Ultimate

The Current State of Ultimate Frisbee in Gwangju and Korea

By David J. Richter

Back in early 2012 the Gwangju News published an article titled “Ultimate Frisbee: Gwangju Uprising” by Ryan Noll. In that article Ryan explained what ultimate (or ultimate frisbee) is and its current state. He also provided a way for anyone interested to contact him in case they wished to join. Since then, surprise surprise, quite a lot has changed and, with that, the article is now mostly outdated. In this update to the 12-year-old article, I will try to give a look at where ultimate is now and what has consequently changed. I will also try to provide some information for readers who wish to give ultimate a shot.

The one thing that still stands 100 percent correct from Ryan’s article is the short explanation of the rules, and since I don’t think I can do a better job, I will just re-use it here: “Ultimate is played with a flying disc on a field that is similar to a small American football field. The disc is passed between players until it is caught in the opposing team’s end zone. The name ‘Ultimate’ comes from the first game played in New Jersey in 1968, when it was described as the ‘ultimate game experience.’ Since then, the game has spread to almost every American university campus and on to club teams. Ultimate has also gained popularity on the international level and has become increasingly popular in countries that surround Korea, such as China, Japan, and the Philippines.”¹ Ultimate also differentiates itself from other sports through its “spirit of the game.” Ultimate heavily values fair play, to a point where games are self-officiated, meaning there are no referees, and players themselves call fouls, goals and everything in between. The sport is also very welcoming to beginners, as most players here in Korea are very open to help out, give advice, and much more.

The old article talks about the “Gwangju Uprising,” a team that played in the ROK Ultimate League, both of which have since disbanded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. This has left a big hole in the ultimate scene here in Korea, along with a few other factors, many of which are also related to the pandemic. Ultimate is a sport that was brought here by immigrants and was also practiced in larger numbers by foreigners, many of which are no longer residing in Korea. At the same time, with play being impossible during the pandemic, “older” players moved on from competing, while no new players could join, all  of which combined has reduced the number of active players here in Korea rather significantly.

Here in Gwangju things are looking to be on the up again though. While Gwangju Uprising is no more, and Ulssu Ultimate, a inter-university ultimate club between Chonnam National University (CNU) and Chosun University, has also disbanded, a new club has formed in its place at CNU, and it is bigger than ever. I asked Kim Taemin, one of the founders of Ullive, about the club, and he told me that after they re-established ultimate at CNU and founded Ullive, they had somewhere between 20 and 30 members initially in 2022. But now, only a few years later, Ullive has exceeded 130 members this semester, a number that is very promising for the future of the sport here in the city, especially since many of them are beginners. He also mentioned that, despite everything, Ullive managed to finish in third place at this year’s K-Cup, one of the biggest mixed team tournaments in Korea, exceeding all expectations.

This admittedly larger-than-expected interest bodes well for ultimate here in Gwangju, but currently that comes with an asterisk. With Ullive being a university club and one with so many members, it is currently not recruiting any new players and even when it does, only CNU students are able to sign up. 

That being said, there still are ways for newly interested readers to give ultimate a try. For one, there are local leagues in some of the bigger cities around Korea as well as Facebook groups that organize play on a more local level (see list below). On the national level, some of the biggest tournaments are run by KUPA (Korea Ultimate Players Association), which is also in charge of the Korean National Team. KUPA organizes various tournaments here in Korea and is the official Korean national member federation of the WFDF (Word Flying Disk Federation). I spoke with Aren Siekmeier, who is on the board of KUPA; he said, “KUPA, the Korea Ultimate Players Association, aims to tie all these opportunities together and promote the growth of the sport, and is always looking for more opportunities for growth. The national governing body for the sport, KUPA (recognized internationally by WFDF) supports these local leagues and also operates grass tournaments for club teams to compete in, as well as a few beach hat tournaments every year, which are open to everyone including beginners [no need to already be on a team, as teams are drawn at random]. Busan Bids on the Beach just wrapped up at Haeundae this past weekend, with a turnout of over 135 players from Korea and abroad.”

The Gwangju and larger Jeolla region have also hosted some hat tournaments and local leagues previously, and with the growth of university clubs like CNU, there is a lot of potential for branching out into other competitions locally. KUPA is always eager to see more club teams form and to support new university programs with discs or other equipment.

Additionally it would be great for the ultimate scene in Gwangju, and Korea as a whole, if other universities (or just a group of people) here would follow suit and establish their own clubs and while the paperwork and all the formalities would have to be carried out by students of that university, experienced Ullive members could lend a helping hand when it comes to the sports side of things. 

It would be great if ultimate in Gwangju will keep growing, especially if it will grow past the CNU campus. Here’s to hoping that soon we will be able to have  a city-wide league or joint practices.