ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A little known sport in the Kurdistan Region is bringing together adults and youth alike from Duhok, Mosul, Sulaimani, Erbil and even IDP camps - many who've been training together for years - for a friendly match ahead of the MENA 2026 Ultimate Club Championships in Alexandria, Egypt in November.
More than 50 athletes, including expats, gathered for a regional tournament on Friday and Saturday in the University of Duhok's football field to play ultimate frisbee, a game rooted in north America and Western Europe which is gaining relative popularity in the Kurdistan Region, with hundreds of players across several provinces since the establishment of the Duhok chapter in 2020.
"It's my first tournament outside of Iraq and I'm really excited," Saman al-Yousef, 20, who is originally from northeastern Syria (Rojava) and has been with the team since 2020, told Rudaw English.
"We've been training for this tournament for a long time, since May."
Saman al-Yousef playing in the tournament on Oct. 10, 2026. Photo: Lynette H./Rudaw
The game is played by two co-ed teams of seven, and points are scored by passing the flying disc into the opposing team’s end zone. Players cannot run while holding the disc; they must throw it to a teammate within a 10-second "stall count."
"It's a non-contact sport, it's a very safe sport for women," said Mina Rizgar, a 25-year-old Duhok native, who has been playing for the past three years and is one of five young women in a team of 19 selected for the international championships.
Tournament in Duhok. Photo: Handout
Tournament in Duhok. Photo: Lynette H./Rudaw
The sport relies on the "Spirit of the Game," in which players officiate themselves without traditional referees, using non-binding "observers" only for unresolved disputes.
"[Ultimate frisbee] is different from other sports. We have to rely more on communication," said 18-year-old Mobeen Ali, who joined the team in its 2020 inception.
Ali described the "spirit" of the game as the main driver for his initial interest and participation.
It's also what led Benni Splitt, the group's founder and the captain of the Duhok Shepherds, to establish the game as a competitive sport in the Region.
Spirit awards at the end of each tournament. Photo: Lynette H./Rudaw
End of one of the matches. Photo: Lynette H./Rudaw
A heart for the youth
Splitt arrived in the Kurdistan Region in 2020 as a German Development aid worker with the aim of fostering the "Sports for Development" program.
"I chose ultimate frisbee to be able to teach a lot of things that are unique, like the spirit of the game... coaching and to equip other people to lead practices and [for its capacity] to expand," he said.
While he initially intended to divide his time equally between Kurdish and IDP settings, his work shifted toward internally displaced communities, becoming one of the main extra-curricular activities popular among all age groups in camps in Sharya, Baadre, Bersive, Bajid Kandala and Derabun - hosting Yazidis who fled Sinjar in August 2014 - in addition to practices in Duhok and Tenahi.
"When I showed up to Duhok and showed people this plastic [disk] thing and I told them, 'this is called a frisbee,' no one knew what it was," he said.
Since then, teams have grown from "zero in Duhok" to around 100 adults as well as about 200 to 300 in the children's and young adults division for youth 11 and older actively taking part in bi-weekly practice, two-thirds of whom are IDPs.
The Duhok chapter is the only one who has kid's training, he said.
'I fell in love with the community'
Twenty-year-old Jubran al-Jalo is from Derabun, a Yazidi community of several thousand situated just six kilometers from the tri-border junction with Turkey and Syria, one of the first villages in Splitt's initiative.
"[The game] is a huge part of my life," he stated. "It's really popular in Derabun, and almost everyone is familiar with it."
Tournament in Duhok. Photo: Handout
Jubran has been involved for four years.
"The nicest thing about the sport is the spirit of the game. People who play frisbee have a 'white heart'; they are generally good-hearted and that makes it really special."
Narmeen Askar, a 17-year-old player who also resides in Derabun and is originally from Sinjar (Shingal), expressed the significance of games and tournaments on her self confidence.
"Sometimes it is challenging as a girl, but I love sports and I want to prove that girls can do anything," she said.
