Misplaced Pages

#226773

87-645: Organized disc sports began in the early 1970s, with promotional efforts from Irwin Toy , the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships, Toronto (1972–1985), the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974–1977) and professionals using Frisbee show tours to perform at universities, fairs, and sporting events. Disc sports such as freestyle , double disc court , guts , ultimate and disc golf became this sports first events. Two sports,

174-458: A flying disc on a rectangular field, 120 yards (110m) by 40 yards (37m). The sport's objective is to pass the disc down the field to team members. Points are awarded when completing a final pass to a team member in the opposing team's end zone. The opposing team, called defense, will try to interrupt their scoring mission. Ultimate comes with a self-regulated rule of playing conduct called the Spirit of

261-449: A North American Series (NAS) event, Westerfield threw a 119-gram World Class Model Frisbee, 552 feet, using his characteristic sidearm throw, beating the official world distance record of 412 feet. This is how Kevin (Skippy) Givens, World Freestyle Champion, remembers it: Someone paced off the distance to a building at around 500 feet. Dave Johnson,(former distance world record holder) and others we're trying to hit it. Finally, Dave hits

348-547: A Wham-O brand Frisbee disc. In 1977, Kenner relocated to London, Ontario , and established a disc manufacturing company called Discraft . Meanwhile, Westerfield went to Santa Cruz, California , and teamed up with Tom Schot, to organize Frisbee events in Northern California, including 1978 Santa Cruz Flying Disc Classic . During his stay in Santa Cruz, Westerfield played in one of the first organized ultimate leagues in

435-546: A career in special education. Westerfield's parents were both athletic, and his father schooled him in many different sports. Cleo Conn Westerfield, his grandfather, played baseball for the Detroit Street Railway League in the 1920s. This contributed to Westerfield's early sporting interest. Sports, in the order of interest, along with all disc sports, were baseball, hockey, motorcycles, golf, and basketball, in which he competed in several city leagues. In 1960, at

522-732: A daily routine of playing Frisbee freestyle and object disc golf at the park. The following year, with only a hundred dollars each, bedrolls , and a Frisbee, they hitchhiked across Canada. They stopped along the way to perform Frisbee street shows to audiences in cities and at popular annual events such as the Klondike Days in Edmonton and the Calgary Stampede in Alberta . After completing their cross-country tour in Vancouver, they made their home for

609-592: A lack of competitors, the freestyle event was canceled. Unknown to them, there were a few Frisbee players in the United States with freestyle interests in Berkeley, New York, Ann Arbor, New Jersey, and Chicago. The following year, newly energized freestylers from these cities gathered in Toronto to compete in this new freestyle event. In 1974, at the 3rd annual Canadian Open Frisbee Championships, Westerfield and Kenner introduced

696-410: A line facing the opposing team across the court, with the two teams lined up parallel to each other. Which team begins play is determined "flipping the disc", an action similar to a coin toss, but using the disc itself. One member of the team is then selected to start play. That member then raises an arm to indicate readiness to throw, at which point the members of the opposing team freeze in position. If

783-401: A member of the "400 club" with a prelim distance sidearm throw (also known as forehand), and won the event with a throw of 378 feet, using a 119-gram World Class Model Frisbee. Only two competitors have officially ever thrown over 400 feet in competition with a 119-gram Frisbee (Lightweight disc by today's standard). In 1978, Boulder, Colorado , while doing a distance throwing demonstration at

870-623: A music festival called Woodstock in upstate New York, which later became the music event of the century. At the festival, they would throw the Frisbee over the crowd, just out of reach, and watch as people sitting on the ground reached out for it as it flew by. Many of them may not even have known what it was. Westerfield later reflected that it was an interesting crowd to play for. In 1970, Westerfield and Kenner moved to Toronto, Canada, and established their disc-playing headquarters in Queen's Park . They made

957-583: A new brand of beer called Molson Diamond. In 1975, with Molson's sponsorship, Westerfield and Kenner moved the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships from the Canadian National Exhibition to Toronto Islands. Molson's would continue to sponsor their Frisbee shows and events for several years. Along with promoting Molson products, this would help Westerfield and Kenner to promote their new sport everywhere. Frisbee (disc) tournaments were beginning to attract excellent disc competitors from everywhere. What

