A group of students who have been gathering to play and practice a game known as Ultimate Frisbee will be eligible for school club status, if its members continue to play for another year.

The students, led by junior Sawyer Hescock, began meeting more than a year ago and have been granted practice time on area athletic fields.

Recently the club played in a tournament. It has won games against players from three other high schools: South Burlington, Vermont Commons, and the Sharon Academy. It has lost to teams from Hanover High School and Lyndon Institute.

The Vermont Principals’ Association, which governs interscholastic high school sports, does not recognize ultimate as a sport, so for the time being the group at Middlebury is seeking recognition as a school club. After speaking with Activities Director Sean Farrell, Hescock got permission to use fields at the high school or college three times a week at 6 p.m.

To become a club, a school group needs a faculty advisor; world language teacher Michelle Steele has indicated an interest, Hescock said. Steele played in high school and on teams with other adults.

Often called ultimate -- because Frisbee is a registered trademark of Wham-O for what almost no one refers to by its generic name, flying disc -- the game bears some resemblance to football, but without tackling or a running game. Players on offense attempt to move the plastic flying disc down the field of play toward an end zone by passing from player to player. Defensive players try to intercept passes or bat them down.

Ultimate is played in high schools across the country and at colleges and universities. An Ultimate Players Association has been in existence since 1979. It now calls itself USA Ultimate.
Even before becoming a club, Middlebury’s players have encountered difficulties. Hescock said some coaches of spring sports complained that ultimate organizers were poaching their athletes. And he said he was refused permission to make an announcement over the school’s public address system because the group was not yet a club.