The Jammers 2017: Results

The Jammers 2017
Mixed

1. Lori Daniels/James Wiseman

2t. Connie Bond/Larry Imperiale

2t. Bethany Sanchez/Rob Fried

4.Michaela Galloupe/Mike Galloupe

 

 

Open

1. Ryan Young/James Wiseman

2. Darryl Allen/Carlos “Pipo” Lopez/Jeff O’Brien

3. Larry Imperiale/Daniel O’Neill

4t. Steve Scannell/Mike Galloupe

4t. Rob Fried/Tito Andino

6t. Lori Daniels/Joel Rogers

6t. Carl Emerson/James ”Gus” Emerson

8. Kim Larkin

9. Lou Somrall/Geoff Gregory/Alan Clark

 

 

 

 

 

Which Hand Do You Gitis With?

World Gitis Day is May 28th this year. It’s a day when jammers go out and celebrate their love for Freestyle Frisbee by posting photos of themselves catching a gitis to Facebook, Instagram, and the like. Here’s the photo gallery from 2016. But the true purpose is to get us all out and playing on the same day. Imagine, all the jammers in the world jamming together, if not physically then in spirit.

In honor of World Gitis Day, this poll asks, which hand do you catch gitis with?

[poll id=”19″]

If you want to learn how to catch a gitis, click here.

If can’t can’t do it, don’t fret. To be a part of World Gitis Day all you really have to do is play some Frisbee with your friends.

The Italian Open 2017 Will Be Live Streamed

Italian Open 2017Thanks to Chris Belaj, the Italian Open will be live streamed. The Freestyle Frisbee community thanks you! The Italian Open will take place in Rome, Italy on June 10-11. Andrea Rimatori and Serge Marconi are the Tournament Directors.  Andrea was gracious enough to share more details about the event.

Jake: Rome has huge jam scene but is generally not known for holding competitions. What inspired you to hold this event?

Andrea: For more than 20 years Rome has had a large scene of jammers growing up at the beach, and in the public parks all around the center. They have never participated in major tournaments in the past and they didn’t love to travel for frisbee reunions! 10 years ago, me, Serge and few new jammers started to practice frisbee both at the beach and in a gym with the idea of bringing Rome to the greatness it deserves.
For 10 years we have tried to relaunch Rome as a city with the largest number of players in Italy. We are almost 30 members of the FPR (Frisbee Power Rome Association).
This rebirth was initially passed on through the beaches and gyms of Rome where we tried to promote frisbee with local events and small shows just to give visibility.
In 2014, with the event EFO 2014, the FPR association gained much wider recognition. All the foreign players (almost 60) who came to Rome for the occasion enjoyed a super weekend. This has improved the image of the FPR in the eyes of all European and non-European jammers. We received so much positive feedback that it has inspired us to keep working. We created a documentary on EFO 2014 that was aired on a national satellite TV for the whole year of 2015!!!!
We thought that throwing the Italian Open is yet another opportunity to keep the momentum and to bring Rome to the greatness it deserves.

Italian Open Back PageJake: What is the venue for your event?

Andrea: We get from the international sport federation, CONI, one of the most beautiful private Stadium: Farnesina Stadium! It is located in the area where the most important sports clubs in Rome are located and where the major national and international tournaments are held – like tennis, soccer, swimming, and athletics.

Jake: What event format, judging system, and divisions do you plan to use?

Andrea: Judging Format will be traditional, because we never had a chance to create a new method of judgement.

Jake: How many players do you expect? Are there any top teams we should be watching out for?

Andrea: Almost 50 competitors from all over Europe! We already have a list of teams, both for open pairs and for co-op that are very competitive. Based on the list, I could guess at the possible finalists but as you know in freestyle Frisbee anything can happen.

Some of the pairs teams: Tom Leitner and Freddy Finner! Marco Prati (Cega) will play with Piccio Antonio Cusma. This team is actually the european champion! Clay with Andrea Dini ,Alessandro Damiano (old school player from Rome) with Dario Giusti, Andrea rimatori and Fabio Nizzo…….

