Getting A Real Taste of Frisbee
Having to relocate myself here at UCSI University, KL campus was definitely as nerve-wrecking as going for an interview with so much going on in your mind. However, I thought it was a golden opportunity for me to improve my skills and gain more playing experience on field in frisbee as back in my hometown, Penang, I did not have my chance to learn from the experienced ones as there was hardly any tournaments for us to participate due to lack of passion and a lot of them have gone off for other countries. Hence, my friends had encouraged me to join the teams in Kuala Lumpur as most of the players here are well-trained and experienced enough to guide me in frisbee.
Once I set foot into my campus, I instantly contacted the committee of the society, named Hurricanes Ultimate Club, to enquire further information about their training sessions. I knew, one way or another, this would be a wise choice to make as I do not have many friends here, thus, participating clubs and societies in my university – aside from being a student’s obligation- has helped me made a lot of new friends. In perspective of many, ultimate frisbee is simply about people chasing after a plastic disc, or worse, “With all due respect, it makes me quite similar to my dog playing fetch with me”. Well, I do not blame the latter’s comment as I once despised playing ultimate frisbee until I realised how competitive and fun it could get after joining my first tournament – Casa Permai Ultimate 2017 – in Penang, hosted by one of my ultimate friends.
It was definitely a struggle for me initially as I was very much accustomed to playing netball – footworks, court size, defence etc. – that frisbee was such a tiring and more complex sport for me as it involves so much of physicality and running. Besides that, if you are a frisbee player, you will be told that frisbee can be quite dangerous as a lot of players have tore their
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during their competitive years. It started becoming such a fun sport fun for me when I slowly grasped the principle of how ultimate is being played. I am fortunate enough to have a senior whom I look up to very much who has been guiding me and pointing out my weaknesses for me to improve on. Another best part is that we have our coach who has been playing for more than 10 years now to lead our weekly training before our tournament day.
In my first training session with them, one of the players came up to me asking if I was interested to join them one of KL’s biggest frisbee university-based tournaments – Malaysia University Ultimate Championship. I was quite hesitant at first to join but I leave my negative thoughts back in my mind, mustering up all of my courage and accepted his invitation. I was quite worried that I might not be able to do my very best on tournament day considering the fact that I am still an amateur player compared to other female players in the team who have been training with their club teams – non university-based frisbee team which usually join international ultimate competitions.
As seniors see potential in me as a junior player, they did not give up guiding me on how to become a better player. Throughout my first tournament with them, I thought it would be a nightmare for me but it turned out to be better than expected. Not only did I learn so much from them, but also strengthen my bond with the team.
In short, I have learnt that to achieve our life goals or whatever at all, do not ever doubt yourself and take some risks. Some choices we make in life can be risky and terrifying but what all that really matters is the outcome. As long as we put all of our heart in it, the outcome will be good despite the risks we take. Mistakes will be made but mistakes are what we learn from to be a better version of ourselves.