Ultimate Frisbee league searching for players, registration still open

SANDPOINT — Ultimate Frisbee is back in Sandpoint and the rec league is searching for people to join.

The coed league will play from now until Oct. 28 and is open to ages 16 and up. The cost is only $20 and the group meets each Thursday from 5-7:30 p.m. at War Memorial Field. The league did not meet this Thursday due to the extreme heat.

Josh Delucchi said the league has seen a drop in participation over the last few years, preventing the weekly league from playing competitive 7-on-7 games on a consistent basis.

“It’s been a little difficult getting enough people to show up,” he said.

Delucchi has helped organize the group of local ultimate enthusiasts for about the last 15 years.

“I like to play, so somebody has kind of got to herd the cats and get everybody to show up,” he joked.

From the mid 2000s to the early 2010s, Delucchi said they had a solid group of 20-30 people that allowed them to meet twice a week. Fourteen players are needed to play a game of ultimate and at times the group had enough participants for a pair of games.

About 15 years ago, the local ultimate contingent would travel to tournaments in Canada to face teams across the Pacific Northwest. In 2004, Sandpoint even hosted an ultimate tournament that saw squads from three different states and two Canadian provinces converge on North Idaho.

Last year, the group only got a few opportunities to meet due to COVID-19, but Delucchi said turnout was hit or miss prior to that.

“There’s always kind of been a following in Sandpoint and we hope to kind of get that back,” he said.

The league met for the first time this year last Thursday, June 24, at War Memorial Field. Just under 10 people turned out, not enough for a game.

But Delucchi remains optimistic that an ultimate Frisbee club, which was started at Sandpoint High this spring, will increase interest and participation in the sport.

“I’m hoping that helps revive things and we can get those kids out there kind of learning the sport,” the 1999 SHS grad said.

David Miles II, the SHS principal, oversees the high school club as one of its advisers. He, along with Delucchi, has played the sport for over 20 years.

Miles first got introduced to the sport in 1995 while playing on an intramural team at the University of Idaho inside the Kibbie Dome.

In 2002, he learned about a group of ultimate players in Sandpoint that gathered biweekly for games. He got involved and has stuck around ever since.

When a group of students approached him this year about starting an ultimate club at SHS, Miles couldn’t have been more excited.

“This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for,” he said.

Some of the students in that club, the Sandpoint Scorpions, are now participating in the rec league this summer. Long-term, Miles said he’d like to build a SHS club team that could travel around and face other high schools in the area.

A number of the players the league has attracted over the years pick up the sport before graduating high school, Delucchi and Miles said, and return home each summer while in college and join the group for a handful of months. Some even play the sport at college, Delucchi said, and share tips when they come back.

Miles said they just want to bring back a following that allows the group to play a competitive game weekly.

There’s a lot to like about ultimate, Miles said. It’s non-contact, there’s a low-risk for injury, it’s extremely competitive and it attracts a diverse group of people because of how accessible it is, he said.

The sport has had a tremendous impact on his life, the 1995 SHS grad said. Anyone that is on the fence about joining the league shouldn’t be because the group accepts all skill levels and enjoys teaching the game to others, he said. It’s also a great way to stay in shape.

“I don’t really like working out, but I will run after a Frisbee all day long,” Miles joked.

Delucchi said anyone that is hesitant about committing to the league is welcome to come observe one of their weekly sessions, ask questions and throw around the disc to see if it’s the right fit for them.

A link to register for the league is available on the Sandpoint Ultimate Facebook page, along with more information. Participants under 18 will need to complete a waiver online, or have a parent sign one in-person at the field prior to starting play.