MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Ultimate Association, the governing body of Ultimate Frisbee in the country, is lining up a number of tournaments in a bid to further boost the development of the sport that has generated interest here and abroad the last few years.
“We want the Philippines to be the Ultimate Frisbee center in Asia,” said coach Wendell Simbulan, one of the sport’s pillars in the country. “We already have the most number of tournaments and the number of athletes continues to increase.”
According to Simbulan, Manila boasts of more than 100 clubs, underscoring the growing popularity of the sport that was introduced by foreign tourists in Boracay in 2002.
Since then, the sport has spread throughout the land with young athletes travelling around the country to bond and have fun through that “Spirit of the Game” rule. The most popular beach Ultimate team in the Philippines, the Boracay Dragons, is even considered among the best beach Ultimate players in the world, having finished second place in the World Beach Ultimate Championships for two consecutive seasons – in Brazil (2007) and Italy (2011).
The Philippines also emerged as the Singapore Ultimate Open 2012 champion and has been ranked seventh out of 15 countries in the 2012 World Ultimate and Guts Championship in Osaka earlier this year.
The sport is the only game in the world that does not have any referees but it demands a strong spirit of sportsmanship and respect from its players, or what the sport calls the “Spirit of the Game.”
“In this sport, you can be the most skilled or be the highest pointer, but it doesn’t automatically make you an Ultimate player,” said Simbulan. “An Ultimate player abides by the rules even if there are no referees or people in charge. There should be no cheating, no bad calls, no trash-talking – fair play rules the game.”
Players from all over the world also travel to play in two international tournaments in the Philippines – the Manila Spirits (grass) held every November, and the Boracay Ultimate Open (beach) during the summer months. Local tournaments also include the Ultimate Shindig in Dumaguete every August, the Daba-Dabaw Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Davao, and the Ultimo Abril in Cebu every summer. A number of tournaments are also held in Subic, Pampanga, Laguna, Cebu, Iligan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dipolog, Cagayan de Oro, and Bukidnon throughout the year.
“Ultimate Frisbee in the Philippines is growing and evolving so fast to the point that players really travel to attend provincial tournaments. There are so many people who get hooked, so if you’re into Ultimate Frisbee, you’ll be spoilt for choice in the Philippines alone. Flying in teams from different parts of the country is easier with Cebu Pacific, because we can fly from one province to another, and even to international tournaments! We can follow the sport anywhere for a fraction of the cost,” said Simbulan.
For details on Ultimate Frisbee in the Philippines, visit www.philippineultimate.org/pua/.