Spirit of the Game on the Rise
By Joey Gray, May 1998
I was feeling kind of sad; reading about observer dilemmas, spitting, and college women cheating can wear on the belief that true athleticism is a balance of mind, body and spirit. Then I started receiving applications for the US Worlds team from wonderful players of all levels, all divisions and was refreshed by a universal love for ultimate and its spirit.
While working with a NCAA basketball team, I learned how ineffective referees can be. Refs, even well trained, make or break a game with a call/not-call, or a series of calls that not only affect the outcome, but players' psyche. Sure, the guys got angry. Is this different from being disappointed when an ultimate opponent directly disses you with a bad call or unsafe play? Probably.
In reffed sports, everyone agrees to disagree by hiring outsiders to penalize infractions they catch. Players are taught to constantly push "what you can get away with". Hiring, training and administering the outsiders cost a lot, and over time, their presence affects the nature of the game - for better or worse, who knows. But in the end, they don't solve the problems - players will cheat, and games will be won unfairly.
In ultimate, sustaining the game is more important than winning at all costs. Players agree to cooperate based on mutual understanding of rules. Anyone can win with ungracious calls - how good can that feel? So players learn negotiation skills that emphasize mutual respect. We want to have fun playing well, so we constantly seek that balance of ego and community called Spirit of the Game.
Spirit of the Game has to be on the rise, in ultimate and beyond, because technology has brought us an era where survival means valuing brains over brawn. It doesn't matter anymore that my teammates can tackle your teammates to annihilate your key player. Because it can't matter anymore that my country can blow up your country - everyone knows the devastation caused by nuclear weapons, and knows we're ALL worse off if balance is lost. If the games we play reflect society, then there's a damn good reason why kids should learn the negotiation skills ultimate teaches. We're their examples:
"Spirit of the game creates team unity. Spirit of the Game results in fewer disputes and peaceful resolution of inevitable disputes. It is concern with what you are doing, not beating the rules. Spirit of the game means more fun and great public relations for ultimate, that results in more fields for more tournaments!"
"We completely gelled and every single player rose their game to the highest level. We ended up winning. But the great part wasn't winning - it was seeing everyone get a look of determination and turning it into something."
"Spirit of the Game is to 'be cool.' Play hard, be better, but don't be an asshole. NO deliberate fouling... Be considerate about misunderstood rules, not cocky. No spiking, no trash talking (unless they're friends like that), no dangerous play and make your own calls fairly. And it's "contest" or "no contest" - no yelling and spitting about it."
"Spirit of the Game is the ability to play fair yet compete as hard as you can."
"I want everyone to have the opportunity to take from ultimate what I got: a strong and stable self-image and an ability to combine respect and competition in a positive way."
"Coed ultimate is more involved with how a team works together. Integrating team members with varying skill levels becomes more important than putting the best players forward. Coed ultimate puts people in situations where adjustment, accommodation, and inclusion result in a better team and a better experience. This makes it an excellent model for learning and applying important life skills. Coed ultimate is the best argument for participation in sports I have ever experienced."
"We must have slid 15 feet on our bellies. I was so excited to be playing with so many great people in one place. I had never played with so many fun loving, skilled, weather-be-damned great people. My opponent was a top player and competing step for step all the way to the end zone on a long huck was a challenge in itself, but my first layout D was about a leap of faith that set a fire for my spirit for the game."
"I believe self-regulation imposes a responsible attitude among young athletes. The concept of Spirit of the Game is well received at all my teacher presentations."
"The spirit of ultimate is an ever-present attitude of RESPECT for another athlete's ability to compete at his/her potential. It's an appreciation for the opportunity to participate within guidelines of the sport."
"Ultimate was such an important and positive part of my emotional, physical, and social maturation. I want others to have the same opportunity."
"I kept getting better and more intense. And you know, one day I was thinking back to college, wondering what made me so excited to spend 20 hours a week running around a field, and I realized that it was love. Love for my teammates as much as for the game."
"Of all sports I've played, frisbee is the most flowing, free and creative, allowing participation at all ages, genders and abilities. That's why I continue to play it above all. Okay, so I can't resist. It's a part of me."
"Spirit of the Game is to play competitively, but not win at all costs; helping someone make the correct call, not yelling at someone to make the call you want; returning the disc to a new player who makes a violation he has no idea he or she is making; playing a hard fought game, then telling tall tales with your opponent afterwards."
"My best moment in ultimate was when my team won the SOTG award. Although we got stomped, it was amazing to stand next to the champions - receive a killer fruit basket - and get cheered as loud as the folks who won it."
"Spirit of the game is similar to martial arts philosophy - you learn these techniques that could potentially injure others, but you learn honor and discipline. These guide your actions so you only use your knowledge for defense. Spirit of the Game is the embodiment of honor that all players must have in the sport. It's realizing that playing hard is important but that playing fairly and with honor is vastly more important than winning."
"I shifted to ultimate because of my love of spirit."
Spirit of the Game
How to explain
It's the special energy inside
The bubbling froth, hard to hide
The style in your smiles
That makes you run for miles
Consideration of others
Sisters running with brothers
Safety applied to play
Positive in what you say
Spreading happy and filling ears
With creative, funny amazing cheers
That which lifts us up above
So we may share the love
"We sang and we danced and we challenged every opponent to a dip and we were awarded the Spirit of the Game award. Utter disbelief struck. Forming the first ultimate team was the original goal, going to Worlds pure fantasy, but to get there and bring back the Spirit of the Game award when the players themselves never thought they were capable of playing with respect, honor and joy was the formula for dumbstruck ecstasy."
"It is amazing to watch the transition kids go through as they learn to respect each other and the spirit with which ultimate should be played."
"Spirit of the Game separates ultimate from other sports - it represents sportsmanship, fair play, and fun for all. It is the essence of ultimate - the cheers, the camaraderie, the extracurricular activities. It is what drew me to the sport and is what will keep me in it... well probably forever. Ultimate is not ultimate without SOTG."
"Spirit of the Game is leading by example."
"Everybody pulls for everybody else; ego is sublimated in favor of the greater glory of the game and players enjoying it."
"As we stood on the line awaiting the pull, the crowd started to quietly applaud, then sustained applause for over a minute. On the line, the hair on my neck stood up. I've always thought, this was an acknowledgment of the team and its commitment to fair play and Spirit of the Game."
"Once in awhile in an ultimate game you go to absolute war, with an individual, or maybe an entire team. It may be when you're the two hottest players on the field that day, or when your teams trade every point, or maybe when you're down by 8 and bring it back to within two. It's these times, when you and the person you're matched up against are caked with dirt and drenched in sweat, when you've already left it all on the field but still find some way to run hard, that you find out about the real players. It's when you inspire your opponent and they inspire you not just to keep going, but to raise your level of play. And in the midst of the war, knowing only one of you can win, you play against your opponent the way you wish they'd play against you: with everything you've got left, respecting their efforts and their calls, because you know that no matter how bad they want to win, they're going to do it fairly. And when it's all over, when no matter what the outcome, you shake hands, look your opponent in the eye with a stare of mutual respect and say "nice D", that's Spirit of the Game."