SECTION 10

#1732884123227

1044-546: A player or players on the opposing team at the same time (called a "double"). A team scores a point whenever they make a successful attack or whenever an opponent throws a disc out-of-bounds. The first team to score the requisite number of points as determined by the competitive format wins the game. Canine Disc (or dog disc) is a dog sport and a disc sport. In canine disc competitions, dogs and their human flying disc throwers compete in events such as distance catching and somewhat choreographed freestyle catching. The sport celebrates

1131-508: A proficiency in playing Frisbee that had never been seen before. After graduating from Franklin High School in Livonia, Michigan, in 1965, Westerfield and Kenner spent their summer days at Cass and Silver Lake beaches. They also showcased their Frisbee skills at music festivals. One day, they noticed an event ad in a local alternative newspaper and decided to take their Frisbees and a VW Bug to

1218-474: A regular basis, either to accommodate the number of available players, speed up certain elements of the game, or to help a team practice specific aspects of their strategy. Disc golf is a game based on the rules of golf (referred to by disc golfers as "ball and stick golf"). It uses discs smaller and denser than an ultimate disc. The discs are thrown towards a target, which serves as the "hole". The official targets are metal baskets with hanging chains to catch

1305-438: A rejection of what was considered the sports establishment , eventually would work in cooperation with "establishment" Frisbee manufacturers to promote sales. As a result, disc sports have become one of today's fastest-growing sports. Many new and innovative ideas begin as an accidental discovery, but when you consider Westerfield's participation in the beginning of the Frisbee and disc sports development years that followed what

1392-529: A throw and catch freestyle practice to help improve their ultimate handling skills. The game was invented in 1968 as an evening pastime by Jared Kass. Ultimate is distinguished by its Spirit of the Game - the principles of fair play, sportsmanship , and the joy of play. USA Ultimate (USAU) and Ultimate Canada are the rules and sanctioning organizations for ultimate in the US and Canada. While USAU and WFDF rulesets differ,

1479-424: Is a team sport played with a flying disc . The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to members of your own team, on a rectangular field, 120 yards (110m) by 40 yards (37m), until you have successfully completed a pass to a team member in the opposing team's end zone. In the early 1970s, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner (Discraft founder) introduced ultimate along with other disc sports North of

1566-435: Is an event where teams of two or three players perform a routine which consists of a series of creative throwing and catching techniques set to music. The routine is judged on the basis of difficulty, execution and presentation. The team with the best total score is declared the winner. In 1974, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner (founder and CEO of Discraft ), introduced and won the first flying disc freestyle competition at

1653-430: Is declared the winner. Before the invention of the nail delay in 1975, freestyle play was fast-paced and involved various throwing variations with spinning and leaping stylized catches off the throw. This intense and flowing routine was often compared to martial arts and dance. In 1973, Westerfield and Kenner added their idea of a Frisbee freestyle competition to the 2nd Canadian Open Frisbee Championships. However, due to

1740-474: Is now accepted as one of the premier events in Flying disc tournaments worldwide. The Freestyle Players Association was formed to oversee the competitive aspects of freestyle frisbee, and to help new players learn how to freestyle. Guts or Guts Frisbee is a disc sport inspired by dodgeball, involving teams throwing a flying disc (rather than balls) at members of the opposing team. One to five team members stand in

1827-438: Is to defend a court from an attack by the opposing team. Two identical square courts are located on a level playing field of grass measuring 13 meters on a side. The distance between the courts is 17 meters. Attacks are made in two ways: by throwing a disc in play into the opponents' court in an attempt to have the disc come to rest within that court without ever having touched out-of-bounds, or by causing both discs to be touched by

SECTION 20

#1732884123227

1914-1199: The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL). In their first season they went undefeated 18–0 and won the AUDL championships. The American Ultimate Disc League and the now defunct Major League Ultimate (MLU) are the first semi-professional ultimate leagues. Competition Director CUC Masters: RIM Park, Waterloo, ON CUC Grandmasters: Saskatoon, SK CUC Masters: Kelowna, BC Kelowna LOC with Troe Weston Andrew Batchelor CUC Masters: UPI. Ottawa,ON Andrew Batchelor UCI (Masters): UPI. Ottawa, ON Note: These are not considered CUCs CUC Mixed: Laval, QC CUC Mixed: Creditview Sandalwood Park. Brampton, ON Teri-Lynne Belanger Jen Stark & Andrew Batchelor CUC Mixed: Newton Athletic Park. Surrey, BC Brian Gisel with Teri-Lynne Belanger CUC Mixed: Saskatoon, SK with Teri-Lynne Belanger Saskatoon LOC with Teri-Lynne Belanger Andrew Batchelor CUC Mixed: Hamilton, ON Linda Kudo with Teri-Lynne Belanger Andrew Batchelor Flying disc games Flying disc sports are sports or games played with discs , often called by

