Erbil holds ultimate frisbee tournament

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Erbil held an ultimate frisbee tournament on Friday, with eight teams competing against each other on the courts of Akkad and Brusk stadiums in Ainkawa. 

Ultimate frisbee is a non-contact team sport played with a hand-flung disc. The game was first played in the United States in 1968.

Jamie Watt, a US citizen and organizer of the tournament, has been living in the Kurdistan region for almost 10 years, and every weekend he plays ultimate frisbee with his friends at Akkad stadium in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Ainkawa.

“Ultimate frisbee is a team game, for example, when we play we do not only think about ourselves, but we think about the team,” Watt told Rudaw’s Mohammed Karezi on Friday. 

Ultimate frisbee is played between two teams of seven players. During the game, both teams attempt their best to get the disc in their hands to the opposite side of the field. They get a point for each delivery, and the game is won by scoring the most points. Total points and the time cap of the game can vary according to the rules set by the tournament.  

Cece Roh, a 25-year-old South Korean participant, who has been working in Erbil for around four months, told Rudaw on Friday, “Yes, I actually enjoy the game in Erbil, and I have played in Egypt before.”

Currently, there are more than 250 ultimate frisbee players in the region.