Our vision is to help kids develop as people, have fun, and learn the sport. For those kids who really enjoy Ultimate, our hope is that doing this will enable them to participate in Ultimate as a "real sport" (which it is) both now and in the future. Perhaps they will fall in love with it and consider playing it in high school, college, and beyond. 

Questions? ➡️ tim.dorsch@cru.org or 314-518-7363

Middle School Spring Opportunities

1. High School JV Team & Girls Team — Open to 8th graders (and younger with coaches’ approval). These teams compete in the spring high school St. Louis Ultimate Juniors League. Registration and cost are the same as the high school players. Please fill out the Interest & Communication Form (it does not commit you to anything), explore our home page, and fill out the Player Info Form if you pretty interested in participating.

2. Developmental Roster — Open to 7th graders (and younger with coaches’ approval). These players would practice (frequency, TBD) and scrimmage with our high school teams and play in a special game as part of our Senior Night event in April. Optional Parkway jerseys are available. Other registration and cost details are TBA. Please fill out the Interest & Communication Form (it does not commit you to anything).

3. Sixth Grade Opportunities — 6th graders interested in playing ultimate in the future are strongly encouraged to participate in clinics and the other opportunities listed on this page, especially the fall learn-to-play program. Depending on the interest level, we may host other special events in the spring. Optional Parkway jerseys are available. Please fill out the Interest & Communication Form (it does not commit you to anything).

Middle School Summer Opportunities

There are multiple camps and a league that we encourage middle schoolers to participate in. For details, make sure you're in our team communication. Questions? ➡️ tim.dorsch@cru.org or 314-518-7363.

Middle School Fall Opportunities

We're offering a fall program on Saturdays that is open to all 4th to 9th graders. Details at the top of this page! You'll have a blast even if you've never thrown an Ultimate disc before! We'll spend the first part of our weekly time practicing the skills of the sport, and we always finish by breaking into teams and playing a game. Come join us and invite your friends!

Youth Ultimate is coordinated by me (Tim Dorsch) and Jonathan Gunasingham. We also help coach the Parkway United Ultimate high school teams. The teams are open to all high schoolers (and some middle schoolers, see above) regardless of their experience.

Middle School Winter Opportunities

We usually have two free Saturday clinics during the winter. One in November/December and one in January. Keep an eye on our team communication. Questions? ➡️ tim.dorsch@cru.org or 314-518-7363.

New to the sport?

Ultimate is straightforward but challenging, fast-paced, and tremendously fun—and that’s why those who play it often get hooked! To a new observer, there are many familiar elements from other sports: scoring in the end zones (like football), the flow of the game (like soccer), and advancing the disc by passing rather than running with it (like basketball, minus the dribbling). I have and do enjoy many different sports, but my favorite sport to play is Ultimate. 

St. Louis has a thriving Ultimate community with a 24-team high school league, traveling club teams, and leagues that run all year long (for example, there are four summer leagues with players aged 13 to 60+). In the future, St. Louis (like some other U.S. cities) will have a league specifically for elementary and middle school players.

Other Helpful Details

1. Recommended equipment

   • We will have extra discs on hand, but if your player enjoys ultimate, we recommend buying a good ultimate frisbee disc. For $10-$15 at Academy Sports or Amazon, you can buy a Discraft Ultra-Star (“Discraft 175 Gram Ultra Star Sport Disc White”) rather than the Wham-O brand that you'll find in Target. The former is a higher-quality disc that is used in games and costs the same as the latter. (We recommend white since you’ll get used to looking for the color that’s usually used in games.)

   • Cleats help but are not required. We recommend lacrosse or soccer cleats, but football cleats also work.

2. Although I don’t recommend unsupervised YouTube watching for younger kids, watching some Ultimate videos together can be fun! I put together this playlist of videos for our high school team, which range from mastering basic skills to more advanced techniques and strategies. The former would be potentially helpful whereas the latter would be more helpful at the high school level and beyond. My older boys love watching these videos with me to learn new things. There are also some fun highlight videos. If I had to pick one video that shows a young player what Ultimate can look like—even at the youth level, I’d pick this one: highlights from the annual World Junior Ultimate Championships where the world's best Under-20 players compete for their countries (this one was held in Poland).

3. Here’s a Spectator’s Guide that our high school teams use. It includes “Ultimate in 10 Simple Rules,” which is sufficient to get going. If you like details, go here for more about rules.

4. Lastly, Ten Things To Love About Ultimate Frisbee!

1. Most importantly, it's a lot of fun! That's the main reason it has taken off at colleges (and now high schools).

2. The fast pace and flow of the game make it a great team sport.

3. It's relatively easy to learn compared to other sports.

4. It helps players be in good physical shape without being super-taxing to the body.

5. It's safe. The non-contact nature makes it a safe sport for players of all ages, sizes, and abilities.

6. Sportsmanship is a super-high priority at all levels. For example, at the high school level, both teams circle up and complement each other about specific things.

7. It's self-refereed at all levels except the professional level; this teaches maturity in competitive situations.

8. It's affordable! A disc costs about ten bucks. Cleats are a good idea. Not much equipment beyond that.

9. It's a lifetime sport. These days, most young people play it at least a little by college-age, and it’s common to see players in their sixties.

10. The sport is growing! There are 24 St. Louis high school teams (co-ed, men's & women's), and many universities have official teams. It is an official Olympics-recognized sport and is being considered for inclusion in the Olympics.