Ultimate Frisbee in India is more than flying discs and fun in the sun

India’s national frisbee championship was recently held in Bengaluru. A low-down on the sport

India Ultimate recently hosted the National Open and Women’s Championship 2025 for frisbee in Bengaluru. The event saw 39 teams from 10 cities, featuring over 700 athletes competing in the Open, Women’s and Challenger Open divisions.

Primarily played on grass or sand, at both the world stage and in India, the action takes place on a stretch of land roughly the length and breadth of a football field. Two rectangle spaces at both ends of the field, are the end zones and scoring area.

Alex Sebastian, CEO of India Ultimate headquartered in Bengaluru, highlighted the technicalities of the game. “You have have to pass a disc between your teammates and get it in the end zone to score. It is a lot like American football with a mix of basketball and football in terms of how the game is played.”

The game also allows for substitution of the entire team with a fresh set of players on the field.

Though the rules for grass and beach (as the ones played on sand are referred to) championships are similar, there are some differences; a team for grass needs seven players, while five players comprise a beach team. Similarly, a beach game goes on for 45 minutes with the winners scoring 13 points, while games on grass have a 100-minute duration with 15 points needed to win.

In Ultimate, each player is also a referee. “If there is a foul or something that requires referee intervention, the players discuss it among themselves and come to a conclusion on what has to be done. They have 30 seconds to resolve this — an exercise that imparts a lot of life skills to players,” says Alex.

At the end of a match, both teams sit together in a “spirit circle” to briefly discuss or resolve issues if any. Each team also rates the other on five different parameters such as communication, positive mindset and self control, which is also known as the “spirit score”.