Tasmanian Ultimate Association (TUA)
Winter
League 2003
Players handout
Ultimate in a Few Simple Rules*
1.
Initiate Play -- Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their
respective endzone line. The defense
throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense.
2. Scoring -- Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's endzone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.
3. Movement of the Disc -- The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.
4. Change of possession -- When a pass in not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
5. Substitutions -- Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.
6. Non-contact -- No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.
7. Fouls -- When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.
8. Self-Refereeing -- Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.
9. Spirit of the Game -- Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.
* modified from http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/ferguson/ultimate/ultimate-simple.html
Spirit of the Game*
Spirit of the Game",
perhaps the central governing principle of ultimate.
Ultimate players, by their own reckoning, are among the more courtly athletes.
Respect for one's opponent is paramount. In contrast to crybaby
sports like soccer and basketball wherein skilled thespians refine the art of
fouling and being fouled, the official ultimate rules strictly forbid any
action—taunting, intentional fouls—that might be construed as bad
sportsmanship. "Often," says the introduction to the rules, "a
player is in a position where it is clearly to the player's advantage to
foul" or rattle his opponent with taunts, but such tactics are considered
"a gross offense against the spirit of
sportsmanship." Dennis Rodman, stay right where you are.
The most compelling aspect of ultimate is the
absence of penalties. In the preface to the rules, the founding fathers of the
sport, such trusting souls, "assumed that no ultimate player will
intentionally violate the rules; thus there are no harsh penalties for
inadvertent infractions." (In fact, there really aren't any penalties at
all.) This statement is, in its off-hand way, revolutionary. Imagine a country
with no way to enforce its laws other than simply by presuming its citizens
would never intentionally violate the law in the first place. Foolish? Naïve? In ultimate-land,
it works.
Should some vicious churl choose to flout the Spirit
of the Game, the founding fathers conceived of a simple safeguard.
In place of referees, the players call their own fouls. For instance, if Jane
hacks Mary while Mary is winding up to deliver the huck
to end all hucks, Mary simply yells "foul,"
and it's a foul. Jane is presumed to have hacked unintentionally, and play
resumes with Mary's possession. Since players cannot "foul out," a
cynic might think it a toothless sort of foul call, but the Spirit so dominates
the sport as to make further disciplinary measures unnecessary.
In Ultimate, every player is responsible for their
own conduct on the field. There's no refs to make sure
that everyone acts like grown-ups, so it's the responsibility of players to
call fouls on themselves if the person they have fouled does not call the
infraction. That's right. You can call a foul on yourself. Ultimate relies on
the honour system and the belief that no one will intentionally cheat, much
like marriages, the income tax system, and all-you-can-eat sushi bars.
Ultimate's rules, like any sport's, can
take a while to learn. However, they can, for the most part, be summed up by
the concept of "Spirit." Highly competitive play is encouraged, but
never at the expense of mutual respect between players, adherence to the
agreed-upon rules of the game or the basic joy of play. The purpose of the
rules of Ultimate is to provide a guideline which describes the way the game is
played. It is assumed that no Ultimate player will intentionally violate the
rules; there are no harsh penalties for inadvertent infractions but, rather, a
method for resuming play in a manner which simulated what would most likely
have occurred had there been no infraction. It couldn't be much simpler. Spirit
allows the game to be played without refs, without untoward aggression, and
without long stoppages in play. It really can't be stressed too much. Spirit is
what makes Ultimate so much fun. If you can't relate to the concept of Spirit
you might be better off trying a different activity; such as sitting in a
darkened room cleaning your firearms and obsessing over conspiracy theories.
*
from
Spirit Guidelines
AFDA
Spirit Rating Guidelines
These
guidelines are designed to help teams determine a spirit rating from 0 to 10.
Get
your team to decide on a spirit rating, and then submit your score and spirit
rating to the competition director. Few
teams are going to nicely fit into the slots below, so use this chart as a
guideline only.
10
All
the players on our team enjoyed playing with all of the players on the opposing
team.
They
showed up on time.
They
exhibited a great level of sportsmanship throughout the game.
They
were knowledgeable about the rules, or were receptive to learning them.
They
were friendly on and off the field.
We
even loved their cheer.
You Should...
Invite
them to join your team for celebrations after the game.
-1
they were a bit slack about getting the toss done and getting their players on
the field to start
-1 they weren't particularly friendly on or off the field
-1 they gave us a cheer, but the whole team obviously wasn't into
it
-1
players on the sideline got involved in on-field
discussions unconstructively
-2
they weren't ready to play on time
-2
there was an incident of dangerous play by one of their players
-2
they argued in a heated manner about a call
-2
they made some pretty questionable calls
-2
they didn't respect our team's calls or perspective
-2
they didn't make an effort with the cheer
-3
they argued abusively about a call
-3
they shouted abuse from the sidelines
-3
they contested every call we made
-3
they had players who didn't know the rules and were unreceptive to learning
them
-3
they were beating us pretty easily and started to make fun of our ability
-3
they had a problem player and didn't attempt to deal with that person's
behaviour
-5
they intentionally fouled us
-10
there was intentional physical contact, shoving, fighting or spitting by one of
their players
You Should…
Talk
to the opposition captain about reasons why your team didn't give them 10 for spirit.
0
None
of the players on our team enjoyed playing against the opposing team.
They
were not on time or were not able to field a team at all.
They
displayed no sportsmanship and initiated several instances of dangerous play.
They
did not know the rules and did not want to learn them.
They
weren't interested in doing a cheer even though we did one.
They
were the worst-spirited team we have ever played against.
You Should...
Talk
to the competition coordinator.
Rule variations