Although starting a frisbee team can be time consuming and hard work, the benefits are rewarding. You'll probably get to play on the team, and knowing that there's frisbee team where there was once none is very gratifying. As long as you make sure that recruiting efforts are continuously made, the team will perpetuate itself after a while, and if you move away from the location, you can be secure in the knowledge that the team will still be there years later.

The hard part is the mental energy you must devote to the task. Starting a team is not a part time job. You must be conscious of your goal every waking moment (and probably in your sleep, too). You must view every incident in life with "how can this help me start a team." When someone asks you "what's new?" you must mention that you're starting a frisbee team. You can't lose opportunities like that. At a party, if someone asks you "what do you do?" or "what are you studying?" don't tell them what you do for a living or what your major is, say something like, "well, I start frisbee teams in my spare time." Work frisbee into your conversations. Go to parties and mention it. Carry a frisbee around. Carry around handouts. If you're in a Conversational Spanish class, and your Spanish teacher asks you what you did yesterday, mention the frisbee team. Go to exercise classes, and look for recruits. In short, you must be thinking about it constantly. Countless times I've seen people start a team with a half-hearted effort and then they can't get the team off the ground. They become discouraged and then think it's an impossible task. You must become a fanatic. If you have the mental energy to do that, then, believe it or not, starting a team is pretty easy.

II. Starting a Team at College

If you're at a college, you're in luck. Starting a men's team is incredibly easy; starting a women's team is probably pretty easy, too. Let me (Eric) give you an example: I arrived at Michigan State as a freshman in September of 1975. Back then, not too many people threw frisbees around anywhere, not even at the beach. This was even before 165's were invented! Within nine days, we not only had a team, but we had played our first game! It's that easy!

A. Freshmen

The entire key for successful team building at a college can be summarized in two words: "RECRUIT FRESHMEN." Now, I was lucky. I didn't know that was the key, but because I was a freshman, and I lived in a freshmen dorm, I ended up recruiting freshmen. Four years later, when I was a senior and we were playing in the first UPA National (1979 - we came in 3rd), I looked at the team and realized that seven of the players on the team were players that I had recruited as freshmen (six of had them lived in the same dorm!).

Why is freshmen recruiting so important? Many freshmen get into social patterns in which they remain throughout their college life. As freshmen, young students are often "on their own" for the first time in their lives. The experiences they share together are all important and remain with them. Very often it's purely dumb luck what social activities a freshmen might fall into. But if they like it, often they'll stay with it for the rest of their college life.

How did I start a team? Well, I got to school and the first thing I did was schedule a game for nine days in the future. Then I went up and down my hallway telling people that I was starting a team, and we had a home game in nine days, and I didn't have any players yet on the team. Freshmen don't say "I don't have the time" like older people do. The excuse I ran into was "I'm not good enough" or "I don't know how to play." My answer was simply "No one knows how to play, yet" and "We don't care how good you are, we just need people to play." About half the people that came out to play ended up staying with the team for at least a semester. Over a fourth of them stayed with the team for years.

We'll be repeating this theme again and again: you have to suck the players in. No one is going to join an ultimate team when they know how much time it takes. No one makes major commitments like that before trying it out. But, they'll try it, they'll like it, they'll want more, and before you know it, you'll have a bunch of frisbee fanatics on your hand.

B. The Bureaucracy

Besides recruiting, you need to become part of the "The Bureaucracy" at your school. Becoming an official club, or organization, or club sport, entitles you to tremendous benefits. Becoming "official" is pretty easy. With a call to the Student Activities office or the Club Sports office, you can find out how to do it and you can find out what the benefits are. Usually, all it takes is filling out a form or two.

The benefits are great. Club sports, typically, can reserve space in the school. This means gyms to practice in, places to have a party, meetings, etc. Official Clubs can reserve fields to practice on, fields for a tournament, space for a tournament party, and all other kinds of facilities. You can probably borrow field equipment (e.g., limers to lime fields), audio-visual equipment (to show videos at parties), and all sorts of other things. You may even be able to borrow vehicles for road trips! This is especially good if your team has a shortage of cars. Renting a car is a hassle for people under 25. The Glassboro State College (NJ) frisbee team was able to get a bus from their school to take them to the 1980 Nationals in Atlanta.

