Curve, an ultimate frisbee club in Islington, are hoping that the nature of their sport will allow them to continue despite concerns over coronavirus.
The president of the club, Rob Dover told Islington Now: “We hope that with it being an outdoor sport that’s not played by an enormous amount of people, it should be possible to keep running sessions without too much of a risk. But it’s one of those things we’ll have to keep monitoring and waiting for further advice.”
Dover did admit, however, that the club has not been completely unaffected: “Just today we heard that the tournament we were next expecting to go to in Cardiff towards the end of March has been cancelled.”
The sport is non-contact, and played by five players on each team when indoors, and seven on each team when played outdoors. Dover describes it best as a “cross between American football and netball but with a frisbee.
Curve, which have been running since 2004, mostly plays its games in Clissold park and they welcome all new players: “The club is a mixed club,” said Dover, “we’re open to all players, regardless of gender. We have a variety of playing levels in the club, so we go from beginners to people who want to play fairly competitively.”
While the club is open to beginners, Curve also performs on the competitive stage: “We also send teams to tournaments.” Dover added, “some of them local, and some are more national level tournaments. We also try to go to at least one international tournament every year where normally we play on the beach rather than on grass. This year we went to Barcelona and finished 7th out of 10 teams, which we were fairly happy with considering that living in London there isn’t that much beach to practice on.”
Over the last few years the sport has seen a sharp increase in popularity, and Dover believes that is down to universities, saying, “I’ve noticed that there has been a big uptick in the number of people playing at university. I assume mainly because it’s a part of BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) and that means that universities provide a bit of funding to frisbee teams. So, I’m starting to see more and more players finishing university, moving to London and looking for somewhere like our club to play.”
“It has the aspects of netball in that when you’re holding the disk you can’t move and it’s got the aspects of American football because you’re trying to pass the frisbee into an end zone to score.”
Unlike many other sports, ultimate frisbee is completely self-refereed, which Dover believes is a major selling point, saying, “When you have a referee there’s a tendency to do as much as you can get away with, because it’s the referee’s job to pull you up on it. But when there isn’t a referee everyone has to call their own fouls, so you can’t get away with as much because you’re held accountable. The atmosphere that goes with the game as a result is much more pleasant and welcoming than you might find in other sports.”
As for Curve’s plans for the future, Dover revealed, “Our main aim is to continue to provide the opportunity for people to come and play frisbee in an environment where it’s easy to get involved. Ideally, we hope the size of the club increases and we’re able to send multiple teams to tournaments or run our own tournaments. Overall, we just want to keep promoting the sport of frisbee and keep having fun.”
