A little after dawn breaks over Elliots beach, there are cones being placed on the sand to demarcate areas to play on. A group of children take on an equally motley crew of teens, passing a frisbee and blocking their opponents, running and jumping across the sand. All around, similar pockets have matches going on, with a mix of cheering players and a gaggle of onlookers keenly observing from the sidelines.
Over the weekends in particular, it is not rare to see discs flying up in the air as Chennai’s many Ultimate teams take to the city’s beaches. The many teams we chance upon on a Saturday, warming up, being coached, and playing matches are all a part of Agni Nakshatra, a beginners tournament. A player dives for the disc during an Ultimate practise session| Photo Credit:B Thamodharan “Every year, teams from Chennai try and get new people to play the sport.
The Agni tournament is timed with the school and college holidays so that the children and teens who come in are coached, and get to play matches. This is the first opportunity these players get, to be a part of a tournament, and an experience they never forget,” Praveen Balaji (a.k.
a Bajji), a player with Chakra, the first Ultimate club in Chennai. A no-contact sport backed by significant community support and spirit, Ultimate which is played on the beaches in Chennai has five players on each side with an alternating ratio of three men to two women ratio. Players do not just stand on the sand and toss a frisbee.
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