For some, it's the ultimate in fun

Flying saucers were sighted this weekend soaring through the air over the playing fields of the new Independence Athletic Complex.

OK, make that white Frisbees.

The Independence Parks and Recreation Department, along with Kansas City Ultimate, hosted the 2008 Ultimate Players Association High School Western Ultimate Championships Saturday and Sunday.


The competitive Frisbee game, known as Ultimate, has been played for 40 years, said Kelley Kneib, director of communications for UPA.

The UPA, headquartered in Boulder, Colo., supports the game of Ultimate across the United States.

According to the UPA, the game is played by two, seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers in the field.

It’s a game Joe Dechery, of Eden Prairie, Minn., a member of the “Cold Front” team with Eden Prairie High School, has fallen in love with.

“I love the spirit of the game and the technique and athleticism that goes into it,” he said. “It’s the reason I quit soccer and started this. I don’t know someone who (has) played it, who hasn’t liked it.”

The seven open games and girls games were played in fields of mud. Players looked as if they were mud-wrestlers instead of Frisbee catchers.

The weather did prove challenging, Kneib said. 

“We played in the rain Saturday when it was misty. But we had to cancel a showcase game Saturday night when the rain really hit.”

The game was rescheduled for early Sunday morning.

Meagan MacPhee, of Seattle, attended with her son. She stood on the sidelines Sunday, watching the final girls game between Northwest High School, in Seattle, and Churchill High School, in Eugene, Ore.

“It’s how I spent the last three Mother’s Days,” she said, laughing. “But I love spending Mother’s Day supporting the kids. It’s really fun.”

John and Betsy Pollet, of Las Vegas, stood on the hillside also watching the two final teams play for the big win. They met their daughter, who serves as a chaperone to Churchill High School, at the games.

“I can’t believe these girls play in the mud like that,” John Pollet said, grinning and shaking his head.

“It’s very interesting to see the teens and how girls run so much all day long,” Betsy Pollet said, adding that she would have relished the opportunity, when she was younger, to play Ultimate, mud and all.



A FIRST FOR CITY

It also was a weekend of firsts for Independence.

Not only did the city host its first Frisbee tournament, it was the first event at the new sports complex on Salisbury Road east of Missouri 291, which won’t officially open until later this summer.

“This is the most eastern city the Western Division of the UPA has ever gone for a tournament,” said Ty Murrell, public relations spokesperson with the city of Independence.

Murrell said Independence was selected because of its central location and because of its new athletic complex.

Kristin Zimmerman, recreation specialist and tournament director, said the city’s amenities and collaborative efforts from all city departments also made Independence an ideal choice.

“Every single department worked with us in some way,” Zimmerman stressed.

Cleveland Chiropractic College, in Kansas City, also was on site to assist with possible injuries. Three players received chiropractic care over the weekend.

Both Murrell and Zimmerman said Ultimate was relatively new in the Midwest. Rockhurst High School was the only school in greater Kansas City that participated in the tournament, and Independence schools do not yet play the game.

However, Murrell said Ultimate has great potential to become a popular sport in the area, as well as in Independence high schools in the future.

“It’s a new sport in the Midwest,” she conceded, “but a fast-growing one.”

Seattle proved to be the big winner. Two of its high schools – Lakeside High School and The Northwest High School – took first in the open championship and the girls championship, respectively.

For a complete list of results, visit http://hs-westerns2008.upa.org/results or http://www.upa.org.

But not everyone could be a winner.

Kelly Wild, of St. Paul, Minn., lay on the warm concrete in the parking lot of the complex Sunday following the game.

 “It’s been a long weekend. We played seven games, three on Saturday and four today,” she said. “We almost got there.”