Excellence in sports is a familiar feeling around the Bay Area, what with the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors bringing home multiple trophies this decade. Colin Kaepernick quarterbacked the 49ers to a Super Bowl, then stood up — or rather, took a knee — against racism, no matter whether that’s valued by the NFL. Now we can add ultimate to the list of local sport supremacy.
Ultimate is shorthand for ultimate frisbee, the fast, fluid, and dynamic game based on throws, catches, and monster plays in the end zone.
The game, for the uninitiated, is simple: You don’t run with the disc, but pass it downfield to a teammate. If the disc touches the ground, the opposing team takes possession.
Think soccer, but in the air. Never stop running!
You probably didn’t know that there is a professional league for the sport, the American Ultimate Disc League, and that the San Francisco FlameThrowers are its 2017 champions.
Prevailing over the Toronto Rush in the AUDL Finals at the end of August — a “nailbater,” writes Ultiworld, the site of record for disc sports — the FlameThrowers brought home their first title in franchise history.
Its all-star roster includes players who have gone all the way before — including Beau Kittredge, who is the fittest athlete you’ve never heard of, according to Outside magazine.
Take a seccond and look over his typical day, incorporating track and weight workouts, as well as stretching and yoga.
Here’s a broader profile of Kittredge in Outside. Finally, here’s Kittredge’s Catch, legend in ultimate. Dwight Clark, you had a great run.
The Frisc reached out to FlameThrowers coach Ryo Kawaoka for more background. First, why the name? Turns out the team’s owners “were really excited about the prospects of what it represents visually, as well as the style of play the team should represent,” he wrote via email. “We weren’t going to be a conservative team, but more flashy, looking for big plays and entertaining the crowds.”
Kawaoka, who was born in Japan, has been playing ultimate since high school in Middleton, Wis. He has represented the Bay Area and the United States in international competitions, has played and coached semipro, and now is doing the same with the FlameThrowers.
What does he do when he’s not playing ultimate? Kawaoka says there’s not much, but he’s also a manager at a software company. True to form, pro ultimate’s schedule is a killer. “Many members of the team play both at the pro and club level and those seasons overlap,” Kawaoka adds.
In a given month, there will be one or two tournaments taking six hours each on weekends; two to four practices for four hours a day; and two professional games. Then there are the workouts, track and lifting, some four or five days per week to keep playing at peak levels. (I’m exhausted just writing this.)
What needs to happen to raise ultimate’s profile in a sports-crazy region? For Kawaoka, it’s about exposure. “It is definitely an exciting sport to watch and [there’s] a highlight every minute,” he says. “Once people can get past the rules and how it’s officiated, there’s an exciting moment in every play.”
They say when a ball dreams, it dreams it’s a frisbee. I say, flame on! For a city that takes pride in its established and emerging competitors, these ultimate champions who have thrown, caught, and hustled their way to the top deserve far more local adulation.
All images courtesy of the SF FlameThrowers.
An update corrects Ryo Kawaoka’s title and a couple of links.