Bali Ultimate frisbee holds open recruitment days in Renon, Denpasar, to recruit and engage local athletes to join ultimate frisbee. Led by members of the community, these Open Days give people the chance to throw a disc and play casual games of ultimate frisbee in the late afternoon.
There is an imminent announcement about the return of Garudas, which hinted at try outs for Indonesia’s national team, now is the time to get new athletic Indonesian players into our community.
With several Indonesian players injured, the community has been hit hard with missing players, meaning that Pick Up in Jimbaran and Ubud not getting enough players to play 7 a side. Besides the community’s need for more players, of course we want to spread the simple joy of Ultimate Frisbee to more Indonesians as the sport can significantly improve their quality of life.
Ultimate Frisbee Open Days
Many community members have dedicated their time and skills to make these open days happen. The key barriers include getting the word out there, and ensuring that people who attend get the best experience to hook them into playing ultimate frisbee on a regular basis.
Getting the word out there
We used a variety of ways to get word out:
- Creating Instagram images and videos to be shared by the community on their Stories
- Partnering with @infodenpasar to post our video ad (it cost 700k)
- Posting events on Reclub
- Handing out leaflets to athletes across Lapangan Renon
- Creating a TikTok account (Bali Ultimate)
- Printing a banner with QR code that adds people to a WhatsApp group
- Talking to people who stop and watch and invite them to toss
3 things you need to get a new player addicted to Ultimate Frisbee
- Teach them how to throw a flick
- Get them to score in a game
- Make friends
Teaching how to throw a forehand will give you the biggest return on investment of time. I have found that Indonesians are terrified of touching a disc, because everyone has that childhood trauma of a bad quality frisbee that does not fly well. “This is a professional frisbee that is easy to throw” then let them throw the disc.
Scoring your first ever point in ultimate frisbee is a momentous occasion and should be celebrated. It’s the dopamine rush that makes people think “I want to feel like this all the time”.
Making friends and making people feel welcome is absolutely key. Normalise coming to these events alone, and let them know that other newbies come and joined alone and make friends here. Chat to them on WhatsApp, add them on Instagram, and DM them personally to join the next session.
How to Run an Open Day
I will share with you what we are doing and what we think about it. By no means is it perfect, and we are experimenting in different ways.
Start: 4:00 PM
Hint: nobody arrives at 4:00PM, but it’s important to get the field set up at around 3 PM to secure the space. Rotate volunteers to do this so it doesn’t just fall on one person every week. Set up the poster, and get the discs out!
4:00-4:30 Casual throwing
People start to arrive and casually throw. They either found us on Reclub, in our WhatsApp group, or follow @ultiid on Instagram. Members of the community will go around and introduce themselves to newbies, and offer advice on throwing technique. This is when you show them how to throw a forehand. Once there are 3 or more throwing pairs, experienced throwing pairs should stop throwing and dedicate time chatting to spectators and inviting them to throw.
4:30 Welcome circle. It’s a quick welcome, and when someone says their name, it’s important that everyone says it out loud together. eg “Hi my name is Angga”, and everybody says “Hi Angga!” Having a circle of people all saying “Hi” followed by your name is a powerful way to feel seen and heard by a new group of people.
4:35 – Easy Drill for 10-15 mins. Going from standing still to playing a game of frisbee immediately is quite change in pace. A habit newbies have in frisbee games is standing still and waiting for a pass, which of course is easy to defend against. Running a simple drill that involves running and catching a disc builds confidence and the feeling in their body of what it feels like to run and catch a disc so they can do it in a game.
Key points to explain: where the endzone is, you can’t run with the disc, imagine you have a defender.
4:45 – 6:00 PM – Pick Up game. Split up the newbies equally into 2 teams, and fill the rest with more experienced players. This is also a good time for people who have played regularly to play with more responsibility such as playing Handler. The focus is on fun! Play 1-on-1 defence, mark loosely if you’re on a newbie, and forget stacks and strategy. Pass to your newbies and give them chances to run deep and score.
5:45 Photo!
Take into consideration that muslim players will need to leave before sunset, so get a photo and a wrap up a little bit earlier. Allow some sunlight for people to practice their throws. Hang around afterwards and chat to the people, let them know when the next session is.
Reflections on Open Days
We found that the time we look the most “welcoming” is during casual throwing. When people walking by see beginners learn to throw a frisbee they are more likely to stop. It is rare for them to come up to us, so it’s important that volunteers are vigilant in engaging people who stop and watch. Give them a disc to hold, tell them it’s easy to throw and take a few steps back asking for the throw. You’ll find that they will quickly put down what they’re holding, and commit with both hands.
Basketball players and volleyball players learn to throw the easiest. Football players are the most comfortable running deep and jumping for catches.
Changes in pace means that we lose people. Bringing everyone in for a spirit circle, then starting drills has meant that people who are just passing by have an excuse to leave. I guess it can be a little intimidating, especially if you’re just on a walk / exercise then get roped into organised fun. However for people who find us online and come to join, they expect the spirit circle and the drills.
Next time we will try:
- No drills. Just casual throwing, name circle, then teams. (we have bibs for different teams)
- More space on sideline for casual throwing while games are happening
- Finding better grass where we can be seen by basketball and volleyball players
Newbies are always asking when the next session is. It seems that people actually come to Renon every day, so a week seems like a long time. I would love to see a daily group get together. We have a few players who are local enough that can make this happen.
Discs
My first ultimate frisbee session in the UK, the team had a lot of discs that they “lent” to the players. I would like to see this here. Maybe when someone has come a few times, we can lend them a disc to practice with. Or perhaps sell some of the discs donated to Indonesia from teams who came to Nusantara Cup.
