Ultimate Frisbee
- nathanslee918
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
Over the last 10 years of my life this has been one of my top passions / hobbies. I've been able meet countless people all over the world and found some incredible communities and it has helped to show me why sports are some of the strongest pillars for communities across every country.
I won't go into too many details here about the rules of the game but for those who don't know what ultimate frisbee is below is a video clip with some highlights from the USA professional leagues (UFA, PUL, and WUL).
While these clips help to show what ultimate frisbee looks like at the top of this sport it wouldn't exist without the thousands of players, volunteers, and organizers who support them (though some of these players also give back to their communities through coaching, organizing, fundraising, etc.). What I will say though is what when watching the competition at the top it can highlight what ultimate frisbee communities are thriving. (For example the National Teams for Colombia and Germany have performed very well on the world stage and as such you can find their communities have many hundreds of players who play the sport).
Here I'm going to highlight some of my favorite tournaments around the world but at the bottom will also be a compiled list of tournaments that I've heard about and I'm always open to more so if you know of one not on the list please reach out. Thank you.
Kaimana Klassik: As one of the organizers for this tournament my fellow organizers would rip into me if I didn't shamelessly plug it on own website. Kaimana Klassik has been going on since 1988 and it is a wonderful time to meet teams and people from all over the world. The player skill level can range from people who have only been playing the sport for a few months all the way up to teams with professionals who play in the leagues shown in the video clips above. Personal opinion but I would say the merchandise and the food is some of the best of any tournament domestic to the United States. Otherwise having a reason to go to Hawai'i is always and the beach is right next to the fields so you can hop in the ocean in between games.
Next for one of my favorites abroad is the Boracay Open. Beach Ultimate frisbee is one of my favorites and the Philippines is home to some of the best beach ultimate frisbee players in the world. They are also some of the kindest most hospital people you will ever encounter. The island of Boracay can be a bit difficult to get to as it usually requires one or two regional flights on top of an international flight and a boat ride but the island is a beautiful paradise with incredible food and all kinds of fun water activities like scuba diving, kite boarding, sailing, and more. The tournament is a 3-day 4vs4 event and you'll encounter teams from all over the world who come to play though mostly from the United States and Asia.
For those that don't quite have the time or budget for flying all the way to Asia another one of my favorites that was actually my very first tournament abroad is the Volcanic Hat Tournament.
(Hat tournaments are where you sign up individually for a tournament and are semi-randomly allocated to a team just before the tournament starts. The level of play is not as high as other tournaments where you bring your own team since everyone is new to playing with each other but it's a very fun time and a great way to meet new people).
Situated in lovely Costa Rica this tournament is extremely well organized. The organizer Carlos plans out pretty much everything you need including tournament logistics, rooming, meals, as well as excursion activities such as hot springs, white water rafting, and ziplining. Costa Rica is also home to a large variety of national parks and is full of beautiful nature scenes and delicious foods.
While these are some of the highlights there are many tournaments around the world and I'm hoping to go to many more. Please feel free to check out my upcoming events calendar if you would like to join me for anything I already have scheduled or feel free to look at the table below for tournaments I've learned about and if you have any recommendations not on this list please go ahead and send it to me so I can include it.
Tournament | Location | Time of Year | Team or Hat |
Sunbreak | Washington, USA | July | Team |
Lei Out | Southern California, USA | February | Team |
Throwback | Southern California, USA | February | Team |
Wildwood | New Jersey, USA | July | Team |
Torneo Eterna Primavera (TEP) | Antioquilla, Colombia | May | Team |
Dreamcup | Mt. Fuji, Japan | March | Team |
Fools Fest | Virginia, USA | April | Team |
Surf and Turf | Guam, USA | May | Hat |
Pagonello | Rimini Beach, Italy | April | Team |
Vietnam Hat | Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam | December | Hat |
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