Free advertising is another benefit. School newspapers usually offer free space to school organizations. You'll want to print a notice at least once a week for the rest of your life (if it's free). During freshmen orientation week, there may be a special listing in the college paper. Your team might get into a student activities handbook that the college gives out. The school radio station may offer free PSA's (public school announcements) for student organizations.

Discounts for many of the above mentioned services may be available through the school or through local businesses. You might be able to get discounts on team shirts or poster printing.

Money may be available for you. The Michigan State Sports Club office had money to give away for any team that qualified for championship-type tournaments. (The most we ever got from them was $100; it was a small amount but we were poor and every little bit helped. In 1986 the Carnegie-Mellon team was able to get $6000 for expenses to go to college nationals.) The Student Activities Board also had money to give away for special events. We were able to get $400 from them once to help run a tournament. We bought trophies and printed programs and posters with that money.

Student organizations also get rights from the state and even our federal Constitution.

In short, the college will help you more than you ever dreamed if you become an official student organization.

For long range plans, get elected to the student council, or get on some of the boards that make the decisions. If the school can send a softball team across the country, they can do something for ultimate, too. A member of the University of Florida ultimate team was on the Student Activities Board and found that money was being given the University Surfing Team to enable them to go to the beach and practice (!). She was then able to get some money for the ultimate team to go to the Nationals (in New Orleans) that year. The following year, four ultimate players were elected to the Board. That year the Nationals were in Santa Barbara and the team got a few thousand dollars for travel money.


III. Starting from Scratch

A. Reserve some space and Recruit, Recruit, Recruit

Although you may be starting a team weeks and even months before you may want to practice, you ought to reserve space (either fields or gyms) as early as you can. In DC, for example, you must get reservations in for the whole year in February to the DC Parks Service. Don't get caught with a bunch of players rarin' to go and no place to play.

B. Recruit through PR (Public Relations)

We've found that the most effective recruiting technique was putting ads in the paper. Probably in every major city there is some free or underground type paper that allows free ads to organizations that aren't selling anything. Even major papers may have such a section. The Washington Post, for example, has a Weekend Section every Friday, and in that section they print free ads about upcoming events and sports clubs. We prepared an ad, made about 15 copies, stuck them into envelopes, put stamps on them, and then every Monday we took an envelope and stuck it in the mailbox. Of the first 75 people we recruited (in the first month!) over 50 came from our ad in the Post. As we mentioned earlier, school papers usually offer free ads to "official" type organizations looking for members. You are making a huge mistake if you pass up this opportunity. Sure, the ads may be on the second to last page in fine print - but somebody who finds it and calls you usually has the interest and the time to join the team.

Radio stations are required to air public serivce announcements. Believe it or not, some of them are looking for announcements to air. Write up a simple little "PSA" and send it off to the hip radio stations in town. Especially look for newer stations. In DC, a brand new station was so hard up for PSA's, that they took our ad from the paper and read it over the air, without us ever sending them anything, and without them ever telling us!

Plaster the area with posters. If you're a college student, you know where to put them: wherever students hang out. If you're starting a club team, put posters up in local schools if you can. Check out your local supermarket. Keep a bunch of posters with you in your knapsack (along with a roll of tape, a mini-stapler, and a package of thumbtacks), and take them wherever you go. If you have a car, keep those items in your trunk. The point is, wherever you go, if you think to yourself, "this'd be a great place to put up some posters," then you're ready to do so. (Remember in the introduction we talked about being a fanatic?)

It may help you that the UPA is an "official" non-profit organization. Some radio stations, for example, will offer free PSA's only to non-profits. Use the UPA logo whenever sending written material about your team to anybody. If you and/or your team are UPA members, you can include something like "affiliated with the UPA, a non-profit organization."

C. Personal Recruiting

When you try to get people to come out for the team, treat the situation as though you're trying to get that person to go to a party with you, or to see a concert with your favorite group. In other words, getting somebody to come out is no different from any other social situation.

Make people feel good about themselves and happy to be involved. Be positive. An easy mistake organizers can make is to be bitter about the work they have to do because no one is helping them. (You may, at times, feel bitter, but just don't let it show.)

Ease people in. Everyone we know of who has ever become involved in a substantial way never actually intended to make a major commitment to the organization. They thought they were just committing themselves to a couple of hours a month.