CoOp: Cega, Andrea Dini, and Clay; Andrea rimatori, Fabio Nizzo, and Tom Leitner. We are very fired up after our routine won at Jam Britannia.

Mixed: Andrea Rimatori and Ilka Simon, Freddy Finner and Fabiana Ciciriello, Biko and Marzia (a couple from Rome), Edo Favorini and Giulia Aretano (new jammer from Rome) and …….. a team we’ve missed from the field and carpet for a long time ago ….. Fabio Sanna and Eleonora Imazio !

Jake: Anything you’d like to add?

Andrea: The Roman crew is working hard to make the weekend of 10-11 June indelible and unforgettable for players and for the present audience.

 

History: 1968-1973; The Formative Years

IFA Pin The International Frisbee Association (IFA) Newsletter made its debut in 1968 and brought together previously isolated and undocumented pockets of disc play. Stories of Frisbee activities, including stories about people who could throw a Frisbee in different ways and could make fancy trick catches began to circulate. There were stories of the legendary Spyder Wills from Laguna Beach, whose floating throws and fancy catches were unlike what anyone else could do with a Frisbee. The Frisbee community found out about the big International Frisbee Tournament (IFT) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner’s Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto, Dan Roddick’s Pennsylvania State Championship events, and Wham-O’s National Junior Championships.

The November 1969 “All Comers” meet in Berkeley, California, advertised a “Style throwing and catching” activity area and also a “Free exercise” activity area in addition to the other more traditional Frisbee events like guts, distance, and accuracy.

By the early 70’s, Victor Malafronte and John Weyand of the Berkeley Frisbee Group (BFG) had raised Frisbee tossing and catching to a delicate art form of flowing throws and receptions. Their contemporary counterparts on the East Coast in Toronto, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner, were doing the same thing with fast flowing routines, and were already touring as Frisbee Professionals performing in cities across Canada. Vaughn Frick, John Sappington, and Scott Dickson were doing creative trick throws and fancy Frisbee catching on the campus of the University of Michigan during that same period of time. Dan Roddick had featured “Eastern Trick Catch” at his Pennsylvania and New York State Frisbee Championships.

IFA MembershipThe IFA Newsletter was instrumental in bringing all three of these groups together in one way or another. It led Victor Malafronte to the 1973 Canadian Open where he met Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner. In response to meeting Victor, Ken trekked out to the West Coast later that year to meet and play Frisbee with the BFG players. They exchanged volumes of information about Frisbee styles, techniques, and activities. The IFA and its newsletter helped the UM guys get in contact with the Humblies Guts team and to get involved with the IFT, where they met even more Frisbee players like John Connelly, Alan Blake, and Tom Cleworth of the Highland Avenue Aces guts team. The exchange of ideas about creative throwing and catching grew substantially during this 1968-1973 period of time.

In 1973, Dan “Stork” Roddick met Spyder Wills at Laguna Beach for some Frisbee play and was highly influenced by the graceful and beautiful style that Spyder demonstrated.

All this exchange of Frisbee karma helped to influence the nature of freestyle as it evolved from this point on.

Last Article | Next Article

Thanks to the Freestyle Players Association (FPA) for sharing this information with FrisbeeGuru.com.

The entire document is stored on FreestyleDisc.org, as is the FPA’s Hall of Fame.

Episode 15: Bill Wright is Left Behind

Bill Wright Chest RollingAfter all these years, the story of Bill Wright and Doug Brannigan driving to the 1984 U.S. Open has taken on all sorts for a folk lore. Hear it here, straight from the horse’s mouth, that horse being Bill of course.

  • While this road trip goes awry, Bill wouldn’t trade his adventures for anything.
  • Bill’s true entrepreneurial spirit shows up early as he sells discs on the road for a little extra pocket change.
  • Amazingly, the ‘Grateful Disc’ turns into the ‘Wright Life,’ which still thrives today.
  • Freedom was King in Bill’s early years, and he definitely lives by his motto which is “The Most Fun Wins.”