2001-604: The Georgia Straight , on the city streets by day and performing nightly Frisbee shows in the historic Gastown area, in front of a railroad car turn restaurant named Frisby's. Because of the urban settings, their performances were highly surreal, as they freestyled with a frisbee at night in front of crowds in the streets. They bounced the disc off buildings, threw around statues, skipped the frisbee through traffic, and threw over mobs of interested spectators. One night, while performing at Frisby's, they unwittingly became involved in

2088-594: The Labatts Schooner Frisbee Team (1983–85). Ken Westerfield was born in Detroit , Michigan , to Margaret Marion (née Beach), a clerical administrator for the public school system, and his father, Gene C. Westerfield, a trade school-trained refrigeration contractor in a family-owned business. Born into a close, middle-class household, Westerfield lived with his parents and younger sister, Kathy, who graduated from Winston Churchill High School in 1972 and made

2175-582: The Professional Disc Golf Association . Beginning in 1974, the International Frisbee Association (IFA), under the direction of Dan Roddick, became the regulatory organization for all of these sports. Ultimate (also called Ultimate Frisbee) is a competitive non-contact team sport . The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a team member in the opposing team's end zone. Players may not move about

2262-727: The Toronto Rush , They went undefeated 18-0 for the season, and won the AUDL Championships. In 2010, Ken Westerfield was inducted into the inaugural class of the Toronto Ultimate Club Hall of Fame. In 2011, Westerfield was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Ultimate Canada Hall of Fame . As with many discoveries, disc sports were created in part due to an unintended consequence. What began as Westerfield's and others' rebellion against social norms and

2349-606: The Western Ultimate league in 2020. Currently, the highest level of International Ultimate is the World Games followed by the World Ultimate and Guts Championship . A number of games have evolved which are derived or similar to Ultimate, but played with different rules. These games are often played when available fields or teams are too small for a full sized ultimate game. Many other rules variants for ultimate are played on

2436-440: The nail-delay with many players using what are called delay-aids (plastic nails and silicone sprays). Many players of other disc sports will often use a throw and catch (no plastic nails or sprays) version of freestyle, to warm up for their disc games. Ultimate disc players often use freestyle to improve their throwing and catching skills as well as a good way to add focus and flexibility to their game. Freestyle competition

2523-522: The 1970s with promotional efforts from Wham-O and Irwin Toy (Canada). These took the form of national tournaments and Frisbee show tours at universities, fairs and sporting events. Disc sports such as freestyle , double disc court , guts , ultimate and disc golf became this sport's first events. Two sports, the team sport of ultimate and disc golf , are very popular worldwide and are now being played semi-professionally. The World Flying Disc Federation , Professional Disc Golf Association and

2610-597: The 1975 World Frisbee Championships, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California , adopted Westerfield and Kenner's freestyle competition format as one of their new events. Today, this freestyle event is one of the premier events in flying disc tournaments worldwide. Jim Kenner and Ken received The Decade Awards 1970-75 Top Freestyle Routine: Canadian Open 1974. They were also inducted into the Inaugural Pioneer Class of

2697-683: The 1987 World PDGA Disc Golf Championships in Toronto. Westerfield founded the first ultimate league in Canada – the Toronto Ultimate Club (1979). As one of the original freestylers from the 1960s, used his expertise in several company-sponsored touring Frisbee shows in the U.S. and Canada. Irwin Toy, (Frisbee distributor in Canada, 1972–76), Molson Frisbee Team (1974–77), Adidas Canada (1974–1979), Goodtimes Professional Frisbee Show (1978–82), Orange Crush Frisbee Team (1977–78), Air Canada Frisbee Team (1978–79), Lee Jeans Frisbee Team (1979–80) and

