By Lauren Bishop
Enquirer staff writer

Angie Prasinos, 30, of Colerain Township, Kevin Tierney of Union, KY., and Brian Izdepski of Independence, KY. play a game of Ultimate with a flying disc - more commonly known by its trademark name, Frisbee. (The Enquirer/Brandi Stafford)

On a breezy afternoon at Sawyer Point, a group of businessmen and women on their lunch hour have shed their suits for T-shirts, shorts and sneakers.

They line up roughly 70 yards apart on the lawn just north of the Serpentine Wall, five or six on each side. A flying disc - better known as a Frisbee - sails through the air, both sides rush toward the center of the field, and a game of "ultimate" begins.

Created in the late 1960s by New Jersey high school student Joel Silver - who became the producer of The Matrix trilogy and other films - ultimate is a non-contact team sport that blends elements of football, basketball and soccer, using a flying disc instead of a ball.

Want to play?

Get involved with the Cincinnati Ultimate Players Association. The last summer league tournaments take place this weekend, starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Clear Creek Park, 6518 Ohio 32, Anderson Township. It's too late to participate, but you could watch and learn and join an informal pickup game. A group plays at noon Sundays at Winton Woods by the disc golf course and a group of people play from 11:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m. most Wednesdays and Fridays at or near Sawyer Point. Information: www.cincyultimate.org. If you're a teen, the Cincinnati Ultimate Players Association runs a high school club league during the spring. Information: e-mail Ned Earley at nearley13@earthlink.net. If you want to get your own game going, read up on the rules at the Ultimate Players Association Web site: www.upa.org.

An estimated 100,000 people in the United States now play ultimate recreationally, in sanctioned events and on high school and college campuses, according to the Ultimate Players Association in Boulder, Colo.

To capitalize on the craze, Frisbee maker Wham-O Inc. recently rolled out new discs specifically for ultimate, and also for the popular game of disc golf, which is essentially golf played with a flying disc and baskets.

At the same time, the company introduced an instructional ultimate Frisbee package for high school and junior high physical education teachers.

Many members of the group at Sawyer Point have been playing here for the about 10 years. Mark Clippinger, a 37-year-old Delhi Township resident, started up the games with co-workers when he worked at Procter & Gamble.

Year-round games

They try to play year-round, as long as it's not raining or snowing or too cold, says Clippinger, who now works for Hewlett-Packard. And anyone is welcome.

Players say the game is a great workout and offers friendly competition. The rules are more relaxed in the pickup games than in the Cincinnati Ultimate Players Association leagues, which meet twice a week and conduct tournaments.

Chip Skidmore, a 37-year-old lawyer at Lindhorst & Dreidame, joined the group after jogging by one day about eight years ago.

"It's an easy game for downtown because all you need is a Frisbee and a field," says Skidmore, who lives in Wyoming.

On this late July day, first-time player Angie Prasinos, watches from the steps north of the lawn.

"I'm a little intimidated," says Prasinos, a 30-year-old Colerain Township resident who works at Great American Insurance. "I haven't thrown a Frisbee in years, and I'm telling everyone that."

Fortunately, Prasinos doesn't have much to worry about with these players, who wave her in to join one of the teams. A new game begins, with five players on one side of the lawn and six on the other - close to the regulation game rule of seven players to a team.

How play begins

Play starts when a member of the defensive team throws the disc down the field toward the offensive team. An offensive team member must pick it up or catch it and pass it to someone else on the same team within 10 seconds, without running with the disc or dropping it. (A dropped toss is a turnover.)

A member of the defensive team can try to intercept the disc in flight, or block another offensive team member from catching it.

The game is fast, frenetic and often nearly balletic.

Players twist their torsos and arc their arms to throw the disc over or around their opponents, or leap into the air in hopes of making a catch.

A team scores when it completes a pass in the 25-yard-deep end zone of the opposing team.

Prasinos manages to make several successful passes in the games she plays.

The other players offer friendly instruction and refrain from ticking off the seconds that she's holding the disc before passing it, instead telling her to take her time.

By 1 p.m., about an hour after they've started playing, everyone is drenched with sweat, but smiling - including Prasinos.

"I loved it," she says. "I've just gotta get the hang of it."

And she says she'll definitely be back next week.

Get the right disc

One of the best things about ultimate, players will tell you, is that the only thing you need to play (other than people) is a disc.

But not just any disc will do. A regulation ultimate disc weighs 175 grams, so make sure that's what you're playing with. (Many companies put the weight right on the disc.) Here are a few examples.

• Red Innova Pulsar, about $7.95

• White Wham-O Original Frisbee Disc, about $7.99

• Purple Discraft Ultra-star, about $8.95

Where to buy them

• Disc World Alternative Sports
1829 West Galbraith Road, North College Hill (513) 931-1037

• Disc 'n Dat, www.discndatonline.com
159 Lloyd Ave., Florence (859) 371-3668

• Sporting goods stores and discount retailers, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Target and Wal-Mart

• Ultimate Players Association Web site, www.upa.org

• Discraft, www.discraft.com

• Original Frisbee, www.frisbeedisc.com

• Gaia Ultimate, www.gaiaultimate.com

E-mail lbishop@enquirer.com