Poll: What Do You Teach a New Player First

Jake Teaches

We’ve all had this experience. We’re jamming and someone comes up and wants to know what the heck we are doing. After a little conversation they want to try. The next moments could be critical. There exists the potential to inspire this person to take up Freestyle Frisbee. Ensuring they are sufficiently engaged could go a long way. So what do you teach them first? The nail delay? The air brush? Throw and catch?

That’s what this poll aims to uncover. What do you teach a new player first?

[poll id=”17″]

History – Prior to 1948; The pre-plastic flying disc era

Old FrisbeePlastic flying discs first hit the market in 1948. Prior to that, we know that people played with flying disc type items of all kinds: pie pans; cake tins; cardboard ice cream container lids; lids from cookie, popcorn, and cherry can containers; and just about any other hand-held disc-shaped item. These all sailed through the air well enough to generate interest in experimenting with the activity of tossing them around.

No one really knows who the very first person was to fling a disc-like item, and it really would be impossible to find out. However, the earliest known documented instance of anyone undertaking an organized flying disc activity was uncovered by Victor Malafronte while doing research for his book, The Complete Book of Frisbee. In 1926, In Bladworth, Saskatchewan, Canada, Ronald Gibson and a group of his Bladworth Elementary school chums played a game they called “Tin Lid Golf.” They played the game on a fairly regular basis until they finished high school and went their separate ways. Victor’s book gives accounts of similar instances of early cardboard and metal container lid play in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

What is still unknown is how much of this early pre-plastic disc play included fancy “freestyle” type throwing or catching. It is very likely that among the people involved in early disc play, there were some creative people who showed off their disc flying prowess by flipping a disc behind the back and/or catching a disc between the legs, etc. Most likely this happened now and then, perhaps even before 1926, but there is not a lot of documentation about early disc play prior to 1948.

Even after the first plastic flying discs became available, there aren’t many documented stories of Frisbee players doing “freestyle” type of play until about 1968. A notable exception is a quite young Dan Roddick and his father, “Papa Jack” Roddick. Papa Jack gave 5-year-old Danny one of Fred Morrison’s original plastic flying saucer discs for Christmas in 1953. That Flyin’ Saucer became part of their regular family fun activities. Papa Jack and Dan became quite proficient with fancy throws and catches, so much so that at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, they were invited to participate with the Wham-O Frisbee Disc demonstration team. The team inspired them to discover the potential of the game. Then three years later at the New York World’s Fair, Dan and Papa Jack again linked up with the Wham-O Frisbee team, and were actually more advanced with their throwing and catching skills than the demo team itself.

Next Article

Thanks to the Freestyle Players Association (FPA) for sharing this information with FrisbeeGuru.com.

The entire document is stored on FreestyleDisc.org, as is the FPA’s Hall of Fame.

Episode 14: Deaton Tells All About The Bayou Blasters

Deaton Mitchell

We got a chance to talk with Deaton Mitchell. He and Jim Schmal (now Jim Benson) won 4 consecutive FPAW pairs titles; 1983-86. Deaton talks about his trajectory through Freestyle Frisbee and how it changed his life.

  • A trip to the Louisiana State University Parade Grounds changed how Deaton Mitchell thought about frisbee.
  • His Parents, using S&H green stamps (you’ll remember those if you are Randy’s age) purchased him a world class frisbee set.
  • Furniture polish is mediocre slick.
  • Deaton explains how met the people who eventually become his best friends for life.
  • Why did Jim change his name?
  • Why do the Ultimate players hate Deaton?
  • Deaton and Jim team up through a little bit of chance.
  • The Bayou Blasters choose to play with a Whamo instead of the Skystlyer.
  • The Bayou Blasters: Deaton Mitchell, Jim Benson, Darryl Allen, Jeff (Getty) Freeman, and Pat Carrasco.

Here are three of Jim and Deaton’s 4 wins:

The Jammers 2017 Will Be Streamed Live

The Jammers 2017 will be Streamed Live. The exact day and time is determined by the weather but we are expecting to start on May 27 at 13:00 UTC-4 (1p Eastern Standard Time). Tune in here.