Psychological research shows that people become involved in organizations, and stay involved, because of the social aspects. Sure, the health aspects are nice, running around getting fresh air, etc. But the reason they keep coming out is a social reason! This absolutely cannot be forgotten! After people come out, they keep coming out because they are excited about the new people they are meeting, not because of the exercise or the thrill of competition. Meeting new people "out there in the real world" is very stressful, especially for people that are out of college. A new frisbee team can be an easy, non-threatening way to meet people and to make new friends. Keep this in mind, and try to facilitate the social aspects of this new activity. If you do so, you will be amazed at how quickly some people forget what life was like "before frisbee."

The "social aspect" is probably the most important single factor in keeping a new team together. You can't forget that. We can't overemphasize this. Ask anyone in ultimate what they like about the sport, and they'll answer: "the people."


IV. Planning Ahead

A. Goals

You must, at all times, keep in mind the most important goal of starting a brand new team: survival. You want the new players to keep coming out. If they don't come out, you don't have a team, and you won't be able to get to any other goals you might have. The new players must want to come out. No one can make them come out. They have to want it all by themselves. They will want to come out if they are having fun, and if what they're doing is rewarding. Once the players start coming out, you can't forget this. You must constantly be asking yourself if they are having fun. If the person starting a new team is into a "power trip," there will be problems--that's not very fun for the others. People's spare time is precious, and if it isn't fun, they'll go do something else. Plan to go out for beers after you first practice. Bring a music box to practice. Ideally, you can practice near a team of the opposite sex. Then you can go out for beers together.

You must, at all costs, avoid situations in the beginning that cause any negative reinforcement. Practices shouldn't be scheduled when you feel that attendance will be low. It's far, far better to have too few practices than too many.

Another very common mistake is throwing new players into a scrimmage with experienced players. That is no fun. The new players don't get thrown to enough. When they do, everyone else crowds around trying to get the person to throw a little outlet pass while people all around are screaming "don't rush, take your time!" People don't like feeling inadequate and/or incompetent.

B. A Plan

1. Start your team and start your recruiting over the winter. In that way you can avoid having practices before you have enough players. Andromeda (the first women's team in DC) wasted an entire summer that way. We convinced a couple players to come out, but never enough for a practice. By the time we got other people to come out, the first bunch had already stopped coming. Also, if you're recruiting players to an already existing team, the team will want to scrimmage, but you don't want to subject the new players to this. It's good to get all the new players started at the same time, progressing together. By starting over the winter, you can recruit for eight to twelve weeks before ever having a practice. Then, when you have your first practices, you'll have enough people.

2. Have a meeting before your first practice. Start the social habits early! Squeeze (the second women's team in DC) reserved the upstairs of a restaurant/bar for the meeting. People were very excited when they saw how many other people were there, and made new acquaintances right off the bat. It filled them with anticipation, and they were "chomping at the bit" to have a practice.

This meeting set the tone for the entire season. We drove home the point that no one should feel inadequate because they didn't know how to throw a frisbee. We emphasized, again and again, that that's what the practices were for - to teach. And we stressed that we would spend many of the first couple of practices simply teaching how to do things like throw and catch. We photocopied a section of Tom Kennedy's book on Ultimate (the section about how to throw a backhand) and gave it out as a handout. Of course everyone wanted to learn more, but we were teasing them. They wanted to practice immediately! We gave out copies of the UPA Newsletter. We also gave out a phone list, which gave people a sense that there already was a team established and that they were on it. We talked about the fun aspect of the team, the millions of great people they could meet, what a road trip was like, the UPA, etc. etc. We also told them what kind of progress to expect. We told them that Andromeda took a full year until they won their first game. We warned them about losing many games 13-0, but that when they scored their first goal they would be very proud. We were very careful that they wouldn't be in for a let down when they played their first game. But we also guaranteed them that their bodies would feel healthier within a couple of months; that they would have a sense of accomplishment, that they would have more fun than they could imagine, and lots of new friends. They were very psyched by the end of the meeting.

The person running this meeting must exude confidence. It's OK if this person doesn't know anything about frisbee. The person starting the team doesn't have to. This person, the "captain" must be a good organizer and have good social skills. If he or she does, there is nothing to feel insecure about. The new players will have enough insecurities; they will be looking for a leader that has inner confidence. So be confident! With this manual, you will know what you are doing!

