Salisbury University Men's Ultimate: About

About the Sport ť

Ultimate is a sport that uses a 175 gram disc which combines the ideals of basketball, football, and soccer. This sport is played throughout the world and is exponentially increasing in popularity; especially in the United States and Canada. The Ultimate Player's Association is a non-profit organization that serves as a backbone for the sport. The UPA developed Junior, College, and Club divisions. This keeps the tournaments more organized, gives the sport a definite set of rules, and brings teams across the country to play one another on the National and International Level.

Salisbury University Men's Ultimate plays in the UPA Open College Division. The UPA divides the College Division into 8 regions. Salisbury is located in the Colonial Section (MD, DC, DE, and NOVA) which is apart of the Metro East region (NY, CT, NJ, DE, MD, DC, NOVA, and Western Quebec). The College Ultimate Season lasts throughout the school year. It officially starts in the Spring Semester. Various Universities play in the UPA sponsored events and get ranked according to how they perform against the other teams. The Fall semester acts as an extended Preseason. The teams usually use this time to train new players, get in shape, and tweak thier skills for the spring.

The standard tournament format includes 16 teams playing usually 2 consecutive days in a weekend. Round Robin or Pool Play is done on Saturday. A party which invites all of the players from the Teams is usually conducted on Saturday Night. This special event is why Ultimate is so original. Not too many sports actually provoke friendly interaction between opposing teams. This gives a chance for the teams to get to know each other, make acquantinces, and invite the ideals of good-sportsmanship and spirit of the game. Oh yeah, then there's usually a single elimination bracket on Sunday if you make it back from the party.

At the end of the Spring Season, teams play in the Sectional Tournament. Salisbury has hosted the Colonial Section Tournament since 1998. If a team ranks high enough for a Regional bid (usually 1st, 2nd, or 3rd), then the University team will go to the Metro East Regionals, which is in Princeton, New Jersey. If a team ranks high enough for a National bid (usually 1st or 2nd), then they go on to Nationals. The National Tournament is held at a different spot in the United States each year.

Salisbury University's History ť

Salisbury University Ultimate came about a very very long time ago. I don't even think they had televisions back then. Anyways, there was this old wise greek man who lived in the streets of the Bronx. He sat on his stoop everyday wondering what his purpose on this planet was for. The Ultimate Gods came to this old man and taught him how to play frisbee. This wise old man: His name, Joe Gara. His purpose, to start the fire of Ultimate frisbee in Salisbury University.

So Joe got up off his stoop and made his way here and recruited a bunch of disciples in the Quad. They finally grew to size and made thier way to the lawns of Holloway Hall. The group played and played on these fields. The commitment and manpower was there. It was just a matter of time before the monster would go public.

In the Spring of 1996, the monster did just that. Salisbury University reconized this group as an offical Club Team. They called themselves the Buzz. Within thier first 3 Seasons, the Colonial Section was won. Salisbury unleashed a new level of Ultimate on the Eastern Shore. In 1999 and 2000, Salisbury made trips to the National Tournament in both Boulder, Colorado and Boise, Idaho.

Now Salisbury Ultimate is in full effect, hosting the Colonial Sectional Tournament annually, and making thier mark in the Ultimate world each successive season. Recruiting is still done in the Quad. Practices are still held on the Holloway Hall fields were the sport originated. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Buzz only hopes to grow as a team and strive on the competition in the Maryland Area. With such a great history, we only have to keep up with the successful traditions, and Salisbury Ultimate will continue to deliver year after year.