Stumping for Discs

In the summer of 2008, six intrepid Peace Corps volunteers gathered in a small town in northern Kazakhstan. Their mission: to teach thirty 5-9th graders the fundamentals and joys of Ultimate Frisbee. Meeting every day for a week, the camp exceeded all expectations and a royally good time was had by all. We formed four teams, each with a volunteer leader, and throughout the week, calls of "Superstar Monster forever!" "Alright, Counterstrike!" "Yeah, Flying Crocodiles!" and "G-unit!" rang across the steppe.

Girls love Ultimate

Ultimate is a wonderfully addictive game, and soon these kids were hooked. Their leaders, older and a bit more prone to wear and tear, had to drag them off the fields at the end of morning practice. Afternoon activities included designing team logos, video clips of Ultimate, and one amazing project:

It would not be Ultimate without some tie-dye!

There are more photos and camp commentary on the June 28, 2008 post of this blog. Check it out!

Recently, my site mate Jeff told me that he is resurrecting the camp this year. Sounds like there has been a lot of interest from both the community and other volunteers. He is hard at work organizing and scheming for funds -- I'm writing here to get you all to help!

You can't have an Ultimate Frisbee camp without Frisbees. And discs are impossible to purchase in Kazakhstan. Last year, Discraft sent us some free reject discs (we covered shipping costs) and family, friends, and teammates came through with some beautiful new and almost new discs. THANK you for everyone that helped out.



This year, Discraft has said no more -- they have sent as many discs as they will to Kazakhstan. So I hope that loyal readers and passionate Ultimate stars will step up to help us out. Bring a disc to give away to Get Ho, or toss a few bucks my way to help purchase discs and mail them.

Just to head off the inevitable question of, "Hey, what happened to the discs from last year?" We made a rookie mistake and gave the discs away to the participants. Great idea, right? They could keep playing all year, remember the summer fun, etc.

One problem: all the Americans signed the discs and we used them as awards for participation. This turned the discs into precious mementos, not sporting equipment, and none of the kids want to use their discs, for fear of erasing those signatures and accolades. This year, in light of the growing interest in Ultimate, donated discs will be kept, either for future camps or for school sports programs.

Let me know if you are interested in helping out -- we would greatly appreciate discs, cash, cones, cleats, or any other Ultimate-related sports gear. I will ship what we've got in mid-May: every little bit helps.

Peace,
Nora

norawebbwilliams@gmail.com