Another valuable tool for this meeting, or other meetings or frisbee parties, would be a video-tape of ultimate (if you have access to the proper equipment). There are several good games on tape that would give your prospective players a flavor of what the sport is like. Additionally, a video can later serve as a teaching tool. You can point out good cuts, great dives, and classic examples of "not going to the disc." You can purchase one for around $35 by calling 1-800-UPA-GetH (as in "Get Horizontal" - a term used to describe a spectacular catch while a person's body is horizontal in the air).

3. Start off slowly. Our first practices involved teaching how to throw a backhand and forehand. You need lots of patience and you need to give out a lot of positive reinforcement. We used the simple triangle drill from TK's book. Experienced players went around giving tips and comforting discouraged players. We always had little pep talks at the beginning and the end of practices. We harped on any visible progress that had been made. We got them pschyed.

If you have any experienced players, you must be sure that they also have a lot of patience. They can't get frustrated. The negativity of one experienced player can infect a team. The new players can be put off by such a player. Some will simply stop showing up for practice. You must have positive reinforcement only!

Start off slowly, physically, too. Remember, these people are probably not in as good shape as you are. Get them running right from the start, but begin with small distances and work your way up. Most importantly, warm them up and stretch them out well. People will think twice about coming out to practice if their body is still sore from the last practice. Have group stretches at first, before and after practice, so you can ensure that everyone stretches properly. Stretching also prevents injuries. Make sure you discuss with the team the importance of stretching.

4. Try and have a schedule ready to hand out at the meeting. The more written materials you can hand out, throughout the season, the better. The team, or at least its captain, looks organized, and it leads legitimacy to the team and the sport. Strategy hand-outs are a good idea, and will help reinforce whatever points you are trying to make. See the section below on "Plugging in to the Network," for ideas on how to get a schedule.

5. Be prepared to be on the phone a lot! Players need to be called. Even more importantly, players need to call the captain when they can't make it to practice or games. Captains lose respect when they have no idea how many of their players will show up at an event. Although players can't be pushed to come to practice (they have to want to come), many times, at first, players will be a bit ambivalent or tentative. Perhaps they are discouraged at not learning the game or its skills fast enough. A phone call to such a player may get them to come out. If you work, hopefully, you can be on the phone. If not, you may need to get a co-captain to handle the phone calls. Someone must be accessible by phone at all times. An answering machine can come in very handy. Often, players want to know some simple information, and pre-recording a message ("the game will start at 10 am") may save lots of phone calls for you.

C. Keep Recruiting

A common mistake is to stop recruiting after a solid core has been formed. The experienced players get tired of having to teach people about pivoting week after week. Do not fall into this trap! It's very sad (and a statement about poor planning) that places like Glassboro State College, whose men's team once had over 30 players and who were US champs two years in a row, and whose women's team was among the best in the country, has no team at all anymore. They are not the only example. Squeeze started with over 35 players that were coming to practice in March; by the time regionals rolled around in November, only 13 healthy players could make it (several were injured).

If you feel there are too many players, start a second team, or have a summer league. People will get injured, lose interest, and move away. Don't turn away people who want to play. It will haunt you in the end.

D. Play Games (and be prepared to lose most of them)

Schedule games. Only you can determine how often your team may want to travel. If you're in the East, you're in luck because you can schedule tournaments virtually any weekend, and not have to travel too far.

Squeeze's first game was against a team of equal caliber (i.e., pretty new). This is a good thing to do. You will get beat 13-0 and 15-2 enough times by more experienced teams later. Again, following the principle of "breaking them in slowly," you want the conditions for your first game to be ideal (just like you want a "first date" to be perfect). You want to play a team about your level, and a team that is very fun. Squeeze's first game was ideal. It was a close game, only two hours away, and after the game we had a barbecue at someone's home.

If you are not near other teams, try to schedule your first game to be at a "fun" tournament (not regionals or sectionals!). A tourney with lots of teams, and one where you know there will be a party and lots of opportunity for social interaction with other teams.