Canadian Ultimate Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-673: The 1993, 1999, 2002, 2011 and 2017 Canadian Ultimate Championships. Canada has been ranked number one in the Ultimate World Rankings several times since 1998 in all the Ultimate Divisions (including Open and Women's) according to the World Flying Disc Federation . In 2013, as a founding partner, the Toronto Ultimate Club presented Canada's first semi-professional ultimate team, the Toronto Rush to

2871-677: The 3rd annual Canadian Open Frisbee Championships , Toronto , Ontario, Canada and the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships. These were the first Frisbee freestyle competitions. A year later the American Flying Disc Open (AFDO) Rochester, New York , the Octad in New Brunswick, New Jersey and the 1975 World Frisbee Championships, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California , adopted Westerfield and Kenners freestyle competition format as one of their events. Today this same freestyle event

2958-588: The 49th parallel at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships , Toronto (1972–1985) and the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974–1977). In 1979, Ken Westerfield and Chris Lowcock created the Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC). The Toronto Ultimate Club is one of the ultimate's oldest leagues. The first Canadian Ultimate Championships (CUC) were held for the open division in Ottawa in 1987, produced by Marcus Brady and Brian Guthrie. OCUA subsequently hosted

3045-440: The Canadian Open Frisbee Championships on Toronto Islands and the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships, in Vancouver, BC. These were the first disc golf tournaments in Canada, beginning with using objects as holes and then permanently placing disc pole holes. After retiring from disc golf competition in 1979, Ken Westerfield continued to promote disc sports in Canada, specifically in developing an ultimate league in Toronto. Since

3132-639: The FPA Freestyle Disc Hall of Fame. In 1974, Westerfield and Kenner approached Molson Breweries with the idea of performing Frisbee shows at basketball halftimes in Canadian universities as the Molson Frisbee Team. Always looking for unique ways to get into the university market, they accepted their proposal and were more than impressed with the results. The following year, Molson's up the promotional fee and used their show exclusively to introduce

3219-660: The Freestyle Players Association are the official sanctioning organizations for disc sports worldwide. Guts was invented by the Healy Brothers in the 1950s and developed at the International Frisbee Tournament (IFT) in Marquette, Michigan . Ultimate , the most widely played disc sport, began in the late 1960s with Joel Silver and Jared Kass. In the 1970s it developed as an organized sport with

3306-495: The Frisbee distributor in Canada. They proposed their show as a way to promote the Frisbee. They scheduled a basketball halftime show at Jarvis Collegiate Institute as a demonstration for Irwin Toy's management. The students loved it, and so did Irwin Toy. They successfully proved that their show would be beneficial in helping the company promote the Frisbee. In 1972, Irwin Toy retained them to perform at special community and sporting events across Canada. Westerfield and Kenner became

3393-443: The Frisbee scene in the early 1970s, Westerfield quickly excelled in these new events because many of the skills involved in these new disc sports were skills that would transfer from his freestyle play. Westerfield having a dual Canadian/U.S. legal living status, considering Toronto to be his home, always competed for Canada at U.S. and World competitions. In 1975, at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto, Westerfield set

3480-497: The Frisbee to play golf and designated objects as holes, on one hand, Rochester, NY, Berkeley, CA, and Toronto, ON, were disc golf's first designed courses, all completely unaware of the existence of the other. In Canada, beginning in 1970, before even the idea of disc sports and disc golf, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner, played Frisbee golf daily on an 18 object hole course they designed at Queen's Park in downtown Toronto. They also added disc golf to their other tournament events at

3567-407: The Game . " A player's conduct as a competitor is as important as winning the game," Ken Westerfield brought this unique competitive spirit to all of his disc sports, including ultimate. This spirit wasn't invented by any one person or group but was recognized as just the way these early alternative athletes competed. The tradition of this spirit in disc sports has been carried on to this day. Ultimate

Canadian Ultimate Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-691: The Official PDGA disc golf national tour did not launch until 1982, Westerfield never competed in nor applied for a PDGA membership. In 1987, the Canadian Disc Golf Association and PDGA approached Westerfield to produce, and tournament direct the PDGA World Disc Golf Championships in Toronto. With sponsors Orange Crush, Roots, and Irwin Group, Ken Westerfield and Bob Blakely, director of the Canadian Disc Golf Association, organized

