Ultimate frisbee is one of the ways to stay active and meet new people at Marshall University without the grueling, physical contact of most sports, said Nicholas Aprea a student who said he found his home away from home when he joined the Ultimate Frisbee club.

Aprea, a four-year team member, expressed his gratitude toward the Ultimate Frisbee Club. 

“What I love most is that anyone can play and that there’s always opportunities to play,” he said. 

Ultimate frisbee, better known as Ultimate, is a culmination of multiple sports; soccer, basketball and American football. Ultimate is a non-contact sport played on a large rectangular field with seven players on each team. In order to score, the teams have to pass the frisbee to a teammate who must catch it in the endzone. 

The only catch is that players cannot run with the frisbee in hand. When someone receives the frisbee, they have to stop and throw it, or pitch, to another player to advance down the field. If the frisbee hits the ground, gets intercepted of even knocked down, the other team takes over with possession. If one makes contact during play, it is a foul and the possession is turned over to the other team. 

Aprea said he has been involved in ultimate frisbee since his middle school days. Aprea went on to start the Ultimate Frisbee Club team at his high school. Playing in the Pittsburgh High School ultimate league, his team made it all the way to the semifinals during its first season. 

Aprea said he hoped that when he came to Marshall, he would find a chance to continue playing the sport he was so fond of. 

“Once I got to college, I went to Rec Fest at the beginning of the year, like most freshman do, and there was a table set up with the Ultimate Frisbee Club team”, he said. “Once I got connected and added into the GroupMe, I have been part of the club ever since.”

Some students join a club sport to escape the day-to-day stressors faced, but Aprea said he joined because this sport is a bigger part of him, one that will never grow old.

“This is a game I can play anywhere and everywhere until I get old, it’s something that I’ll always be able to compete in”, he said. “The other day, I played in the rain for no reason ‘cause a few people were just out there throwing around.”

Alexandra Warrington can be contacted at [email protected].