Cardiff is a city full of all kinds of wondrous activity. Including one of the fastest growing sports in the country – Ultimate Frisbee.
Hidden away at the heart of the Tallybont student halls lies the universities sport training facilities. Head here on any given evening and you will see a flurry of sporting activity. If you go down on a Tuesday night though you may see a sport you don’t quite recognise, Ultimate Frisbee. A mixed gender, non-contact, team sport, played with a mix of athleticism and dexterity.
Every session starts with spreading out and getting throwing. A good activity for beginner players to get to grips with the basics but also great for the more experienced to hone their skills.
Almost all attention is directed towards the Captains as they explain the next drill. Managing 60-80 people can be a challenge especially with many beginners present.
As with many sports, being able to read the path of something as it moves is a great skill to have. Here a player is running into position to catch the disc.
This is the team captain Jo Lewis. Ultimate is a mixed sport meaning men and women play together on the same team. Jo is currently part of the GB under 24 team and a great asset for the university team to have.
After an intense hour and a half session the team huddle it up to summarise what was achieved. The team have lots of important games and tournaments coming up this term so the huddle is a great chance to address the whole club and keep them up to date.
As the last people to use the pitches, finishing at 10:30pm, they have to vacate quickly meaning changing of boots is often done in the car park.
The Cardiff University team has been inundated with new members this academic year, a sign of the huge and growing popularity of this sport. I highly encourage any student to go along and give this unique and exploding sport a go.