Once in a lifetime Experience

Frisbee

The other day, I played pickup Frisbee here in Buenos Aires. I mention it for many reasons. First of all, it was super fun and that alone might entitle it to a post. Second of all, I play for the Ultimate Frisbee team in New York and this could be seen as an extension of that. Third and by far the most cool, I get to foster a sport that was just born here. Ultimate started in Buenos Aires four years ago by a bunch of ex-pats who moved here from the states. It started as only pickup and eventually the first team Discosur was created. Now three years later there are four teams and they play a round robin type league with each team playing one league game per weekend. After the Saturday game has been played, there is always a game of pickup for those who did not play in the game. This is where I played.

The level of ultimate here is pretty low by American standards. People are not very good and most don't exactly know how to play. Its more of a mish mosh then an actual game. That is why it is so amazing to play ultimate here. I am not an amazing player by most standards, but here I am definitely in the top echelon of players. By simply playing, I am improving the game here by showing people how the sport is really played. It is a game that is hard to explain verbally, so by playing I am helping the captains of the teams teach using me as an example. I am sure in the past couple of years the captains were teaching using themselves as an example which is quite difficult. By having more good players, the captains and others can take more breaks and spend more of their time teaching rather than playing.

The next step is to get involved as a real member of a team. On Wednesday, I plan on attending Big Red's practice (The second oldest team in BA). They practice once a week for two hours. I hopefully will like the practice and become an active member in the team. The practice is more like a two way try out. I need to show them that I am a good enough player to be on their team, and they need to show me that they are a nice enough bunch for it to be worth it to commit to there team. This way I will able to really be part of Ultimate here and be able to foster a sport I love so very much.