LYNDONVILLE - Many local athletes are associated with the everyday sports we are accustomed to watching on TV. Football, baseball, basketball, and soccer might be the first sports that come to the mind of the average enthusiast, but in the Northeast Kingdom, ultimate frisbee is on the rise.
Ultimate frisbee, or "ultimate" for the avid frisbee athlete, is a sport that combines running, throwing, and catching, but with a twist of brains and strategy. The game is like most; the goal is to score the most points, and the first one to 15 wins the game.
The field is typically the size of a soccer field with two end zones where points are scored. The goal of the game is to pass, catch, and throw the frisbee, until a player catches it in the end zone.
The strategy comes from the key rule in ultimate; you can't run with the frisbee. Players can only take three steps after they catch the frisbee, and after that they can not move any more.
When you don't have the frisbee, thats when you can run all you want, trying to lose the defender to get wide open, and to move the frisbee closer to the end zone.
The mentality of ultimate is also different than other sports.
Erin O'Farrell, a sophomore at the Lyndon Institute, said "Ultimate is different because the goal is to kind of have fun and there's no referee so you call your own fouls and stuff and its kind of care free, but sometimes it can be an intense game".
O'Farrell, in her second year on the Lyndon Institute Ultimate Team, is currently on the Girls Varsity team. Lyndon Institute, along with the St. Johnsbury Academy, has three ultimate teams, Boys Varsity, Girls Varsity, and Co-Ed Junior Varsity.
When asked about the best part of Ultimate Frisbee, O'Farrell said "I like the mellowness of it and its a lot of fun, and its a lot of running, but you don't realize you are running so much so its a good work out".
Lyndon Institute plays their next Ultimate Frisbee match against Montpelier May 6th at the Institute.