Striker
Written on July 5th, 2018 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}What sparked your interest in Frisbee?
I got introduced to Frisbee in a rather peculiar way. It all began in
my first year when a wing-mate of mine, had a disc that he got for
free. We used to go to the Krishna Bhawan QT to make random throws.
Eventually, a lot of my wing-mates joined, and we decided to make it
more competitive. One fine day, we crudely designed our own few rules
and created a game, in which, to score you had to hit the drain pipe on
the opponent’s side. We played this passionately for more than a year!
In Ram Bhawan and through to Gandhi Bhawan, until we were in our second
year. Sometime later, we discovered that MKBHD, a famous Tech-review
YouTuber, plays a game called Ultimate and that it is related to
Frisbee. It had almost exactly the same rules that we independently had
created!. I read about the game and I was in love!
What is your opinion about the current Frisbee culture on campus?
Ultimate culture on campus is on a rigorous and steep growth curve.
The first team I formed, which was only last semester, is performing
well and we are almost at par with most of the teams from Hyderabad
Ultimate Community, with just 4-5 months of practice. We have loads of
new recruits, from first year especially, and their enthusiasm inspires
me.
How do you think we can improve the Frisbee culture on campus?
First, we need to recognize this as an official sport so we can get a
budget allocated per semester from the SAC funds or from the SUC. Discs
get worn out very quickly and most of the time we are playing with
scratched and frayed discs. We need support from campus to have a
regular supply of discs. This is probably over-reaching, but we’d love
to have a grass field to practice on during proper evening hours, rather
than late at night. Second, we need to increase awareness of the sport
amongst the girls. Once we have enough female players, we can form an
official team and participate in tournaments outside. Third, we need to
host more Ultimate Leagues and Ultimate HAT tournaments.
What do you expect from students who give Frisbee inductions?
Enthusiasm only.
Why wasn’t UFC a part of ARENA?
Ultimate wasn’t a part of Arena because we did not have a team by
then. We had more than enough boys, but we had only two girls. We
couldn’t get it up to the 3:4 ratio required. We needed more female
representation to actually invite teams over and conduct matches. We
have more girls turning over for practices and we can soon build a team.
We will be conducting Hyderabad Ultimate League, hopefully on our
campus grounds this semester. So, although Arena was a major miss,
things are advancing towards a bright future.
What struggles did you face when you first had to establish UFC as a sport in campus?
We started with very few players and even fewer remained after a
week. I was learning with the players, so I wasn’t the best trainer the
kids could get, but we had to do with that. I did not have a place to
practice with my recruits. We had a lot of pain playing at very weird
places. We started taking throws at Kabaddi ground. Then we shifted to
the ruins behind the SAC and Medical Center, in the depression below.
The ground was so bad we had to shift to A-Block academic lawns. This is
where the proper foundation of Ultimate was laid. The field was bad. It
had a slope upwards. But it had to do. Ultimately, we shifted to the
Hockey field, where we train after dinner every night so that we don’t
intrude into football practices in the evening. With conditions like
this, maintaining the enthusiasm of players was difficult - with no
official recognition and bleak chances of forming a team, we were just
exploring the sport at our own pace. It’s only the hard work of the team
that brought Ultimate to where it is today.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I am happy that Ultimate has finally started receiving recognition.
It gives worth to all our efforts that we put in each day for over a
year now, and me personally for almost 3 years. We have a long way to go
from here. We have to win over teams from across India. With my amazing
team and their enthusiasm and hard work, I have to hustle and guide
BPHC Ultimate towards greatness. I have a vision, and I shall achieve it
with my team by my side.
Interviewed by Venkatesh Jaya & Vamsi Nallappareddy