BENGALURU: You could say Sushil Kumar Manivannan’s exposure to ‘ultimate frisbee’ (that’s how the competitive sport is referred to) was completely coincidental. The 23-year-old first came across a non-contact team sport in 2015 when he saw some people playing near a football ground he frequents. Curiosity led him to try the game, and it became his preference over football. Today, the software engineer proudly says he was part of the team that won a bronze medal in the mixed division at Asia Oceania Ultimate and Guts Championships held in Shanghai in July this year.
“People asked me why I picked this over football. It’s usually thought to be just a picnic activity, and not many are aware that it is an actual international sport,” says Manivannan, who was one of the five Bengaluru players in the 24-member team.
The self-refereed game is often lauded for its pace, intensity and the strategy involved, with the essence of the mixed divisions being to improve gender equality in sports, something that makes the game “sweeter” for Esai Selvan Esakki. “It teaches you to be mindful of space. You also realise how every individual works. The intention may be to win but everyone has their own way to be involved,” explains the Bengaluru-based 26-year-old, who earlier worked as a business analyst in Australia and had to shuttle back and forth to prepare for the championship.
Agreed Krishna Kalro, who says though it was initially difficult to adjust to the mixed-gender format, the sport provides a healthy platform for interaction. “It’s also a challenge to navigate people’s prejudices about women players not being fast or strong enough,” she says, adding that the team comprised people from various backgrounds, which helped them improve their communication skills.
The team included students and working professionals from various socio-economic backgrounds and age groups ranging from 14 to 27 years. How then did they come together? Explains Ritu Ghanghas, “We had to train individually every day and the Bengaluru players met once a week to train together. We also had occasional training camps in Goa, Chennai or Surat with all the players.”
The three-day training camps, says Bengaluru-based team manager Noella Cresence, involved a mix of training and non-training activities that helped them bond. However, figuring out logistics was a challenge, with a good ground costing about Rs 25,000 a day as rent. “Funding, or the lack of it, was one of our biggest challenges,” says Cresence, adding that the team went to Shanghai with a deficit of Rs 10 lakh. “We started an online campaign to raise the Rs 60 lakh required for the Shanghai event, and two other ultimate frisbee beach championships. But we could manage to raise only Rs 1.5 lakh.” Eventually, corporate support and personal funding helped us make it to Shanghai, where we won the first bronze medal for India in ultimate frisbee grass.
Spirt of the game
Since ultimate frisbee is a self-refereed sport, each player is entrusted with the responsibility of playing a fair game. Disputes can be solved during ‘spirit timeouts’ during the match. “You have to be fair, not just to yourself but to your opponent too,” says Poojar. After every match, players from both teams often come together to discuss the game played. “We call it the spirit circle, where we discuss any foul or dispute or collect feedback,” explains Poojar, who was also one of the ‘Spirit Captains’ of the Indian team.
“We’re proud to be able to leave this legacy behind,” says Meenakshi Kalappa Poojar.
(With inputs from Lesly Joseph)