A Brief History of Ultimate Frisbee, by Scott Perlov

1. A Brief History of Ultimate
Frisbee, by Scott Perlov
By Ed Yourdon [CC-BY-SA-2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via
Wikimedia Commons

2. In addition to earning his MBA from the
Thunderbird School of Global Management in
Glendale, Arizona, Scott Perlov captained the
school’s ultimate Frisbee team. Here, he
shares a brief history of the unique sport.
● Ultimate Frisbee was invented in the summer of
1968, when students from Columbia High School in
Maplewood, New Jersey, were tossing a Frisbee and
experimenting with traditional rules.
● The participating students included academic
leaders, student politicians, and school newspaper
staff members; popularity spread as the sport
became a recognized counter-cultural activity.

3. ● Other colleges in the Northeast and around
the country adopted the sport, and unofficial
national championships were held in the mid-
1970s.
● In 1979, the Ultimate Players Association
(UPA) was formed to govern the sport in the
United States. It organizes regional
tournaments and holds an annual national
championship.
● The rules of the sport remain largely
unchanged from its beginnings. One of
ultimate’s most notable traits is its lack of
referees; all matches, even at the highest
level, are self-officiated.