‘Ultimate frisbee’, the sport in which without a referee rivals have to talk

This week the Krakens, with the flag on the shirt, will debut at the European Championships in this sport in Bruges, Belgium. The debut is on Thursday against the CUBS Red Bulls of Bologna (Italy), the first of the three matches of the initial phase. In many European countries there is a certain tradition in a sport that is quite unknown in our country. Abroad, some players can charge thanks to sponsors or the support of local institutions. The Krakens, on the other hand, are paying everything out of their own pocket to make their debut in a continental tournament thanks to the state sub-championship they won just before the pandemic. Being debutants, rivals don’t know them. And they aspire to surprise in a sport that is, of course, about catching a puck in the air. But behind it is much more than a jump. There is a world that catches you.

L’ultimate emerged in the late 1960s at U.S. universities. In 1984, coinciding with his arrival in Europe and Latin America, the World Flying Disc Federation was founded. “It’s an easy sport to explain. It’s similar to American football, but without contact. And in this case the ball would be the flying saucer, of course. There are two modes. One on the sand of the beach, where teams face off. of five players.And one on the grass, where the teams have 7. The idea is to go past the puck to try to reach the mark area, at the end of the field of play.There is no goal, there is an area When you receive the disc, you can only move one foot and you have to pass the disc again in 10 seconds. a mistake in the pass, changes possession “, explains Juan Manuel Triviño, one of the souls of the Barcelona team.

In Belgium, the championships are on grass, in this case. Triviño, a Colombian, was already playing ultimate in his country and when he arrived in Barcelona, ​​he was clear that he wanted to continue practicing it. “I started practicing it in 2004. There’s more tradition there and I learned a lot of things that I can now use to coach the team. One of my ideas was to be able to play on a team that, beyond if you want to have a good time, you want to compete, ”he says.

In Catalonia, the first club was Bravas, founded in 1997 in Castelldefels. In Barcelona, ​​Peixets was born more than a decade ago. The embryo of Peixets was born in 2006, at the hands of some players from the Sevilla Frisbillanas team who arrived in Barcelona, ​​but the club ended up forming in 2007. “Inside there are two teams, the men’s Krakens and the Women’s Piranhas We are in Somorrostro, so the name is inspired by the Golden Fish Many people have passed through the club, but about three years ago a lot of people came in who wanted to make a quality leap. now we also want to compete, ”says Triviño.

In total, about 50 people linked to this club, one of the different that give life to theultimate in Barcelona, ​​where there are other groups such as the Sharks. 21 of them, players who have left for Belgium to make their European debuts. More than 60 teams from the three divisions from more than 20 countries will take part in the tournament. The presence of a team from the Spanish championships is a novelty. “Naturally, we pay for everything. Some of us couldn’t make it to the trip. It’s a very nice group, with people from all over the world. We have Venezuelans, Colombians, two Frenchmen, an Italian and a good a group of Catalans A mix of jobs and ages A heterogeneous group with a nuclear engineer, people working at the Generalitat de Catalunya, a Seat engineer or a genius in the world of applications. has become a group of friends, ”he adds. Just as some players have gone through prestigious universities, in the Krakens there are also people who arrived without papers and looked for a team to be able to integrate.

The Krakens train every Monday on grass at the Can Dragó facilities, where they return on Saturday. On Wednesday, it touches beach. Triviño directs the workouts, which are more intense than people may think. “In a match ofultimate it’s time to run more than in a basketball game. You may end up very tired of going up and down, you need to be fit. During the pandemic, video calls were made to share training sessions, “he recalls.

L’ultimate frisbee it is a sport with many points in common with others, but with key differentiating factors to understand why it catches its practitioners. One, that there is the mixed category, as important as the male and female. “Players are usually part of two teams, the mixed and the other,” Triviño points out. The second factor that makes this sport so special is the absence of a referee. “People are very surprised that there is no referee, when it is a team with two teams facing each other. fair play it is very important. It is a sport in which you cannot touch the opponent, in which in case of doubt about a play, you have to be honest. And if two players see things differently, you need to start a dialogue. Dialogue forces you to listen, to pay attention to other perspectives. And if there is no agreement, the record goes back, “says Triviño.

In fact, these features have allowed theultimate frisbee be part of initiatives to create dialogue between communities and opposing groups, such as in Colombia with former FARC guerrillas and members of the cons, or in Jerusalem between young Palestinians and Israelis. “You can make them play separately or share a team; forcing them to talk, to listen, to be able to keep playing,” said the Krakens player-coach. “Our sport has grown a lot in recent years, especially in training centers. It’s a discipline with a lot of values. A lot of people leave football or basketball when they know it. They find something different in it.” A sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee that will try to enter the official program of the Games in 2028.