3741-480: The U.S. and Canada. He continued to organize and produce local disc events in Toronto. Westerfield had a passion for ultimate, and with the help of Bob Blakely and Chris Lowcock, he created the Toronto Ultimate League . Westerfield initiated weekly ultimate pick-up games on Kew Beach , then sent invitations to form teams from Wards Island , West Toronto , North Toronto , and his team Beaches . These were

3828-607: The U.S. and Canada. These competitions were held to qualify competitors to compete annually in the WFC at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California . Winning numerous North American Series (NAS) freestyle and individual events, Westerfield was awarded The Decade Awards for the "Best Player of the Decade" 1970-75. At a North American Series (NAS) Frisbee tournament in Dallas Texas , Westerfield became

3915-567: The U.S. called the Northern California Ultimate Frisbee League (NCUFL, 1977-1979). The league consisted of teams from over a dozen cities in Northern California. Westerfield also developed a Frisbee Show called Good Times Professional Frisbee Show, which featured freestyle champion Mary Kathron, and later World Freestyle Champion Brian McElwain. Westerfield and his touring team performed shows at universities, fairs, music festivals and professional sporting events across

4002-570: The US alone. Competitions are sanctioned by Ultimate Canada and USA Ultimate , including a semi-professional ultimate tour, called the AUDL . Disc golf is played on over 7000 courses in about 40 countries with 500,000 regular players, including a semi-professional tour, set-up by the PDGA . What began as Ken Westerfield's daily counterculture pastime in the '60s became his storied legacy in disc sports, as well as ironically becoming an "establishment" sport, using

4089-477: The US and Canada for some of America's largest companies, Labatt Brewing Company , Air Canada , Lee Jeans , Orange Crush and Adidas . As of 2017, there are over 7000 disc golf courses. Before 1975 and the invention of the disc golf target called the Disc Pole Hole, there were only a few mapped disc golf "object" courses in the U.S. and Canada. In 1970, you could count the number of designed courses, using

4176-401: The Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships introduced Frisbee as a disc sport, including the first competitive freestyle events. Freestyle is a competition where teams of two or three players perform a routine that involves a series of creative throwing and catching techniques set to music. The routine is judged based on its difficulty, execution, and presentation. The team with the highest score

4263-414: The WFC in Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA (1974). Before the events that would transform Frisbees into serious athletic equipment, they were merely considered as toys for recreational purposes. However, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner were already recognized as Frisbee athletes who were on par with other professional sports athletes. They joined forces with Andrew Davidson, a professor at Humber College, and Jeff Otis,

4350-619: The Yippie-organized Gastown Smoke-in, a demonstration for the legalization of marijuana. The subsequent smoking of marijuana in the town square quickly turned the peaceful but illegal demonstration into the now-famous Gastown Riots . The police also began regular raids of All Seasons Park. During the fall of 1971, Westerfield and Kenner, having to leave All Seasons Park due to continued police raids, needed money to return to Toronto. They continued to perform at Frisby's and decided to try collecting money like street musicians. It

4437-649: The age of thirteen, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner, who later founded Discraft , became best friends. They started playing Frisbee during their high school years. Daily they would experiment with new ways of throwing and catching the Frisbee, this would later be called "playing freestyle." At the time, Frisbee was only considered a toy for recreational purposes, and there was no reason to become skilled in throwing it. There were no Frisbee professionals to look up to or disc sports tournaments to compete in. Their shared anti-establishment attitude and lifestyle, which included their rejection of traditional sports, led them to develop

SECTION 50

#1732884123227

4524-439: The bond between handler and dog, by allowing them to work together. These games originated when the rules of another game were adjusted to use a flying disc in place of a ball. Ken Westerfield Kenneth Ray Westerfield is an American pioneering frisbee disc player, who achieved numerous disc sports accomplishments in the 1970s. A disc sports Hall of Fame inductee in freestyle, ultimate, and disc golf. In addition, he

4611-469: The building and the crowd goes wild. Ken Westerfield was sitting and watching. After Dave hit the building the crowd started to yell for Ken to throw. At first, Ken was dismissive, not interested. Finally, Ken stood up, went to the line, sized up the task then let it fly. It landed in the parking lot past the building on his first throw with no warm-up. The crowd went crazy. It was the most incredible throw I'd ever seen. Tournament officials marked and measured

