Burlington, Washington, which boosts players from the top club teams in Victoria and Vancouver.

UVic looks to have a very strong spring season ahead. Captains John Norris and Blair Underhill have high hopes for the upcoming season. These players have witnessed this program evolve over the past five years and are very excited about this year’s team.

“UVictim is the strongest it has ever been,” said Underhill. “We have nowhere to go but up.”

UVictim hopes to attend at least four tournaments this spring in preparation for a series of national championship qualifier tournaments known as The Spring Series. Each tournament will increase in difficulty as teams get eliminated. The 2010 Ultimate Players Association (UPA) College National Championships is taking place in Madison, Wisconsin. Only 16 teams qualify for this prestigious tournament.

“I feel like we have improved more than most teams in the past few years,” said Underhill. “[Partly due to] strong first-year athletes as well as capable returning leadership.”

Leading into the 2010 spring season, UVictim is looking stronger than ever before. Last year, UVictim placed fourth in the BC/Washington Section and ninth at Northwest Regionals, missing out on a birth to nationals. If they are to improve on this and have any hope of qualifying for nationals, they are going to have to beat rivals UBC, University of Washington and Western Washington on their way.

“We have had some great battles with UBC and Western Washington,” captain Norris said. “But this year, we are looking much stronger, and hope to come away with the win when we play them.”

“UBC has been a rival for many years. They have also managed to best us on all occasions,” Underhill said. “I believe that, this year, the tables have turned.”

These schools all have intimidating rosters of elite players including some that played on the Canadian and American national teams in Vancouver in 2008. UVictim has its own fair share of superstars, including Norris and fellow offensive specialist Aaron Loach.

These players were selected to join Canada’s top club team “Furious George” in 2009.

In November 2009, UVic stars Loach and Norris joined Furious George for a journey to Medellin, Colombia.

Here, the team conducted ultimate clinics for the local children as well as played in an international tournament. The atmosphere was wild in Colombia as players from the U.S., Colombia, Canada and Venezuela met.

“Ultimate in Colombia was incredible, everyone has so much passion for the game,” Norris recalls. “Each game, there were at least 500 people in the crowd.”

Now, Norris and Loach look to bring their expertise back to Vancouver Island and lead UVictim to its first ever birth in college nationals.

Practicing three times a week, UVictim is gearing up for the spring season with more intensity than ever before.

For more information on the UVic ultimate program, visit uvicultimate.com.