If you have never thrown a disc properly in your life, this is the page for you.
What the game actually is
Seven a side, on a pitch with an end zone at each end. You score by catching the disc in the end zone you are attacking. The catch is that you cannot run while you are holding it, so the disc travels by being thrown and everybody else does the running. Drop it, throw it out, or have it intercepted, and the other team takes over on the spot.
That is genuinely most of it. The rest you pick up by playing.
Nobody is refereeing
Ultimate is self-refereed at every level, internationals included. Players call their own fouls and talk through the disagreements on the pitch. It is called Spirit of the Game, and in practice it means new players get explained to rather than shouted at.
Your first session
Turn up a few minutes early and tell somebody it is your first time. You will get pointed at the right people and shown the two throws worth knowing.
The session starts with a warm-up, moves into a coached block on throwing or a bit of tactics, then finishes with games. You will be in a game on your first night. Substitutions are unlimited and happen between points, so you can come off whenever you have had enough and go back on when you have got your breath back.
What to bring
- A light top and a dark top. Teams get split by shirt colour, so bring one of each and you will always be on a team.
- Football boots outdoors, indoor shoes indoors. Eaton Park is grass and the Sportspark hall is not.
- Water. There is more running in this than people expect.
You do not need to bring a disc, and you do not need to own any club kit to train.
What it costs
Outdoor sessions at Eaton Park are free. Indoor sessions at the UEA Sportspark are £6.50, or £5 if you are a student, paid on the night. There is no membership to sign up for before you come and try it.
How fit do I need to be?
Fitter than you will be on your first night, and that sorts itself out. Because subs are unlimited you set your own pace, and plenty of people spend their first few weeks mostly catching their breath on the sideline and watching how it works.
Right, when is it?
Thursdays, though the time and the venue change between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The training page always shows the next one.