"Team spirit is very important because it teaches us to help and support each other. We work together, respect each other, and celebrate our successes as one team," she said.
“I love frisbee, I want to improve my skills, and prove that girls can succeed in sports,” said 19-year-old Fadya Kachi, also from Derabun.
Askar and Kachi are among the 19 selected players who will compete in the championships in Egypt.
Another athlete, 17-year-old Ahmad Diya from Mosul who joined about two years ago, described the game as one that fosters unity.
"There's a team spirit and respect for everyone on the team; it's not a sport that has only one star player."
Mina, who comes from an athletic background including involvement in gymnastics and track, as well as a degree in Physical education from Duhok University, said she values the patience and encouragement displayed by the teams as an additional element in the game's already competitive edge.
"I absolutely fell in love with the community," she said. "They're the reason I stuck with it [the sport]... they keep me going."
Tournament in Duhok. Photo: Lynette H./Rudaw
Mina expressed the desire to see "more women" joining the ranks, a challenge echoed by Splitt, who says that while a 50/50 division is not yet achievable, he aims for a one-third female to male ratio on the field.
"The game is traditionally coed, and it was clear to me when I started that I would also be implementing that as well," he said, emphasizing that ultimate frisbee is a non-contact sport.
"Whenever I register people for training in a new place, usually 80 to 90 percent of those who show up are boys, and the rest girls - but they show up."
Tournament in Duhok. Photo: Handout
Splitt will be leading two teams representing the Kurdistan Region - Duhok Shepherds and Kurdistan Pirates - comprising 19 participants including 5 female players.
"All the countries [teams] in the Middle East are struggling with that," he stated, adding that "all the teams going to Egypt want to bring at least seven or eight female players... but it's not possible."
The teams have participated in four international competitions.
"Egypt will be the fifth," said Splitt, outlining the MENA championship in Dubai (2023), Doha (2024), Baku (2025), and an open tournament in Jordan (2022).
"We won the most-spirited team three times," said Rizgar Sahir who was the only local from either the Kurdistan Region or Iraq able to compete in the Baku games due to bureaucratic barriers.
"The visas are not easy to secure for Iraqi passport holders," he stated, citing additional barriers such as lack of financial support and lack of government assistance with visa applications.
As a result, the delegation that year drew a majority of the participants from expat team members as well as a player originally from the Kurdish-majority region of Iran (Rojhelat).
“We had two really tough days of intense matches, but it was an amazing experience,” said Soma Rostami, 37, originally from the city of Saqqez in Iran’s Kurdistan Province.
“Playing at a higher level always motivates you to improve and pushes you to think about how you can take your own game to the next level.”
MENA Ultimate Club Championships 2024 in Doha, Qatar.
Sahir, the captain of the Kurdistan Pirates, became involved with informal games in Erbil in late 2019. He described 'spirit points' as the highlight of the competition and "the most important trophy."
After the game, "every team rates the other team's spirit [communication] on a scale of 0 to 4... in a team voting setting."
"I see the majority of the people [here] as family," he said. "It means a lot to me."
Awards ceremony on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Photo: Handout
Awards ceremony on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Photo: Handout
A future vision
Splitt said that plans are underway to officially become a federation and formally join the World Flying Disk Federation - "like FIFA, but for the frisbee world" - which serves as the international governing body for all flying disc (frisbee) sports, representing over 125 national member federations worldwide, and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Rostami and Mobeen expressed future hopes that “the Kurdistan Regional Government would provide financial support for the team… to make it easier to obtain visas,” so that “more talented players could participate in international competitions and represent Kurdistan.”
Mobeen said he hopes to make a team "for the 2032 Olympics from Kurdistan."
Other youth expressed similar excitement over the growing popularity ultimate frisbee in Kurdistan and the wider region, all mutually confirming their anticipation of the growth and development of local chapters.
"I love this community and I will never stop playing this sport," said Mina.
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