Malaysia has a professional Ultimate frisbee team that competed in France

So Malaysia is participating in a world championships for the first time… guess what it is?… It’s called Ultimate Frisbee! A team of 15 players will be representing the country at the World Championships of Beach Ultimate (WCBU) 2017, held in Royan, France from 18-24 June.

Malaysian athletes are no stranger to obscure sports. Have you heard of Jombola? Woodball? Floorball? Some of you might have also heard that there’s a budding lacrosse and Quidditch (ya the Harry Potter sport) scene here. But what on earth is Ultimate Frisbee? We speak to Erwin Wee, Secretary of the Malaysian Flying Disc Association (MFDA).

Ultimate Frisbee is like a combo of American football and netball

Ultimate Frisbee, aka Ultimate for short, is a decades old sport. In 1967, some American college boys evolved a team frisbee game based on concepts from American football and netball (though flying discs have been since the 40s). Players cannot run with the disc, and a goal is scored by catching a pass in the opposing team’s end zone. It is played on a field similar in size to an American Football field with end zones at each end. But how did the sport get its name??

“I just remember one time running for a pass and leaping up in the air and just feeling the frisbee making it into my hand and feeling the perfect synchrony and the joy of the moment, and as I landed I said to myself, ‘This is the ultimate game. This is the ultimate game’.” – Jared Kass, one of the inventors of Ultimate in a video interview

These boys then taught the game to high school kid Joel Silver, who got his school student council to introduce Ultimate into the curriculum. Joel and his buddies then wrote the first edition rules of the game and that’s how we got today’s version of Ultimate! Watch this video to see how it’s played:

“The first games of Ultimate on Malaysian soil were actually played by expatriate teachers from International School Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) almost 17 years ago in year 2000.” – Erwin Wee, Secretary of the Malaysian Flying Disc Association (MFDA) told CILISOS in an email

Not long after that, Malaysians started playing too and recruiting more and more people. In 2004, international sport consulting company Global Sports Partners (GSP) took it to the next level by manufacturing a locally produced disc, MyDiscs™. Having a decent yet affordable disc helped push the sports locally in schools and universities. You can buy MyDiscs™ for RM45 online or at your nearest dealer. You can even custom design your discs here which is cheaper.

“From there it was easy because for most people, once they try the sport, they get hooked! Since 2015, we have been promoting the sport together with GSP, in local schools through the 1 Murid 1 Sukan programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education.” – Erwin in an email to CILISOS

Competitive Ultimate really took off only about 10 years ago with the first Malaysia Ultimate Open, organised by pioneers Safwan Mohd and Kuan Cheong – two people who deserve a lot of credit for promoting the sport in the early days, added Erwin. Playing the game can be both nerve-wracking and chill, depending on what kind of tournament you participate in. In hat tournaments (where people register as individuals and get assigned teams by the organiser), people generally chill and have fun, whereas in competitive matches it can get really intense.

“Ultimate involves a lot of running and jumping which can be really tiring and results in aching bodies after intense training sessions and tournaments. I personally find it exhilarating every time I play, especially when I manage to get a block on defense, throw an assist or catch a pass in the end zone to score a goal.” – Erwin

Currently there are about 46 teams on record and more than 600 active members registered with the association, while the total population of players in Malaysia is estimated to be more than 2,000. And now omg we’re ready to TAKE ON THE WORLDDD!

But some of the members have never met until the championships!

The Malaysian team, named Team Pantai, does not consist of a bunch of friends who’ve been playing Ultimate for many years, who are familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Some of them have NEVER MET prior to the tournament and some of them aren’t even living in Malaysia! Due to geographic locations, they couldn’t host trials, so they had to do thorough research on each applicant.

“We had more than 40 applicants from Malaysians all over the world register through an interest form and provide us with details on their experience and skill level, as well as provide referees to advocate for their application.” – Erwin, explaining how they selected players

Then the applicants are screened by a coaching panel and referees are contacted to confirm on the applicants’ skill level and experience. They looked for players who had experience playing internationally and with a good track record of observing a VERY IMPORTANT RULE of the game, which we’ll talk about later…

Finally, they managed to narrow down 15 members – 10 Malaysians, 2 Canadians and 1 Briton living in Penang, and 2 Americans with connections to Malaysia. The team didn’t even get to practice together either before France, although players based in the same regions gathered to train weekly. Others prepared on their own, Erwin told us.

“The team will have to work on their chemistry when we reach France and play together for the first time against the best teams in the world.” – Jason Conrad, Team Captain, in Malaysian Flying Disc Association’s (MFDA) press release

In the first match, Team Pantai went up against Russia (Mon, 19 June), Australia, Great Britain, Portugal, Ukraine, Poland and Austria. With the high cost of attending the tournament, most of the team members paid for their own way, however, local Ultimate clothing manufacturer Trio helped raise some money for the team through sales of team jerseys. The total cost to send the team to France is around RM112,500, which comes down to RM7,500 per player, Erwin revealed.

Wow, they really risk a lot and spent so much money… can win ar? But Ultimately (hehe) it’s not about winning or losing…

The important thing at the end of the day is the…….’Spirit of the Game’

The ‘Spirit of the Game’ or SOTG is that VERY IMPORTANT RULE we mentioned earlier. You see, the game doesn’t have a referee or umpire. The players are the referees!

“Players are expected to know the rules by heart so that they are able to make and resolve foul calls by themselves through discussions on the field and resolve calls according to the rules.” – Erwin

For example, using respectful language, reacting calmly towards disagreement, telling a teammate when you think they’ve done something wrong, etc. So NO bad behaviour, ‘diving’ and flipping the finger or headbutting your opponent.

SOTG is an acronym all players and fans know by heart. It is heavily emphasized at the World Championships and even by the founders way back when. In fact, to be eligible to play in the championships, players have to pass the Basic Rules quiz and at least 50% of the team needs to pass the Advanced Rules quiz (click here for both).

To cut a long story short, it’s not about the medals, it’s not about the glory.

“The team’s main goal at the world championship is to play our best and try to win the Spirit Award. We hope to demonstrate amazing spirit with our opponents and put Malaysia on the map as a fun, competitive team that will continue to improve at each appearance on the world scene.” Jason Conrad

If you’ve been looking for a sport to pick up and you want something fun to build team spirit, something not too competitive, maybe give Ultimate a shot? Check out the MFDA or Ultimate Malaysia to find a group near you.