What is Taj Ultimate?

The Taj Ultimate Committee is pleased to invite you to the northern areas of Hyogo for another weekend of sport, food, and dancing. This year's tournament will be held the weekend of July 3-4, 2010. The venue for the tournament will again be the Tajima Dome grass fields located in the picturesque ski fields of Kannabe.

The tournament will commence on the Saturday with round-robin matches, and conclude with championship brackets on the Sunday. A barbecue party is planned for Saturday evening, with time for a visit to the local onsen (just within walking distance of the field). The tournament hopes to promote good relations between JETs and Japanese people within our communities.

We look forward to welcoming back and exceeding the 300 players and spectators from last year. Any questions can be directed to the committee in either English or Japanese. Contact details are located here.

For more information about the rules of the tournament, please see the tournament rules page.

The first Taj Ultimate tournament was held on June 5-6, 2004 at the Tajima Dome. A link to photos from last year's tournament is available here.

So...What is Ultimate Frisbee?

The Game (explained as simply as possible)

Ultimate is played between two teams of seven players on a large, rectangular pitch. A line drawn across the pitch at either end creates two "endzones" (like in American Football). These are the goal scoring areas. A goal is scored when a team completes a pass to a player standing (or more likely running) in the endzone they are attacking. Players cannot run with the disc. When you get the disc you must come to a stop and try to throw it to another player (a bit like netball). By passing from player to player, the offense attempts to work the disc up the pitch toward the endzone they are attacking. If the disc hits the ground or is intercepted or knocked down by the other team, then the opposition takes possession (a change of possesion is called a "turnover", like in American Football). Possession also changes if a receiver is outside the playing area when he or she catches it.

The defending team attempts to stop the team with the disc from making progress upfield by marking them (as in soccer or basketball). The theory is that the offense won't want to pass to a player who is being marked closely, as it's likely to result in an interception. So it boils down to the offense players trying to get free of their markers to receive a pass, while the defense makes every effort to stay with them in the hope of forcing a turnover.

Fouls and the "Spirit of the Game"

Ultimate is essentially non-contact; any contact between players can be declared a foul. There's a variety of other minor violations, but that's the big one.

Ultimate is unique in that it is refereed by the players themselves, even at World Championship level, according to a code of conduct known as "the Spirit of the Game". This places the responsibility for fair play on the players themselves. In that respect, playing Ultimate is a completely different experience to playing other sports. And believe it or not, Ultimate's system of self-refereeing works...beautifully.

Links for more information

• Ultimate Players Association
• Ultimate Frisbee Links