A beginning team is going to lose lots of games. Andromeda, a team that twice went to nationals, played for an entire year before winning their first game. It is extremely important to prepare your team for this; it's also very important to deal with the losses correctly. If the leader of the team gets frustrated at these losses, the team will not have very much fun. And a team that has little fun will not be a team for long.

The captain must keep the team focused. The team should be focusing on fundamentals, on learning, and on the few positive things that may be going well. Remember, there are two aspects to the game: mental and physical. If you can teach the mental parts (knowing how to cut, etc.), and the team is doing that correctly, compliments are in order. Harp on the positive. Physical mistakes are made by even the best teams. New teams will make a lot of them. A bad throw, a dropped pass, that will always happen. And that's why you need your team to throw a lot during practice. But mental mistakes should get fewer and fewer each game. Those can be learned quickly.

That doesn't mean your team will understand all the subtleties of playing against a zone or executing a sideline defense right away. The captain should introduce certain concepts on a weekly basis in a logical order (not overloading the team), and stick with trying to do those things during the games. We remember coaching Squeeze when they were brand new, and some guy came up to us and started talking to us about having Squeeze make reverse cuts because the other team was overplaying the swing. That was a good point, except that our team had just learned the concept of the swing. We simple said, "we're not up to that, yet." You can't move on to the next lesson when the team is still learning the first one.

More importantly, when they're doing the right things, and still losing 11-0, impress upon the team that they are doing the right thing; that they're just getting beat by a better team. The team has to be focused on what they are doing on the field. They absolutely can not be focused on the score. We remember losing a game 13-1 against a good team and feeling good about it! Why? Because we were executing the right cuts at the right time. Our players weren't good enough yet to throw and catch, but we all knew how to cut, and we were doing it well. This is exactly the point of focusing on what's happening on the field and not on the score.

Another common mistake that new captains make is in substitutions. Everyone has to play in each half. Practices are good for players, but games are better. Game experience is unique. No one chokes or gets nervous in a practice. It sure will happen in games, though. Playing the game is what this whole thing is about, and when players travel to a game and don't play they may not keep coming out. Playing time is the best way to impart a lesson about showing up and trying hard at practice. A good player may have no incentive to come to practice is s/he knows that s/he'll get lots of playing time anyway. It's very hard not to play a good player who hasn't been practicing, but it has to be done. It's very, very bad for morale for a player to just show up at games and to get a lot of playing time. Again, you have to remember what your goal is. In the first season or two, your goal is survival. Not winning. Even if your goal is to make the nationals, you can do it without winning many games. Remember that concept. You can lose every game from March to September and still win the Nationals. Let's draw an analogy to college basketball, where the championship is decided by a year-end tournament. The good coaches play all their players the first half of the year, even if it costs them some games. At the end of the year, those teams have the best bench strength, the most experienced second string. Then the team can go all out on defense, playing hard, and subbing players in and out frequently. And this strategy is done by coaches with experienced players! On a team where almost everybody is inexperienced, each player needs as much playing time as they can get.

Each of your players need to play all of the positions. A new player who is forced to "go along" all the time can't be expected to learn how to throw too well if they're never in that position during a game. Mix it up. Let's say your offense is divided up into handlers, middles, and longs. Play some of your newer players at middle. Put some of your middles at handler. Sometimes a great handler makes an even better middle. New players aren't stupid. When they're told to "go along" all the time, and the disc is hardly ever thrown to them, it doesn't take them long to figure out how much confidence you have in them. Never underestimate the power of confidence, on a team level and on an individual level. Never forget, too, that even the best player on the team needs compliments and their confidence built up.

E. Be a Leader

If you're the captain, then, like it or not, you're the role model. If you don't run hard at practice, you can't expect your team to do so. If you get frustrated during games, and let it show, then they will. If it's hard for you to run hard during practice because you're already the best player, have some other enthusiastic player be the "drills coach" so that they can get on your case if you're not running hard. You have to be into what you are doing, and you have to set an example. You have to believe that you have a "master plan" and that things are progressing well. You have to be confident in yourself, you have to be confident about the team, and you have to be confident about what the future holds. Be positive . Never let another team put your team down. If other teams treat your team in a condescending manner, and unfortunately, it will happen occasionally, talk to the other captain about it. Even the newest team should get respect. Don't let your team get the short end of the stick just because they are new. Be proud of what you are doing. Because what you are doing is something that everyone connected to ultimate should be happy about: promoting the growth of ultimate.