4698-565: The creation of the Ultimate Players Association with Dan Roddick, Tom Kennedy and Irv Kalb. Double disc court was invented and introduced in the early 1970s by Jim Palmeri. In 1974, freestyle competition was created and introduced by Ken Westerfield and Discraft 's Jim Kenner. Judging standards were developed by the Freestyle Players Association. In 1976, the game of disc golf was standardized with targets called "pole holes" invented and developed by Wham-O 's Ed Headrick and

4785-464: The day was called the "Canadian mind blower". Westerfield would roll the Frisbee across outstretched arms and chest, to outstretched arms across the back (front to back-roll). Today body-rolls (rolls) are an integral part of every freestyle routine. In 1974, Wham-O sponsored the first World Frisbee Championships (WFC) which included the North American Series (NAS) Frisbee tournaments held across

4872-431: The disc and becomes the throwing team. The receiving team must catch the disc cleanly in one hand, and may not move from position until after the disc leaves the hand of the thrower. The disc may not be trapped between the hand and any other part of the body, including the other hand. This frequently results in a challenging sequence of "tips" or "bobbles", which are rebounds of the disc off of receivers' hands or body to slow

4959-478: The disc down and keep it in play until it can be caught. This often involves multiple players on the receiving team. Play continues until at least 21 points have been scored by one of the teams and there is a difference in score of at least 2 points. Double disc court (DDC) invented and introduced by Frisbee Hall of Fame inductee Jim Palmeri of Rochester, NY , is a sport played with two flying discs . Two teams of two players each stand in their own courts. The goal

5046-581: The discs. In 2016 , the PDGA severed ties with WFDF leaving it unclear who is the primary driver for global growth of the game. Before there were standardized targets called pole holes, disc golf used to be played in parks and urban settings using natural objects as targets. In some cases courses were created by the players themselves as they played, with each player taking turns determining targets and throwing designations (mandatories and out of bounds ) Disc freestyle, also known as freestyle Frisbee in reference to

5133-620: The event coordinator of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), to organize the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships (1972-1985). This competition initially included disc guts and distance events but expanded to include disc golf, freestyle, ultimate, and individual field events at the CNE. In 1975, the tournament was relocated to Toronto Islands. Westerfield and Kenner also founded the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974-1977). Some of today's techniques and competitive formats can be traced back to these pioneers. The Canadian Open Frisbee Championships and

5220-485: The event successfully, marking the first and only time the championship has been held outside the United States. In recognition of the event and his contributions, Westerfield was made an honorary PDGA Member #3248 in 1987, the same year Westerfield retired from his 25-year career in Frisbee and disc sports. Ken Westerfield was inducted into the World Disc Golf Hall of Fame Ultimate is a team sport played with

5307-414: The field while holding the disc. Catching is done with one hand or both hands on the rim or with hands simultaneously on the top and bottom, sometimes referred to as a clap-catch. When one-hand catching on the rim, care must always be taken in hand placement and making sure to catch on the correct side of the disc, according to which way the disc is spinning. One side will tend to spin out of your hand, while

SECTION 60

#1732884123227

5394-437: The first four teams with each team taking turns hosting Wednesdays weekly league game nights at their home locations. The league starting night was at Kew Beach. Westerfield, using Bob Blakely's office copy machine and mailing facility at Irwin Toy, would produce a weekly newsletter highlighting the games and scores for each team as well as their league standings through the playing season. The Toronto Ultimate League developed and

5481-443: The first freestyle competition and between 1976 and 1978 competed in North American Series (NAS) competitions to qualify for competing in the annual World Frisbee Championships (WFC), won six U.S. national freestyle titles including both 1976 Eastern and Western national freestyle titles and appeared in fifteen additional freestyle finals. When other sports like disc golf, ultimate, double disc court, and overall events were introduced to

5568-493: The first professional touring Frisbee players, has made significant contributions to disc sports. Introducing some of the first Frisbee disc sport competitions and organizations in Canada and the U.S. that are still active today. Freestyle and freestyle competitions are played in countries around the world, with organizing efforts of the FPA . Ultimate has also gained immense popularity, with over 1.48 million regular players in Canada and

