To My Dad
Thank you!
We had a big black frisbee disc with a gold ring in the middle, similar in size to an UltraStar when growing up. I remember throwing it with you in the fields behind our house in Oklahoma. I remember challenging you to throw it over my head so I could run and grab it with one hand as I jumped, or just let it float down and catch it with two.
You taught me how to throw the backhand. You taught me how to throw it far. You taught me how to coil it up tight, take steps, and launch it for a really long huck. You let me learn how to catch by running after the disc and snagging it while jumping through the air. What fun we had!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Dad, for everything you gave me for my frisbee foundation. I had no idea at the time that it would lead to an amazing journey as an athlete in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee and disc golf. This book begins with the rock that you are.
To Dave
You were the first person who brought the actual sport of Ultimate Frisbee into my life.
We worked together on the student portal for the CIO at the University of Oklahoma back in 1999. I grew up playing football, basketball, soccer, golf, tennis, and racquetball, but I had never heard of Ultimate Frisbee until you brought it from the College of William and Mary to OU.
You suggested we all go play a game out on the campus lawn. We agreed. And I remember thinking it was the most incredible sport because it was so much easier than football. The fact that there was no contact blew my mind, which meant I had a big advantage. I remember specifically that I dove for a disc in the end zone, caught it with one hand, and thought to myself how much longer a disc floats in the air compared to a football. It was so much easier to catch. It felt instinctual because of what I had learned just tossing with my dad, simply replacing a football for a disc that floats more.
I only played that one game and I loved it, then it was gone because Dave left OU. I did not play again for another ten years. But that single afternoon planted a seed that would eventually grow into this book and thousands of frisbee games and millions of tosses.
To Robert
You brought me back to the sport.
Robert is Everett's dad. Everett and my son shared a nanny back when they were born. Robert was from Georgia, extremely fast, and a very good cutter. He also played football and basketball, so he knew I was sporty.
He invited me to a game down the street, just one block down a hill from my house. That game happens to be the Nolte pickup game in Silver Spring, Maryland. It has been running for 35 years, long before I started. I have been playing in it for the past 20 years now.
It is a rare game because it has both an older group that starts at 9 AM and a faster younger group that starts at 11 AM. Games go until 2 o'clock, sometimes 2:30.
Thank you, Robert, for bringing me into the sport. Hope you are doing well out there, bud. I hope this book finds you and brings you back for a pickup game at Nolte once again.
To the Nolte Community
This book is mostly lessons I learned playing with you.
The Nolte pickup game has so many people who make it special, competitive, and fun to play every single week. I have learned from fantastic athletic people who are also kind and represent the Spirit of the Game, not only in intensity but in compassion, humor, and honesty.
We have people at Nolte who played at Columbia High School and helped start Ultimate back in the late 1960s. We have new people joining because they heard about it from others or online. And we have a core group that has been playing together for a good 10 to 15 years now.
A game happens every single Sunday no matter what. We do not have a call roster because it just always happens. Even in the snow. Even in the wind. Even in the rain. Somebody is out there. That is what is truly remarkable about the Nolte Frisbee game.
During daylight savings, there are Wednesday and Friday pickup games at 5:30 with a mixture of people from both older and younger groups and Hyattsville people. I use SMSgo.org to call a roster for those games with over 100 local players on the text list that I privately maintain.
In order to get good at Ultimate Frisbee, you have to have practice. Having access to other people who also love to play the sport has had a direct impact on my ability to play the game well enough to write a book like this.
The one truly unique thing about Nolte is that the 11 AM younger group takes about an hour to 90 minutes to warm up, and then and only then a game to 21 is called. Not 15, but 21. Some days we do not make it all the way to 21 as players dwindle, but most days we do. If I had to give a name to the Nolte pickup games, I could call us Nolte 21.
Many other people from other pickup groups have said we have a brutal game of 21 points every week as if to give us some hard core street cred. We do have just an incredible group of very good Ultimate players.
Someday I want to do a Nolte at Night game with lights on vests and clothing with a lit disc.
Thank you, Nolte. Every single one of you. The games have sure been fun over the years!
To Regis, Wes, and Nick
You taught me the power of just tossing.
Regis was the first person I started throwing with on the side. He lives close by. We would find a random 30 to 45 minutes once or twice a week, text each other, and meet down at the park to throw the Frisbee.
This single act helped me improve my throwing and catching skills dramatically. It was always good to catch up with Regis. It was good to be outside. Instead of having tea with a neighbor, we would have a Frisbee toss.
Our good friend Wes would come out often. Lately my good friend Nick and I do this on a regular basis because Regis has been a little sick. Sometimes Regis, Nick, and I all go toss together.
With this group, I learned how to do the air bounce. I perfected my flick on my right hand. Now I am working on my left hand. Without the ability to just throw back and forth really quick and make mistakes really quick, I would never be where I am in this sport.
Thank you, guys. It is always fun. A good toss.
To Jarrod and the Hyattsville Community
Jarrod is the commissioner of the coolest, most inclusive, most well known pickup place in all of Washington DC from my perspective. They have wonderful people that play on a regular basis. They play Thursday nights, Tuesday nights, and Saturdays at noon. They have lights during the winter for the Tuesday and Thursday nights. Jarrod brings music. They have heat lamps during the really cold days. They put a fan on top of a water bucket to be a mister when it is super hot. It is a fun, great atmosphere to play Ultimate.
