The University of East Anglia (UEA) on the outskirts of Norwich has become a major centre of sport in the region since opening the Sportspark a couple of years ago. This weekend the campus hosts a national championships in an international sport - Ultimate Frisbee. Created in the 1960's by American university students, Ultimate made its way to the UK by the mid-Eighties and currently boasts 2,500 players across the country. The cream of those competitors will descend on the UEA over the weekend of the 5-6 February to compete in the first ever mixed national Ultimate Frisbee Competition. Guide to Ultimate Frisbee Alex Rigge is a student at the UEA and president of the university's Aye Aye Ultimate Club. "It's a fast paced game, very much a mixture of netball, basketball and American football," he said. "You have an end-zone at each end of the field, the aim being to throw your Frisbee, or flying disc, to a team mate within that end-zone - much like a touch down in American football," he added. Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport, so catches and interceptions are at the core of the game - but unusually, there's no dedicated official.
 | | Alex Rigge |
"One of unique things about Ultimate is that there are no referees," said Alex. "If a rule is broken one of the players can call it. The team captains then have 30 seconds to decide the outcome between themselves. On very rare occasions there's a dispute, but usually once a decision's made that's the end of the matter. "The spirit of the game is paramount. In fact, the most coveted prize in our tournaments is the Spirit Of The Game award. It's voted for by the teams and is a real honour to win it," he added. The UEA team currently boasts a playing squad of about 50 members, but numbers have been as high as a 100 in recent years. As for this weekend's tournament, Alex has high hopes for his performance. "I'm hoping to finish fairly high, top half I hope. There are a lot of top sides coming from around the country, as well as Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There's a lot of competition, it should be a great weekend," he said. | 
