Ultimate in San Diego

The San Diego ultimate community takes advantage of America's finest weather to chase plastic year-round on the grass and on the beach. Whatever your level of experience with the game, there's something here for you. Join us!

Pickup Games [back to top]

You can find a pickup game somewhere in San Diego every day of the week! Here are some websites that can help you find them. If you know of a pickup game that isn't listed, please help out the community by posting info.

  • pickupultimate.com - An easy-to-use and constantly updated nationwide pickup game tracker
  • sdultimate.com - Less frequently updated listing of games in San Diego
  • sandiegodisc.com - An older wiki of San Diego pickup listings and other info
  • upa.org - Official UPA San Diego pickup page
Leagues [back to top]

DUDE runs three leagues a year: spring, summer, and winter. These coed leagues are open to players of all skill levels, whether you've never touched a disc before or you've caught a Callahan at Worlds. All leagues are run as "hat" leagues unless otherwise noted; this means that individuals can sign up and DUDE organizes them into even teams. If you don't know anything about ultimate or anyone who plays, leagues are great by way of introduction!

League games and the requisite post-game pub stop usually take place on Saturday mornings for the space of a couple months. Most recently, Spring League was played in Point Loma, Summer League on UCSD campus, and Winter League on the beach in Coronado. Registration and specific information about each league will be available on this site as the season gets nearer. Check the events page for the most up-to-date information.

Tournaments [back to top]

There are a number of local tournaments that take place each year. Please check the events page for updates.

Youth Ultimate [back to top]

DUDE encourages youth players to register for league play (with parent authorization). Last year, each league had about ten youth participants.

The middle school and high school youth programs are slowly growing in the area. Most notably, High Tech High became a competitive team in 2008, competing in a couple Northern California high school tournaments and winning one large tournament in the Spring of 2009. In the fall of 2009, the first San Diego High School League was established with six teams of about 15 players each.

We hope that we will see more development of the youth scene in the future. The San Diego community needs leaders to step forward and make it happen! Please visit http://www.upa.org/programs/youthdev for more information on how you can start a program at your school or bring a coaching clinic to the area.

College Teams [back to top]

Some of our best memories are from our college ultimate years-like when we dressed up like pirates and took turns laying out in the mud, choreographed a performance for the Centex Dance-Off, or experienced that epic tournament party when Skizip won the boat race by HIMSELF.

Most major universities in the country field an ultimate frisbee team (not NCAA-sanctioned) that participates in intercollegiate competition, ultimately aiming to qualify for the UPA College Championships in May (see http://www.upa.org/college for more info). These are some of our local college teams:

University of California San Diego (UCSD)

    Squids (Open A team)
  • The Squids finished 13th at the UPA College Championships in 2009.
  • Captains: Justin "Bobble" Elliot and Josh "Forge" Nickerson.
  • Coaches: Kevin Stuart and Kevin "Dollar" Smith
    Psychos (Women's A team)
  • The Psychos finished the 2009 college season with a 5th place finish at regionals, missing a bid to nationals in the game to go.
  • Captains: Loryn Kanemaru and Melody "Bonds" Gaal
  • Coaches: Tenise "Tambs" Ambler and Gina Phillips
  • Contact psycho.ultimate@gmail.com for information on joining
  • More info at: http://psychoultimate.wordpress.com/
    Berserk (Women's B team)
  • Captains: Sarika "Zazu" Tandon and Lindsey "Naya" Wholey
  • Coaches: Amy "Meeko" Chang and Jen "Sir Robin" Jacobsen
  • More info at: http://psychoultimate.wordpress.com/

San Diego State University (SDSU)

Club Teams [back to top]

The club scene in San Diego has seen some dramatic changes over the years, but reliably we put some talented teams together. We have club teams representing every division: Open, Women's, Mixed (coed), and Masters (33+ years old). For more info on the UPA Club Series, visit http://www.upa.org/championships.

Open

Women's

    Safari
  • San Diego's elite women's team.
  • One of the longest-running teams in Ultimate, these girls are regulars at Nationals every year.
  • More information about tryouts will be available in March or April.

    Knock Out!

  • San Diego's newest elite women's team. This team was an inch away from a Nationals bid their first year out of the gate. Keep an eye on these ladies!
  • Captains: Heather "Roswell" Kinkead and Tenise Ambler
  • 4/17: San Diego Womens Mixer, 1-4 at the NTC Liberty Station Fields. Open to all levels of players. The goal is to build and promote women's ultimate in the San Diego area. Will be followed by a BBQ.
  • 4/30: Open Tryouts, 1-4 at Rancho Mission Canyon Park
  • 5/1: Open Tryouts, 9-12 at Rancho Mission Canyon Park
  • 5/14: Open Tryouts, 1-4 at Dusty Rhodes Field
  • 5/15: Open Tryouts, 9-12 at Dusty Rhodes Field
  • 6/4-6/5: Cal States in Santa Cruz (invite only tournament)
  • Check out http://knockoutultimate.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Mixed

    On The Rocks
  • The latest in a long line of San Diego mixed teams. Look for a lot of prior Lunch Money and Metro players to mix it up this year.
  • Captains: Micah Blazar, Yui Takeshita, and Carlo Mosca
  • 4/16: Open tryouts, 9-12 at the Liberty Station fields
  • 4/30: Open tryouts, 9-12 at the Liberty Station fields
  • 5/14: Invite only tryouts, 9-12 at the Liberty Station fields
  • 5/21: Invite only tryouts, 9-12 at the Liberty Station fields
  • 6/4-6/5: Cal States in Santa Cruz (invite only tournament)

Masters Open

Goaltimate [back to top]

Ultimate players are pros at dreaming up games to amuse themselves (Susie sticks, Schwagball, Hotbox, Jug...). Goaltimate is one of these brilliant inventions; it's ultimate meets half-court basketball meets awesome. This is a disc game where teammates must pass the frisbee to each other while their opponents play defense (as in ultimate), with the objective of passing the disc through an archway constructed out of PVC pipe. The receiver must stay within bounds (inside a half-circle of cones on the ground set behind the arch) in order for it to count as a score. After a goal or a turnover, the team in possession must 'clear' the disc behind a designated boundary, as in half-court bball. Goaltimate was born right here in San Diego, and has been played locally since it's debut in 1984!

There are a few ongoing pickup goaltimate games in San Diego. See pickupultimate.com for current listings. In general, there is a 6:30pm Tuesday game, and a 10am Saturday game at Ski Beach.

In recent years, the Peninsula YMCA has put on a Goaltimate league at various times. Contact David Neder for more information on these leagues.

http://www.goaltimate.com/ has much more information about the sport's history and rules.