In 2014 the Oakland Outlaws were born, and since then, the team has continued to expand their outreach.

Ultimate Frisbee 101

To understand the club, you must first understand the way of the game. Ultimate frisbee can feel and look like a football game with a disc. It’s a seven on seven game, and the continuous play doesn’t stop until a team scores. In order to score, you must catch the frisbee in the endzone, you can’t run or walk with the disk, and once you catch it, you must use your momentum as quickly as you can.

Only being able to advance the disk by throwing it is what makes ultimate frisbee what many consider a unique, exciting battle of attrition. Frisbee is not a contact sport, so anytime you encroach on someone throwing or catching the disk it’s a foul. There are also no officials at the club level, so the game calls to honor and self-officiating.

Each score is worth one point, games are typically played to a specified score such as 15 or until the 90 minute running clock hits 0. Teams have an offensive line which mans the field when they receive the poll (throw off) and a defensive line that is on the field to send the polls. Position wise, there are handlers and cutters.

Handlers control the disk between each other while looking for the cutters to make a break for either a short dump or a deep huck. Handlers utilize their various kinds of throws like flicks, backhands, hammers and other niche throws while cutters run in either a horizontal stack or vertical stack of players to get open.

The club

Clarence Round, better known as C.J., is the team’s active head coach, captain and president, and he’s still an active player. Round coordinates team tournaments, team volunteering and he controls the budget for the team. He also creates optimal lineups and plays while making all in-game adjustments to the team’s strategies. The team has competed in two tournaments in each semester this year, and in one of the fall tournaments they took home the first place trophy.

Round’s goal is to get the team into the USA Ultimate (USAU) league, an organized ultimate frisbee league where the team would have a regular schedule to compete regionally and possibly nationally. Getting into the USAU has been a goal of the team since they were founded, but it takes jumping through some rings.

The team has around 14-20 players and they are always looking to add new members. The team practices twice a week. Round bestows the fundamentals of the game like proper throwing form and having adequate knowledge of the game. Past that, Round is a firm believer that the club is ultimately for fun, team scrimmages, joking around and building relationships.

“It’s a new sport for a lot of people, and you want people to continually play the sport and to have fun,” Round said. “We’re an open team to males and females. It’s a cheap sport to play and we’re all about having fun. Give ultimate a chance.”