Pardon our mess while we update The Huddle over the next couple days. The Huddle 3.0 begins next Tuesday, March 16th, 2010. Thanks — Ben & Andy

The Huddle

Poland: The Ultimate Heart Of Europe

by Maciej Kolodziejczyk & Jacob Krolikowski

How long has your country had Ultimate?

People have started playing in 1997, but most of them were foreigners from USA and Germany. In 2003 "Uwaga Pies" ("Beware of Dog") was created. The oldest existing team in Poland. In 2004 first tournament was organized. First time in the history of Polish Ultimate there were 7 Polish players on the line.

Does your country currently have:

Leagues? How many? How many people play in them?
One league in Warsaw. And now we are creating north-west league include 5 teams. All Polish teams play in National Cup. There are 4 teams playing in Warsaw. So around 80 people there. In North-west league there will be around 100 players.

Club Teams? How many? Are there dominant club teams?
We have 12 teams in Poland.

University or College teams? How many?
AWF is a university team (from Academy of Physical Education) but because it is only one university team they play against other teams. But approximately 50% of the people in Polish ultimate are students.

Youth (under 18-years-old) teams? How many?
There are two teams in which the majority of players are under 18 years old.

A National administration for Ultimate?
Yes, we have it (Polish Ultimate Players Association).

Where or how do most people learn about the game?

Most people just play. More experienced players teach the beginners. Teams are very open to new players and everyone who wants to play is welcome. Most teams play in parks in the cities which are often poor quality. It is very hard to practice on a nice field because it is very expensive to rent it. Tournaments are usually organized on soccer fields.

Do people in your country play in or against other countries?

Polish tournaments always invite international teams. Some teams go to international tournaments, often to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Italy. Polish tournaments are getting better and more and more good teams come to Poland to play Ultimate.

Have there been individuals that have been major contributors to the growth of Ultimate in your country? Who are they? What did they do that helped the game grow so well?

There is one guy originally from USA who came to Poland without knowing the language. Geoff aka "The Father" came to Poznan in 1996 and started to promote Ultimate in Poland. In 2003 he established "Beware of Dog." Because of him Ultimate was becoming more and more popular. After that he moved to another Polish city and established another team WD-40. Probably thanks to "The Father" we play Ultimate in Poland.

What does your country need to continue to develop? If the UPA were to donate $3,000 to you to help develop Ultimate in your country, what would you do with it?

Kuba and I are dreaming about organizing "National Camp" for the youngest players to show kids that Ultimate is a greatest sport ever! To do that we would have to promote Ultimate in schools, give free discs with logo that promotes Ultimate, give leaflets, make some posters. To encourage people to come to the "National Camp" it must be not very expensive.

Every country has a different 'style' of play...what is yours? (This question is particularly interesting to North American readers!)

First of all we only play mixed with usually 2 girls on the line. Another thing is that we have outdoor and indoor season. The majority of the teams play Vertical stack offense and man-on-man D. Force is only flick or backhand for the whole game. Some more experienced teams play Zone D, switch forces during the game or point, H-Stack or Split stack not very often. Usually most experienced players are handlers, the tallest ones are deeps and the rest are cutters. Often there are three handlers on the back of stack. We play within WFDF rules. What is cool thing is that all people in Polish ultimate know each other and call them self "Polish ultimate family"

What is next for the game in your country? What is one upcoming development, or what is a hurdle that Ultimate will have to overcome to continue to spread?

This year there will be one tournament that decides who is the Champion of Poland, to which there will be 6 best teams qualified from Polish National Cup. In Polish National Cup there are all Polish teams playing. We still wait PUPA (Polish Ultimate Players Association) translates WFDF rules to Polish language. Still we are not able to meet the requirements to become WFDF member. We would like to introduce more strategy and tactics to our games. We believe that the level is going to be higher as soon as there will be more people playing Ultimate.

For more information you can check frisbee.pl

Maciej Kolodziejczyk and Jacob Krolikowski, our Polish correspondents, learned the game and play in Warsaw, Poland.