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The Ultimate Invasion Game
Having spent time training in secondary schools, our trainee PE teachers returned to the university and were introduced to a new and innovative team game widely played in North America and also in the UK.
Ultimate Frisbee is an exciting, non-contact team sport that mixes the best features of sports such as soccer, basketball, American football and netball. Many schools now include Ultimate Frisbee in their PE curriculum as an alternative to more traditional competitive team sports which has greater appeal to much wider population of pupils.
It has all the components of goal-throwing invasion games where the object of the game is to manoevre an object through a defended territory to an agreed target within set parameters over a prescribed period of time. Ultimate Frisbee is a seven-a-side game that requires cardiovascular fitness, tactical awareness and technical ability and can be adapted to suit each individual pupil.
The aim of the game is to score a goal by sending and receiving a Frisbee into the opponent’s end zone. One unique feature of Ultimate Frisbee is that it is played without referees with players making decisions reciprocally.
PGCE and School Direct PE route leader, Dr Gary Stidder said: “Ultimate Frisbee is a great alternative to other forms of invasion games and requires very different skills and techniques. If taught correctly they can be extremely inclusive for all pupils of all abilities and provide variation in terms of curriculum content.
“I particularly like the fact that players have to take responsibility for making refereeing decisions collectively and ensure that it is played in the spirit of the game. This is a great example of how respect for opponents can be embedded and contributes to the holistic development of pupils.”