On Pickup

It may come as no surprise to many of you, but ultimate frisbee has been a cornerstone of my life for the past decade or so (not unlike one of those Crossfitters back in the day, it will usually come out of me within the first five minutes of speaking). I started playing as a way to meet people when moving to Korea, but rapidly fell in love with the sport itself and, more importantly, the community that comes with it. It’s something I’ve continued to play everywhere I’ve lived since that first tournament in Korea (which also happened to be my first 24 hours there), and I plan on continuing with it until either my knees give out or I lose too many toenails. 

In many ways, ultimate frisbee is a sport like any other. There are two teams, lots of running around chasing an object, and of course a few people who somehow manage to lose their shit while chasing said object. Over the years I’ve played with many teams of differing intensity and purpose, ranging from teams with official tryouts and rosters, to teams that are more ambitious with partying than playing, to teams that don’t fully comprehend the rules of the game.

Each iteration of ultimate frisbee has its pros and cons, but I still think the best ultimate is had at the pickup level. Pickup, as the name implies, is open to anyone and everyone who happens to be in the area. There are no registrations, no tryouts, and oftentimes no cleats (but for real, please wear cleats for ultimate – you’ll thank me later). There are kids, adults, grandparents, and everyone in between at pickup. The rules are applied loosely and the game inevitably starts 30 minutes after the stated start time. Sometimes people at pickup have a baseline understanding of these rules but oftentimes they don’t. It’s more chaotic than organized, and each pickup group I’ve played with has its own quirks that you have to adjust to. Yet we all come together for this one purpose – to chase a floating piece of plastic until our legs give out. If you play ultimate, pickup will more than likely be your first – and last – encounter with the sport. 

Something you don’t often find at pickup are more experienced players, simply because playing at a higher level requires too much of a time commitment for much of anything else. Experienced players are on club teams, which require practice multiple days per week as well as weekend tournaments. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that (indeed there’s often a more intense community that you get with club teams). Yet it’s precisely these players that I often wish would come to pickup more, just because it’s where many of us got our start, and – more importantly – it’s a reminder of what makes the sport so great. 

Pickup ultimate is a reminder of what binds all. It teaches us that despite our backgrounds and life circumstances, we are all just human beings at the end of the day trying to figure life out. As in life, some of us know the rules, some of us are learning, and some of us will probably never learn them – and that’s alright. I’ve met (quite a few) lawyers, new parents, kids, people of the left and right, and everyone in between at pickup. It really is one of those rare 3rd spaces where people come together and forget whatever we brought with us for a moment and just exist as humans. 

So here’s to pickup ultimate, or whatever version of that you have in your own life. It’s truly the simple joys that bring you the most contentment. 

Much love, 
Gnardaddy Disc-slinger

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