New sport? Teens say it's the ultimate!

NORTH CANAAN — Tossing a Frisbee around the yard or at the beach? That’s about as much as any of the 12 youngsters who attended an Ultimate Frisbee camp at Segalla Field knew about playing with the plastic  flying disc.

“Never knew it was a sport,� one commented.

As honest as kids in that 10-to-12 year old age group can be, some admitted they came out last week just because they  needed something to do in August. Most of the youngsters came from Salisbury, the hometown (when she’s not attending Wesleyan University) of camp organizer Annie de Boer.

She offered the camp for free,  thanks in part to insurance coverage provided by the North Canaan Recreation Commission.

Her goal was to introduce the sport here and maybe spark interest in an interscholastic league. With help from Hotchkiss  school student Tavo True-Alcala, who lives in Great Barrington, deBoer was able to spark a strong interest among her campers and to quickly teach them the skills they need to be Ultimate Frisbee champs.

Eve LaBalme, of Cornwall and New York City, said she came because she was curious and wanted to learn about Frisbee (or does one say Frisbee-ing?).

It doesn’t really work as a verb, but as a sport, a few days in and these kids were ready to be Ultimate pioneers.

“Cool and weird� is how the group summed up a sport that doesn’t have any referees on the field. Leagues that play around the nation have found it to be a successful experiment.

The rules are simple, but the positioning of players on the field is a bit tricky.

“We’re getting the hang of it,� Liam Grimaldi said, during a water break.

He wrapped his yellow pinny around his head, ninja-style, and yelled, “Let’s scrimmage.�

This week, deBoer told The Journal that “we had roughly 10 kids each day, overall there were 14. The kids were all enthusiastic and dedicated participants, and were so much fun to teach.

“Each day began with stretches and the Word of the Day (which covered basic frisbee terms including bid, pull, fake, positions and spirit). We then continued on with some throwing drills and ended practice with a scrimmage.

“The progress was amazing. The first day we did a throwing drill called the ‘Go to’ drill and asked the kids if they could get 10 in a row, and it was very difficult for them. By the end of the week, they had hit 30.

“They also excelled in their understanding of field sense. At the beginning of the week they were all staying close to the disc, making it very difficult to get open and make good passes. We taught them the stack, which is an offensive formation used in nearly every point in Ultimate.

“At first, the kids all hated it and said it didn’t work. However, on Friday they asked to do a scrimmage without any advice from Tavo or I. On the sidelines, I stood grinning as the kids were stacking on nearly every point and their cuts, passes and defense were textbook.