5655-514: The flying disc After retiring from playing and promoting disc sports in 1988, Westerfield went on to several businesses. Importing exotic plants from South America, (1988-1992). Operating a popular biker-themed rock and roll bar in downtown Toronto called the Rats Ass Saloon, (1990-1993). A motorcycle shop in West Toronto called Rockerbox Motorcycle Maintenance and Restoration, (1994-1997). In

5742-425: The freestyle event and won it. The first-ever freestyle competition featured several noteworthy Frisbee pairs, including Doug Corea and Jim Palmeri, John Kirkland and Jose Montalvo, Irv Kalb and Dave "Buddha" Meyers, Dan "Stork" Roddick and Bruce Koger, and Tom Cleworth and John Connelly. Westerfield and Kenner won the competition and became the world's first Freestyle Frisbee Champions. The same year, they organized

5829-412: The late 1960s. As numbers of young people became alienated from social norms, they looked for alternative recreational activities, including throwing a frisbee. What started with a few players in the sixties, like Victor Malafronte, Z Weyand and Ken Westerfield experimenting with new ways of throwing and catching a disc, later would become known as playing disc freestyle . Organized disc sports began in

5916-498: The maximum time aloft (MTA) world record with a sidearm throw of 15 seconds, using a Super Pro Model Frisbee, beating the old record of 11 seconds. Also in 1975, Westerfield invented a new freestyle move called "body-roll," (rolling the disc across outstretched arms and chest, or back), then presented the move in a freestyle event at a national tournament in Rochester, NY called the American Flying Disc Open, (AFDO). The hottest move of

6003-485: The organizations have been working together over the past 3 years to bring the rulesets into closer alignment. The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) and Major League Ultimate (MLU) are the first men's semi-professional ultimate leagues. The Major League Ultimate (MLU) ceased operation on December 21, 2016. In 2019, the Premier Ultimate League , ultimate's first Women's semi-pro league launched followed by

6090-422: The other side will spin into your hand, making for a more secure catch. Many players avoid this problem by catching with both hands when possible. The most popular throws used in a game of ultimate are backhand, sidearm/forehand, hammer and scoober . Being a deep threat, with multiple throwing techniques and the ability to pass the disc before the defense has had a chance to reset, is always optimal. Some players use

6177-483: The second freestyle competition along with other Frisbee events at their Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships, which took place at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is where Bill King, Jim Brown, and John Anthony made their first competitive appearance and gained early freestyle fame. A year later, the American Flying Disc Open (AFDO) in Rochester, New York , the Octad in New Brunswick, New Jersey , and

6264-592: The sport, Johnny Appleseeds who were also there to compete in the other events at the Canadian Open competition. Westerfield continued to play ultimate through the 1970s, mostly while competing at U.S. over-all NAS tournaments and also played on Santa Cruz's first ultimate team called Good Times (a Santa Cruz weekly newspaper) in the first two years of the Northern California Ultimate Frisbee League (NCUFL), 1977-1979. In 1979, Westerfield retired from competing in national freestyle, disc golf, and overall competitions in

6351-409: The strength of his sidearm (forehand) huck, hammer, and pulls (the starting throw that begins the play, similar to a kickoff in football ). Consistently pulling (throwing) deep into the opposing team's end-zone, would always give his team plenty of time to get set-up on defense. In 2013, as a founding partner, the Toronto Ultimate Club presented Canada's first semi-professional ultimate team,

6438-587: The summer in the "All Seasons Park" (tent city), which was founded by the Youth International Party (Yippies) as a protest against the Four Seasons company's plans to build a complex on two blocks adjacent to Stanley Park . Although they were not politically affiliated with the Yippies , Westerfield and Kenner made the protested park their home. They made a minimal income by selling alternative newspapers,

6525-414: The team sport of ultimate and disc golf are very popular worldwide and are now being played semi-professionally. The World Flying Disc Federation , Professional Disc Golf Association , Freestyle Players Association are the official rules and sanctioning organizations for flying disc sports worldwide. Ultimate Canada is the official rules and sanctioning organization for ultimate in Canada. Ultimate

6612-407: The throw at 552 feet and until 2014, was the longest distance toss for a sidearm (forehand) throw. Since new manufacturers have introduced heavyweight, beveled edge golf discs and new record attempts are in the high desert winds of Primm, NV, the world distance record is now just over 600 feet for the forehand (sidearm) throw. Westerfield's 552-foot throw is still the longest measured distance toss for

