#usaultimate

All players must attempt to avoid contact with other players, and there is no situation where a player may justify initiating contact.(Rule 12.9, WFDF)

It is the responsibility of all players to avoid contact in every way possible. (USAU 11th)

According to the 11th Edition Rules, incidental contact is defined as contact between players that does not affect continued play. For example, contact affects continued play if the contact knocks a player off-balance and interferes with his ability to continue cutting or playing defense.(USAU 11th Edition Section II.H)

It follows that if you are trying to get a better position on the disc by leaning/pushing/shouldering/bodying or otherwise purposefully moving another player you are committing a foul.

Furthermore, each player is entitled to occupy any position on the field not occupied by an opposing player, unless specifically overridden elsewhere, provided that no personal contact is caused in taking such a position. (USAU 11th Edition Section XVII.A)

Sources USA Ultimate 11th Edition Rules

WFDF Rules

And we're back! We have a special Ultimate Guest Blogger today!

Straight from Jacksonville, Florida. Uzziel Tayag is a Filipino-American, born in Redwood, California with Kapampangan roots. She played alongside great athletes like Jonathan "Goose" Helton and Joshua "Rook" Shepard, to name a few. Played in teams like MoXXie, Jacks-on-Jill, and of course, The Hucking Dead (Love the jersey, by the way!) Time to enter the world of Uzzi! Time to get inspired and motivated from this well written article! 

Read on! 

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WERE HERE

by: Uzziel Tayag

"Timeline.I was introduced to Ultimate Frisbee at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida USA at the age of fifteen when rules were always a question mark and looking them up was too much work. Non-contact? Yes, but tackling is okay! Travel? Naw man, you can take three steps in any direction after you’ve gained possession of the disc! Also, always make sure to yell out “ULTIMATE!” as you pull the disc because it’s cool. Anyway, later in 2005, my close friend, Alex Reynolds, brought me to pick-up and since then my life has changed.

I continued to not know what I was doing except love the sport and its people, so in 2006, I joined a bunch of cool kids (like, Jonathan “Goose” Helton and Joshua “Rook” Shepard, who taught me how to throw a flick) in my first ever tournament, Gainesville, Florida’s Frostbreaker. That same year, Jacksonville established its first Ultimate frisbee league aka Jacksonville Ultimate League, and I became part of the family since. In 2007, Florida attempted to put a Women’s team together and we called ourselves moXXie, but only pulled through for a couple tournaments. I found myself registering for a UPA (Ultimate Players Association) membership and in 2008, I joined my first Mixed Club team, Jacks-on-Jill.Jacks-on-Jill is where it all started for me. With a team being lead by John “LJ” Reeves, Matt “Cangi” Cangiolosi, and the strategic wisdom of Daniel “D-West” West, my eyes were opened up to a different culture of Ultimate. I was learning the rules, structure, competition, and understanding teamwork. I remember in 2009 (my last season with the team) during a scrimmage at practice one day I stopped running around because I was [insert excuse here]. LJ came up to me and told me, “Uzzi, you’ve gotta move around. You gotta do something.” That really stuck to me and motivated me to change my ways. I kept telling myself, “No more excuses.” I wanted to get better because my teammates cared about me and vice versa.

I moved to Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines in 2010, after the US Air Force did not work out for me, but it was the year I felt was a pivotal point in my Ultimate “career”. Upon slight disappointment in finding out that not very many people had heard of Ultimate in my province, and the closest pick-up games were in Olongapo (roughly an hour away), I decided to bring Ultimate to me. It all began with just my father and I throwing a disc at the parade grounds inside Clark Air Force Base. I was also attending Holy Angel University at that time, so I stood up in front of every one of my classes, told them I play a sport Derek Ramsay plays and that maybe they’ll get to meet him. This was one of those excusable times to lie, and suddenly I had back-to-back papers with my classmates’ information filled out. People came and they went to my informal “beginners’ clinics”, and soon a handful became hooked. Ultimate in Pampanga spread like wildfire. Seeing the growth in Pampanga Ultimate, my next goal was to form a team before I left for the States again. Today, we have almost five hundred members in the Pampanga Ultimate Community (PUC) from six-years-old to over sixty-years-old, and a co-ed team that went from Pampanga Grounds to Pampanga Emperors. This year, PUC hosted their first official provincial tournament, Cabalen Ultimate Open, and on top of that, for the first time, the Emperors put in a bid to play in next month’s MANILA SPIRITS!

I wasn’t anything spectacular as an Ultimate player, but I knew enough to teach the basics, and that was all I needed. It wasn’t my intention to be in a leadership position either, but not having easier access to games and really wanting it forced me to, and I am very thankful for the experience. I learned to enjoy teaching, and with Kapampangans returning to play and asking for more, I couldn’t help but want the same for myself. If I were to introduce other people to this lifestyle that I cared about so much, I wanted to be a good example.

In 2011, I began changing my eating habits and working out for the first time, thus Google and YouTube became my best friends. In three months, I went from a little over 140lbs to 125lbs at 5 feet 4 inches. Fitness and nutrition changed my game. I was lighter on my feet, my catches stuck, and my throws were more stable… I became consistent. I was taught how to huck a disc, and I learned that you can be muscular or strong as hell but hucking a disc is all technique. The best part was that I knew growth was infinite, and I yearned for that beyond the physical. 

