Photo Courtesy of Mark Dowd The original group of Ultimate players pose in the CHS student parking lot where Ultimate was first played in 1968.
The original group of Ultimate players pose in the CHS student parking lot where Ultimate was first played in 1968.
MAPLEWOOD — The first ever Columbia High School Ultimate “Founder’s Day” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 30 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Underhill Field.
The event celebrates the birth of Ultimate Frisbee at CHS in 1968, and is the evolution of the annual alumni vs current CHS team that has been played every year, with the exception of 2020 due to the Pandemic, since 1970.
CHS Ultimate President Dan Cogan-Drew, who met his wife through the sport, says that Ultimate has been an integral part of his life since he began playing in the 1980s, and is the reason his family eventually settled in Maplewood.
“When I began playing Ultimate, I immediately knew I’d found my people, and I know that’s a phenomenon countless other players have experienced as well,” Cogan-Drew said. “CHS Ultimate’s goal is to sustain and grow Ultimate by helping new players discover that same feeling of community, and we hope Founder’s Day can accelerate that mission by having the many world-class players and coaches with ties to Maplewood and South Orange help us evangelize this wonderful sport.”
Ultimate, originally called Ultimate Frisbee, was invented in Maplewood in 1968 by three Columbia High School students who started a variation of the sport at summer camp and then introduced it to classmates the following fall. One of the three was longtime Hollywood producer Joel Silver.
Today, Ultimate is played by millions worldwide across more than 80 countries, and nowhere is it more popular than in South Orange and Maplewood, according to organizers. Close to 250 sixth through 12th graders in the community play, and there is an extremely active twice-weekly pickup game for those 30 and older, which is affectionately referred to as “adultimate.”
While Ultimate offers the typical benefits that any sport provides, including fitness, work ethic development and teamwork, it’s Ultimate’s most unique feature – the fact that it has no referees – that often proves to be the most valuable aspect for kids.
“Spirit of the Game” – which honor-bounds players to self-officiate, be respectful of their opponents, and never seek loopholes in the rules in an effort to gain an edge – means the players themselves are solely responsible for working out any disagreements. For younger players, this is useful in developing leadership and conflict-resolution skills, as well as building camaraderie among rivals. This is reinforced at the end of many games by the players of both teams coming together in a “Spirit Circle,” where the players who best embody the Spirit of the Game are celebrated.
“After the Class of ’68-70 folks moved on to college, several of us in the 1972 Class who’d been playing for a few years really put our imprimatur on the game,” said Joe Barbanel, a CHS Class of 1972 graduate, who went on to found Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s team shortly after arriving at RPI in the Fall of 1972.
“People thought we were nuts, but we truly believed it could be a sport played all over the world. All these years later, it’s still a little unbelievable to see something that started in the CHS student parking lot as a goof on regular school athletic teams has become what it has.”
The schedule for Founders Day includes:
11 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. — A clinic open to youth ages 12-18 and run by CHS alumni Marques Brownlee, Eileen Murray and Anthony Nuñez.
12 noon to 1:50 p.m — Alumni Game, open to CHS alumni and current CHS players.
2 p.m. — Founder’s Day recognition moment and photos.
2:30 p.m. —Hat Tournament where players are randomly assigned to teams on game day rather than existing teams entering: Open to all over age 14.
For more information or to sign up https://chsultimate.org/teams/founders_day/.
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