V. Plugging into a Network

A. Join the UPA (Ultimate Players Association)

There are lots of reasons to join the UPA. Supporting your sport, etc. But the most practical reason for an organizer of a new team to join the UPA is so you can find out what's going on. In other words, the UPA is the "network" you want to plug into. The country is divided into six regions, and each region is divided into four to six sections. You'll want to know who the other teams in your area are. You'll want to know where the tournaments are, and how to get your team in them. You'll want to know your sectional and regional coordinator. They are valuable resources who can help you with various problems.

At the end of the season (around October and November) the UPA has it's "championship series." Each section in the country has a tournament. The top teams at sectionals qualify for the regionals championships. Those top teams qualify for the Nationals. There is also a Collegiate Championship Series held in April and May. Both series have an "open" and "women's" division. In the East, there is also another "UPA Series" (which includes sectionals, regionals and Easterns) in the spring (April and May). Every team that meets the "eligibility" requirements of their series is eligible to compete in the series. Every person on the team must be a UPA Member. For the college series, the players all must be students. There are a few other technical requirements. They are listed every year in the UPA Newsletter.

For information about the UPA call 1-800-UPA-GetH (as in "Get Horizontal," a term used to describe a spectacular catch while a person's body is horizontal in the air). A membership costs $40 ($30 for college students). Mail it to UPA, 741 Pearl St., Sides Suite, Boulder, CO, 80302.

B. The Network

There are six regions in the UPA (Central, NorthEast, NorthWest, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, and SouthWest). Each region has a regional coordinator, and a special women's regional coordinator and a college regional coordinator. Each section has a coordinator (some sections also have coordinators for women and colleges). Of course there is also a national director, and women's national director, and co-ed director and a collegiate national director. There is also a High School national director, who can put you in touch with other high school teams.

C. Contact your Coordinator

Let someone know that you exist! (Whether or not you have a team yet.) That way you can get on mailing lists, and get lists of other teams. Call your sectional and regional coordinator immediately! They will be able to help you out. At the least they will offer you moral support when you need it. If you don't know who your regional coordinator is, (or if the phone number is not listed in the "UPA contact list") call the national coordinator. The thing a UPA official likes to hear the most is that a new team is starting, so don't feel shy about calling. You will get a lot of encouragement when you call.

Many players are trying to start teams and because they are on lists, they have received this manual in the mail. Don't miss out on opportunities like that.

Many regions have captains meetings. Find out about them and meet other captains. You will also be able to find out when the other tournaments are. Some regions (the Mid-Atlantic and the NorthEast) have two meetings per year (in February, and around Labor Day) to set the spring and fall schedules. All it takes to get into most of the tournaments is a phone call to the person running the tournament. Your regional coordinator ought to have a list of tournaments to send to you. If you are in the Mid-Atlantic or NorthEast regions, you will find that there are more than one tournament every weekend during the height of the spring and fall seasons.

D. Collegiate Top 25

All college teams are ranked by the UPA, provided someone calls in the results to the college games. Sports information directors love things like this. For your team to get ranked, call your scores into 1-800-UPA-GetH before 1 pm Monday, or e-mail them to "upa_hq@upa.org".

E. Plugging into the Ultimate Electronic Community

And, in our high tech world, there is an international computer network that has an area devoted to disc sports. If you have a computer and a modem, you can literally "plug in." There are UPA announcements made on the board (like Top 25, team lists, tournament notices), as well as discussions on rules, strategies, and other interesting topics. It is available 24 hours per day. If you have access to "USENET", (and just about EVERY university, and most large companies and government agencies do), the "area" is called "rec.sport.disc".

Additionally, all UPA Officials have e-mail accounts. Check the latest UPA Newsletter or Web site for the addresses. It is thus possible to e-mail articles directly to the UPA Newsletter Editor.

HEY - we're not done yet, but this partially done manual ought to help you a little bit. If you have any comments, suggestions, anecdotes, etc., you'd like to add, or if you have any questions, etc., drop us a note. In addition, we have many drills and strategy handouts that are beneficial to new and old teams that we would be happy to share with you. Just call or write to us. In the meantime, good luck with your team and have fun!