When I returned to Jacksonville, I was a new player… but there was no team for me to play on! Some went off and moved, got married, had kids, and some guys decided to give the Open division a try. My friends, Ben Nelson and Hunter Whaley, and I got together and we discussed putting a Mixed team together. The three of us sat down with our lists of people we wanted on the team and made sure that every one of us agreed on each person. We called ourselves The Hucking Dead (THD) (after the hit television series, The Walking Dead, of course), and we all had the same goal: to have fun and not get fat. Unfortunately, after that first season, I got fat. So in THD’s second season, I pushed harder, as did most of my teammates. I personally began focusing on my body’s symmetry and simultaneously got on the Warrior Diet, which I understood was a bit controversial—lots of my friends and family thought what I was doing was unhealthy, but after research and self-experimentation, I was convinced that this is what worked for me. I found inspiration from Ultimate players and friends who challenged me, and also from Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters, Georges St. Pierre and Ronda Rousey. I signed myself up at an awesome MMA gym, The Training Yard, took a couple Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sessions, and got into strength and conditioning. Trying various kinds of regimens and plans in nutrition and exercise over the years—basically stepping out of my comfort zone—I was changing and becoming more in tune with my body. Again, I went from 140lbs back to 125lbs, except this time around, both knees that were affected by “runner’s knee” and the chronic achilles tendinosis on both of my feet were dormant, my stamina lasted longer, my ups were upper, and I was strong from incorporating weights into my work outs. 2013 was my best season yet, and it all paid off when we won Sectionals. Sadly, I had to leave again for the Philippines, so I ended up not going to Regionals with THD. Tear.

But, thank you to the popular, Mr. Jason “J.Lo” Lopez for inviting me to be a part of his team, I was able to experience Ultimate outside of the Philippines and US. I traveled to Hong Kong for their 13th Annual Pan-Asia tournament in October, and it was an incredible experience and such an honor to play on Junta, go undefeated, and win the whole shebang! Earlier this year, I had the pleasurable experience of helping, spending time with, and learning from Tim Morrill and Alex “AJ” Jacoski when they flew into Manila to introduce Morrill Performance’s brilliant and new Ultimate-specific products. Subsequently, I received a surprise invite from Derek Ramsay to play for Boracay Ultimate at Boracay Open—an invite that was hard to say “No” to despite being out of condition and never having played high level competition on the beach. I had to ask myself, “When am I ever gonna get this kind of opportunity again?” So I went to the beautiful island of Boracay. I trained on sand for the first time and it was embarrassing, so let’s not talk about that. Let’s just say Beach Ultimate is a whole ‘nother game especially in terms of athletic physiology. All I know is, I didn’t think a week of running around in sand would do much improvement, but it did. I had a very memorable trip and would not have met some of the people I am friends with today if I had chosen not to go.Throughout the years, I look back and become overwhelmed with gratitude towards all the people in the Ultimate community who gave me many opportunities on and off the field, and I honestly believe it is through the constant effort—regardless of the amounts of failure—put into sculpting myself from the inside and out. To this day I still don’t think I am good enough, and it is more than not being satisfied, but that I can never get too comfortable when opportunity for improvement is constantly knocking at my door.

And just to add, because another remarkable thing about Ultimate is how “Spirit of the Game” impacted my attitude even outside of the sport with how I approach life and treat people. There isn’t much of a difference on the definition and sense of the term in all the places I have been blessed to play, and that is one of the beauties of this sport: it is the same language everywhere in the world of Ultimate—that’s not to say everyone knows how to speak it. But I love playing with teams and players who truly understand and live it (spirit) through their games and in the real world because I secretly believe it shines a true reflection of a person’s character. I’ve seen several people turn red (mostly over calls made or lack of sunblock) from frustration and anger in a game and it is such a waste of energy when Ultimate is supposed to be a fun game of friendly competition. I’ve seen people get fired up so negatively, talk trash about other players, and try to fight another player in a game. I guess I just have this hippie view on Ultimate where the game should be our happy place—where we should leave our personal problems off the field but rather convert those negative energies into something positive on the field. So to all the Ultimate players out there, pro or not: it is great to be passionate about the sport, but in the end it’s just a game; a game with a number of life lessons and analogies, yes, but, ultimately (pun intended), you are the one sacrificing the time, energy, money—and in many occasions, your body—to play this sport you love, so make it fun and worthwhile!"

I will put an end to this novel with a quote by Walter Payton: “When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at it, they’ll tell you.” What do you think about the most when your mind wanders? Grasp your passion, never stop searching for ways to be great at it, and find humility along the way. You will be surprised with all the people that enter and exit your life, the opportunities that open up to you, and with the right attitude, the results can be rewarding. So, thank you to every person and player that I have come across in this life-long Ultimate tour; regardless of the depth of our relationship, I am forever grateful for having you in my life, and I only hope to leave a positive impression on you."

- Uzzi.

Uzziel Tayag

And that's how you inspire people!  There's nothing left to say but, Thank you, Uzz for this very inspiring write-up! Uzzi will be playing with the team from PUC (Pampanga Ultimate Community) this coming November in Manila Spirits! Looking forward to meet you in Manila. And best of luck on your Ultimate Career!

Anyone out there who would like to share his or her thoughts about the sport that we all love, don't hesitate to PM me on Facebook or inbox me at [email protected]! Your Ultimate community would love to hear your Ultimate experience. No doubt about it!

Until then... TULOY LANG ANG PARTY!!

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