Ultimate Frisbee is a fabulous, high-energy sport that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skills who don't mind a little running and a lot of fun. These directions apply to the outdoor version of the game. The indoor version typically uses a smaller field and has fewer players.

Two teams of seven players each play on a field 70 yards long by 40 yards wide (see diagram below). Endzones are an additional 25 yards long, so the field looks like a slightly modified football field. The object of the game is for a team to pass the disc from player to player, scoring a goal by catching the disc in the opponent's end zone. Players cannot run with the disc, but must plant a pivot foot (like basketball) and throw the disc to a teammate. When holding the disc, a player gets ten seconds to throw it to a teammate, which is counted by the defender guarding or "marking" the thrower. If the disc isn't thrown in time, it's called a "stall" and the defense takes over. Games are typically played to 15 points, sometimes less or more depending on time available.

The most important part of Ultimate Frisbee is "The Spirit of the Game". Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among players. No referees are used in the game. Instead, each player must make an honest call, and trust the calls of their fellow players. If for some reason players cannot resolve their differences on a call, people usually say "back to the thrower," which allows play to resume without further debate.

• BUDA runs several different Ultimate Frisbee leagues in the greater metropolitan area. Over 2,000 players participate in BUDA leagues throughout the year.
• BUDA is a volunteer organization, led by a Board of Directors with extensive experience organizing Ultimate Frisbee events at many levels. Each league and event is run by its own volunteer committee.
  
• BUDA sponsors and organizes charity tournaments to benefit local, non-profit organizations.
  
• BUDA runs a youth program designed to teach young people the benefits and joys of Ultimate Frisbee.
  
• BUDA was organized in the summer of 1990, and incorporated on March 20, 1992.
  

BUDA runs leagues in every season: spring, summer, fall, and winter. In summer, BUDA runs learning leagues for men and women, as well as a Corporate/Open league (players sign up as teams, which are divided into competitive brackets). BUDA also helps organize Eastern Massachusetts high school teams, and runs some college and club tournaments. Most of these leagues are coed and all encourage fair and safe play.

The term "hat" comes from the method of forming teams by putting everyone's name into a hat and then randomly creating teams. We don't actually do that anymore, of course. Instead, we use a sophisticated team creation program that goes through all the names of players who have signed up for a league, and divides them equally, taking into account gender, skill/experience level, metro vs. west preferences, as well as friends who ask to play together. You'll find that teams compete on very equal footing throughout the season and at the tournament.

We run hat leagues in the spring, summer, and fall. Each league typically has approximately 30 teams, broken into divisions by region (Metro vs. West) as well as nights (Sundays vs. weeknights).

You cannot sign up as a team in our hat leagues, although you can sign up with one friend. The hat leagues are all-inclusive, in that they provide you with a field, a captain, a shirt, and a game/tournament schedule. It's a great deal, and a great deal of fun.

The Summer Club League (SCL was formerly known as Corporate/Open League) is our largest league, with over 75 teams competing in several divisions, divided by competitiveness as well as by geography. A big plus to this type of league (club leagues), and part of what makes it so popular, is that you can sign up a whole team. That means that you can enter a company team, a college or high school team, or just a group of friends who have played together. We'll provide you with a schedule, but you arrange for your own practice/game field, shirts, etc.

Ultimate Frisbee, like many other sports, can be played coed. Traditionally, that has meant 5 men and 2 women on the field at all times, but in recent years there has been an international push to make coed teams more evenly balanced. For BUDA, that means that we have some divisions (hat leagues and BUDACOL) that play 4/3 - no more than four players of one gender - and other divisions that play 5/2. The ratio of players in the Boston area currently makes it infeasible to have all of our teams playing 4/3, but we are doing what we can to introduce more women to the sport.

On a serious note, you'll find that, just as in other sports, playing coed can be challenging. Men and women typically have different sports backgrounds, and it can take some work to make the game fun for all, and dangerous to none. We think this is no different from other life events, though, and it can be great fun.

If you think BUDA is performing a great service, as we do, you might want to help. We can always use volunteers to help run our leagues, mostly minor administrative work, plus some creativity in coming up with fun themes and events to make the leagues more enjoyable. We also require accountants, marketing specialists, attorneys, and any other job descriptions that you can think of in a corporation that grosses almost $100k annually. If you'd like to help, contact and we'll see what we can do.