The Paper's reporter Hu Jie sent it from Xi'an
Speaking of frisbee, if the first word that pops into your head is "influencer, yoga pants," then unfortunately, you have stereotypes.
Last weekend, China's first Frisbee League kicked off in Xi'an, and the surging reporter watched the match all the way to the scene – my real feeling is that if I had to choose a sport that I had never been exposed to before, the first choice would be Frisbee.
This choice has nothing to do with the popularity of frisbee, nor its social attributes, nor the gender of the participants, but simply because the sport itself is cool enough.
Sports girls are the most beautiful. The Paper's reporter Hu Jie tu
A match without a referee
So how cool is Frisbee?
If frisbee is to be described in one word, "de-authoritarianization" may sum up most of its characteristics.
From the birth of Frisbee in 1948 to today, the sport still does not have the term "referee". It encourages players on the field to negotiate penalties, and even the most important part is that the athletes of the two teams cross each other to summarize, which is called the "mental circle" by the players.
Well, it is a "spiritual circle", not a "net red circle", and it is not a "right and wrong circle".
Few people know that frisbee matches are played without referees, and similar roles are called observers.
During the game, observers stand on the sidelines, similar to referees in soccer, but they judge neither fouls nor offside, but just watch what happens on the field and occasionally enter the field to communicate with athletes in the event of a dispute.
"Throughout the history of Frisbee, it has been a sport without referees, and it is entirely up to the athletes to judge and preside over the game." Dai Hua, an international frisbee observer certified by the WFDF World Frisbee Federation, explained to the surging news reporter the biggest feature of the frisbee competition.
As one of the few international frisbee observers in China, Dai Hua served as the deputy referee of the Frisbee League and the observer of the final of the Frisbee League Shaanxi Xi'an Station.
In his view, the observers on the field do not have a greater voice than the athletes, "the game is not dominated by observers, and we have always emphasized when the observers are trained - the frisbee game belongs to the athletes." ”
So in the first Frisbee League final, Dai Hua only entered the field twice, and simply communicated with the players on both sides, and then quickly withdrew.
"We don't have enforcement powers, observers just provide a third-party perspective, but the situation is left to the athletes to judge and choose."
As for why it is so special, it may be traced back to the origin of frisbee motion.
In the United States in the 1960s, Frisbee was undergoing a transformation of image, trying to change from a simple toy to a sport. The relevant Frisbee company began a nationwide roadshow, and the United States at that time was undergoing a cultural upheaval:
The anti-authoritarian, anti-mainstream hippies encountered the niche frisbee at that time, so the two sides collided with a brilliant spark, and the hippies became the main group of frisbee promotion.
The most significant manifestation of this cultural gene is that when the extreme frisbee competition form appeared, the referee, the representative image of the traditional sports authority, was excluded from the frisbee game.
It wasn't until several worse race accidents at the 2013 International Frisbee Competition that the World Frisbee Federation began to consider whether to introduce a third-party role. Eventually, Frisbee played the role of "observer" for the first time at the 2017 World Games.
A "spiritual circle" that encourages each other
This vision, which looks somewhat "utopian" in sports, is precisely the vision of the spirit of frisbee.
The WFDF World Frisbee Federation condenses the spirit of frisbee into five points: familiarity with the rules, avoidance of physical contact, fair play awareness, enjoyment of the game and sincere communication.
The frisbee sport constructed from these basic spirits has derived a post-game link - the spirit circle.
The opening battle of the China Frisbee League was played in Xi'an Terracotta Warriors and Horses-RJM team and Xi'an Sports Institute V7 team, when the Xi'an Terracotta Warriors and Horses-RJM team lost to their opponents 2-9 in the first game, they did not leave the court directly, but walked to the competition venue with their opponents in tacit understanding, and the players of both sides crossed into a circle and began to praise each other's excellent performance in the game.
"We call it the 'Spirit Circle' and after the game we will exchange our feelings about the game and we will wish each other well." Dai Hua gave the explanation of the "disk friends".
"Frisbee is very encouraging for everyone to communicate with each other, because there is no referee, and when a conflict breaks out on the spot, it is hoped to encourage everyone to solve problems through communication and exchange, which eventually evolved into a 'spiritual circle'."
The "spirit circle" is not just a friendly process, after the first day of the terracotta team and the UP Apu extreme frisbee team, a girl showed the players of both sides how to define the foul at the end of the session.
On the sidelines, there are many similar situations – when one team scores, the members of the other team will consciously give applause; When a player makes a mistake in the match, both sides will shout "nice try" encouragement.
It can be said that the spirit of frisbee planted seeds when the team members first touched the sport and formed a "muscle memory".
The last link of the "spirit circle" is that the captains of the two sides lead all the members and shout out the slogans of the other team to each other. This is unimaginable in a traditional sports arena.
The "spirit circle" after the game. The Paper's reporter Hu Jie tu
epilogue
These details, which carry the spirit of frisbee, cannot be understood at all if they are not personally involved or experienced on the spot, let alone those who are wait-and-see or even hostile to frisbee.
In the "spirit circle" after the final, Zhai Yuhong, captain of xi'an Terracotta Warriors and Horses-RJM, said: "The most difficult thing for adults to do is to recognize that others are excellent. ”
It's hard for adults to admit that others are good — it's a phrase that sums up the finals, but it also seems to be more than just a game.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Yan Zhang