6699-415: The thrower misses the "scoring area" (a demarcated area a bit larger than the space occupied by the opposing team), the receiving team scores a point. If a member of the receiving team catches the disc cleanly, neither team scores a point. If the throw is within the scoring area and the receiving team fails to catch, or catches but drops the disc, the throwing team gets a point. The receiving team then picks up

6786-455: The trademarked brand name, is a sport and performing art characterized by creative, acrobatic, and athletic maneuvers with a flying disc. Freestyle is performed individually or more commonly in groups, both competitively and recreationally. In the early 1970s before the invention of the "nail-delay", freestyle catching possibilities would depend on the throw you were given; it was always spontaneous and unpredictable. Play with this type of freestyle

6873-489: The trademarked name Frisbees . Ultimate and disc golf are sports with substantial international followings. The flying disc was developed in 1948 by Walter Morrison . On January 23, 1957, Wham-O bought the rights to the invention and released it later under the trademarked name Frisbee . Although playing catch with discs as a pastime and proto-golf games are documented from the early 1900s, and doubtlessly occurred from time to time before, disc sports began to flower in

6960-607: The world's first full-time professional touring Frisbee players. Disc sports originated in the 1970s, and several tournaments played a significant role. These tournaments were the IFT Guts Frisbee competitions held in Northern Michigan, the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto (1972), and Vancouver, BC (1974), the Octad in New Brunswick, NJ (1974), the American Flying Disc Open (AFDO) in Rochester, NY (1974) and

7047-533: Was a success. Upon returning to Toronto, they resided in the notorious counter-cultural Rochdale College , while performing Frisbee shows on the Yonge Street Mall. Nightly, thousands of tourists and Torontonians would enjoy displays of their Frisbee expertise, while attractive accomplices (girlfriends) would use a Frisbee to collect donations. They wanted to add professional legitimacy to their Frisbee show and approached Ed Hurst, promotions manager for Irwin Toy,

7134-427: Was little more than a daily display of his counterculture activity and lifestyle, it would be hard not to see his contributions and influence in today's disc sports. Ken Westerfield is recognized not only for his athletic achievements and for being one of the best players of his time, but also for his contributions as a pioneer, innovator, and organizer for all disc sports. From numerous shows and demonstrations, as one of

7221-507: Was once a top-selling toy from Wham-O, was becoming a serious competitive sport. Being 27 years old in 1974 (the first year of disc freestyle and overall competitions) Westerfield's competitive participation only spanned five years, but in that short time had wins in every disc sport. What attracted Westerfield to playing with a Frisbee and developing his freestyle play in the sixties, is that he found that it didn't have to be competitive to be athletically challenging. Westerfield co-created and won

7308-465: Was performed with two players standing 30-40 yards apart. The throws were fast and varied, and the catches were right off the throw, except for the occasional kick or slap-up and rarely a pause between the catch and the throw back. At advanced levels, the throws and catches would become a flow that was created once you mastered the basics. It was fast and fluid and visibly would resemble martial arts and dance. Most competitive freestyle today centers around

7395-653: Was renamed the Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC), which now has 3300 active members and over 250 teams playing the year round. This was the first ultimate league in Canada and is now one of the world's oldest. In 1987, at the Canadian Ultimate Championships (CUC), Ottawa, Westerfield, with his team Darkside, won Canada's first national ultimate championships. In the 1980s, at the beginning of Toronto's competitive ultimate years, Westerfield's contributions to his teams were his expert handling skills as well as

7482-468: Was the first disc sport to recognize this unique conduct of play and named it the Spirit of the Game (SOTG). In 1978, it was added to the 7th edition of the rules for ultimate. Beginning in 1975, the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships, held on Toronto Islands , began introducing disc ultimate to Canadians. Westerfield played in these beginning ultimate Frisbee exhibition games with some of the early promoters of

7569-445: Was voted "Top Men's Player" in the 1970–75 Decade Awards. Westerfield produced tournaments, set world records, and won awards in every disc sport. He was a tournament co-director for the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships (1972–1985) in Toronto, the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974–1977) in Vancouver, BC, the 1978 Santa Cruz Flying Disc Classic in Santa Cruz, California, the 1985 Labatt's World Guts Championships in Toronto, and

#226773