For the latest installment of Hidden Stars I caught up with Ultimate Frisbee star Matt Dathan, who has an impressive seven years playing experience under his belt. Matt took time out of his busy university schedule to give me the lowdown on what is becoming an increasingly popular sport within the UK.
Firstly, what is your role within Bristol University’s Ultimate Frisbee Club?
I’m the most experienced player at the club so I help out with coaching and tactics. (As I was injured last year I’m not on the committee). In terms of position, I’m a handler.
Ultimate Frisbee is quite an unknown and some would say unconventional sport. For our readers that do not know much about Ultimate how do you play and what are the rules?
Ultimate is a limited-contact team sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football. Players may only move one foot while holding the disc by pivoting and can only hold the disc for a maximum of 10 seconds at a time. A change of possession occurs each time the disc hits the floor or is intercepted by an opposing player.
How did you first get into the sport and how long have you been playing now?
I started playing with a group of friends after school and at weekends when I was 14/15 (7 years ago). The older generation at our school taught us how to play and then we passed it onto the younger generation. I was just as sceptical as most at the prospect of chucking a frisbee around being a sport, but as soon as I went to my first tournament I was hooked!
What sort of set up does Ultimate Frisbee have at Bristol?
Bristol University has a well established set up with at least 30 people turning up to training every Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m. on the Downs. Some of the experienced players also play for senior teams outside of the university.
What sort of following does the sport have within Britain?
Ultimate has slowly grown in Britain over the past two decades, and in recent years it has become recognised, played and watched by an increasing number of people across Britain. It is becoming more professional each year in terms of training regimes, tournament events, sponsorship, and media coverage. The sport is recognised by the UK Sport of England and has an estimated 10,000 participants.
How time consuming is Ultimate? Do you regularly have to travel all over the Country for competitions?
As a university team we train up to 4 times a week working up to tournaments, and there are two main tournaments this term for Bristol University. As for the open and international divisions, I’ve traveled to the USA as well as all over Europe, so yes it is very time consuming and expensive, although there is a limited amount of funding available.
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| Matt Dathan makes another successful catch for Bristol's Ultimate team |
Do you get a lot of guys coming in from other sports? And if so which sports would you say have skills that are particularly transferable to Ultimate?
Ultimately (pardon the pun!) the most important transferable skill is a player’s natural sporting ability. But as for other sports in particular, we tend to find rugby and ultimate are quite complementary. Although they’re completely different types of sports, the fitness training that’s required is quite similar. Racket-sport players tend to have an advantage with the throwing technique because of the wrist and arm action.
Most of us have spent a sunny afternoon throwing a Frisbee about, but how long would it take a casual frisbee thrower to get to a standard suitable for representing the University?
Everyone who regularly attends training will represent the University at some point in their first six months, as there are many tournaments to suit all standards. However, to get into the first team it depends on the natural ability of the player. A lot of people can learn to throw a decent forehand as well as backhand, but the positional, tactical and disciplined side of the game takes longer to grasp. Sometimes fresher’s make it into the first team, as Sam Jones managed last year.
With your typical student only doing a degree for three years, how much could a fresher expect to improve in what is a relatively short space of time?
Massively. There are players in the Great Britain senior squad who only started playing Ultimate at university. Bristol University’s very own Claire Desbottes is in the GB Women’s squad this year after only starting to play at the university three years ago.
If you reach the higher echelons of Ultimate Frisbee could you make a living from playing the game?
Not yet! There are scholarships in America and there is talk of professional contracts being introduced over there. One day I hope to see athletes getting paid for playing Ultimate in the UK but due to the fair-play nature of the game, money may taint the sport.
Finally, what is the aim for Bristol’s Ultimate side this season?
To qualify for national student championships! The South West Region is very competitive though, so we have a lot of work to do. If and when we get to nationals, my aim for the team is to get to the quarter finals at least. But, considering the strength of University Ultimate, a top 8 finish would be a great achievement for Bristol University Ultimate.
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