I had a chance to catch up with Paul Kenny, the tournament director to find out more about the event.

Jake: As the 20th annual this year, The Jammers is the longest running Freestyle Frisbee event that takes place in the same location every year. What motivates you to keep going?

Paul: I think a similar anxiety happens regarding competing.  I put routines/tournaments together and always before I do it I ask, why do I put so much effort into it, it would be easier and less stressful to not do it – then when it is going on and soon after, I am reminded why I do it.  And that is, there is no better way to be together with the ones I love. Regarding The Jammers, when the weather is excellent and I am on my balcony watching everyone jamming – there is no better feeling I get.  It reminds me that ultimately I am bringing happiness to my friends.

Jake: I, and several other players come to The Jammers every year. What do you think makes The Jammers special?

Paul: Warm weather, hardpack, the frizbreeze.  When the weather is right, there is no better place to jam.  Interestingly I probably do way too much regarding things I can control so maybe that is part of it.  One thing I am most proud of is the number of lifelong friendships OTHERS have made with each other because of this gathering.  There are a surprising number of folks that get together many times whether I am there or not.  They first met here.

Jake: What playing conditions can the players expect this year?

Paul: Same answer as that which makes The Jammers special – when right, the best playing conditions in the world.  People can likely expect a day that may not be perfect but The Jammers has turned into a multi-day event with jamming over many days.  An interesting side note – they are doing road construction in front of our place and they are re-nourishing our beach dunes so there could be some industrial anarchy that might make a good James/Ryan video 🙂

Jake: Who are some of the people you except to attend? What teams should we be watching to put on big performances?

Paul: I think James and Ryan (underrated?) are starting their point run so that could be ridiculous.  Pipo is always a last minute call but he has only missed one event ever.  My plan, if he will have me, is to play with him as we competed at the first ever Jammers, so it is important for me to close that historical circle.  Expect Larry and Murf to be here.  They have embraced the tournament so much, they bought property on the beach a short walk to tournament central :-).  The south Florida gang (Berni, Rich, Vic and others), Geoff and Nanette from Orlando.  Jeff O’Brien, Jonathein, Lori, Darryl.  A couple first timers in Rob Fried along with Lou.  So along with Daniel and James, this will have a serious NY vibe.  Bethany, Joel, Kim I believe and Dan Yarnell are all slated to be here.  Steve Scannell is another regular who will attend. And Gus Emmerson (a blast from the past) will be playing with Carl. There are always people I am forgetting and others that show up unannounced so it should be another great turnout.

Jake: Anything you’d like to add?

Paul’s Mom Pauline, competing with Paul in 2008 (2nd + drop-less)

Paul: My parents attended every year they were physically able.  They helped me establish momentum and is a big factor this became something I wanted to continue (so this may be a part of the first answer).  That said, when my Father passed (he was Irish), my disc art was centered around a leprechaun spinning a disc.  My Mother passed recently (she was French) and the disc art (I made a pin as well) is centered by the Eiffel Tower spinning a disc (incidentally generated by Raphael Legrand from Paris).  The complete disc art was generated by Berni Murray (one of the folks who have made this tournament theirs).  The disc art includes our gitis guy character (for World Gitis Day Sunday of the event), a dual replica of the disc art used for the 10th Jammers (Roman numeral XX where the X’s are each essentially 4 fingers each spinning a disc) and my slogan Freestyle Reveals Imagination Spirit Beauty and Emotional Expression.  Shirts were also made so a lot of schwag basically to honor my Mom.

Lastly I would like to recognize Cheryl and Carl.  They have, as Berni has become, been the backbone of the event.  Cheryl generating art, coming up with party ideas, treats and allowing me to open up our place to the anarchy.  Carl who has generated a lot of the schwag, hosted parties and generally doing all the little things no one would notice but the Tournament Director.

Jake: To get an idea of what to expect, watch the replay from 2015.