They have a hat tournament every year. They enter their own teams in Wildwood. They are entering Fools Fest this year. They have a very active Facebook group, probably one of the most active ones. They have people who are just beginning and still learning. And they have a very inclusive culture and attitude.
I play in this game quite a bit, and I feel honored to play with them. The entire Hyattsville community should be so proud of the Ultimate Frisbee pickup in their neighborhood.
To My Boys
I have two sons. One is in middle school. One is at the end of his elementary school time. They both throw the Frisbee with me a lot.
One of our favorite games is called Dodgebee. We use soft discs, and it is just like dodgeball, but we play on a playground in a park and try to hit each other with the soft Frisbee discs. When you get hit, you are tagged and you are out.
My boys are wonderful human beings. Very athletic. Both of them can throw the Frisbee very well. I would not be anywhere near where I am without the thousands of throws that I have thrown with both of them, inside and outside of the house. We have a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.
I have really fast reflexes and I am very quick on the Frisbee field because of all the time I spend hanging out with my boys.
I hope this book is someday useful to both of them to harness their Ultimate Frisbee skills. Who they are within the sport and what that means to their future.
Love you guys! Thanks for all the throws.
To David L.
You unlocked my flick.
David has coached many people on how to be better players and how to throw better. He spent time with me preparing for my DC Breeze tryout. He helped unlock my arm movements so that I could feel free to fully put maximum power on my forehand flick, which has always been my Achilles heel.
He helped me see that I can throw really hard. I just remember it was at a high school game when he was telling me to let it rip as hard as I could. Some of them went crazy and went far. A few others got close to the target. From that point on I was able to dial it in a little better.
Now I am learning how to throw a lefty flick also.
Thanks bud!
To Everyone I Interviewed
You made this book possible.
I have met some of the most amazing, talented Ultimate Frisbee players that exist on this planet Earth.
Ben was the first person to agree to an interview. He has won so many national championships. He is six foot six and can catch just about anything thrown to him. He was such a gracious person.
I talked with Khalif. They call him Leaf. He was such a cool dude. Just moved to San Diego.
Everybody I interviewed was spectacular. They had buckets of advice. They told me I can always feel free to communicate back with them and ask follow up questions. I have also asked people I know here in the DC community.
A sincere thank you to the people I connected with for these interviews. It is only going to keep going. I am only going to get more interviews. We will add to the huge knowledge base of the sport of Ultimate Frisbee.
To the Obelisk Community
You showed me what high level Ultimate looks like.
I practice with them sometimes on Monday nights. Not too often, but every now and then. They have multiple club teams. They run drills and then do scrimmages. They have very fast, talented people. They usually meet in very nice facilities somewhere out in DC.
This is where I learned the Chopping Block game to break the mark. It is so much fun. I did pretty well. I got down to the last three people.
The people in this community are extremely good at playing Ultimate Frisbee. I have learned a lot by joining their games and some of their drills. They are super nice, very courteous, and inclusive also. But it is a very high level of Ultimate Frisbee.
To the DC Breeze
You are our pro team, and you make the sport show what it fully can be. We aspire to such heights.
The DC Breeze are a great professional Ultimate team. They have a lot of culture and history. I tried out for the team. I met my coaches. I met many of the players. I attended a defensive clinic by AJ Merriman and Charlie McCutcheon, who are the leaders of the team.
Catholic University is a great venue. It is a great family oriented environment. I bring my boys. A lot of people bring their kids. It is truly a wonderful professional team to have in our backyard.
I have learned so much from watching the Breeze and how they play. I have developed a similar mentality: small ball, but can hit the big long ones if I need to. That is how you can win games.
Thank you, DC Breeze. Everyone who is affiliated with the Breeze. I watch all of the away games too.
To Her
You know who you are.
We met at a pickup game last summer. We had a wonderful time playing Ultimate Frisbee on the field together. Lots of high fives. Great on field chemistry.
Then we tossed for fun in the park, talking about our stories. Throwing the backhand. Throwing the flick. For almost two hours.
Then we went hiking with the Frisbee and let the breeze blow us wherever it wanted.
You have blessed my heart and my Frisbee skills like no other.
I told you I was going to write a book about Ultimate Frisbee. From that day forward I have been committed to following through on that promise. Here it is along with a high five.
I hope this book inspires countless Ultimate Frisbee players to be better players, better people, and help grow the sport to great new heights. But I also hope it inspires you to find me again someday for a toss and talk session.
One thing that makes Ultimate so special is that men and women can play together. In this case, time spent on the field blossomed into wonderful time off the field. Such encounters, I only see happening more and more in the future of Ultimate Frisbee.
I consider myself a very lucky person to have bumped into you.
May your soul stay full, and may you throw as many Frisbees as you can.
Find me on the field one day.
This book is for everyone who has ever thrown a disc with me, played alongside me, coached me, challenged me, or simply showed up on a Sunday morning when nobody else did.
The sport gave me community. The community gave me this book.
Thank you all. :)