This isn’t the type of frisbee your dad played.

Ultimate frisbee has hit the Iowa State campus by storm, with 62 teams participating this fall, which included 15 co-rec clubs. This was a sharp increase from last spring’s total of 37 teams.

Linda Marticke, intramural sports coordinator, credits the increase in ultimate frisbee teams to the event’s change over to fall season. In previous years, it was a spring sport.

Another reason for the sport’s autumn success, she suggested, is because “the weather is generally better in the fall.”

Ultimate frisbee has been an intramural sport at ISU for about 10 years. The game originated in California.

The sport found its way to the ISU campus via intramural coordinators who attended yearly conferences and brought the idea back to Ames.

Unlike the normal casual atmosphere of tossing the frisbee in the backyard, in this sport action takes place quickly.

“It’s an intense game with a lot a running,” Jason Young, member of the Paco team, said.

Marticke said while the game may be laid-back, a dress code is required for the intramural competition.

“People play the game without shoes, but we require shoes to be worn in competition,” she said.

The game commences with a “pull,” which is similar to a kick-off in football. The receiving team may catch the pull in the air and begin play, or wait until the pull hits the ground. If the pull is dropped while attempting to make the catch, it is a turnover.

The frisbee is advanced by passing it in any direction to a teammate, with an incompletion resulting in a turnover.

The goal is to catch the frisbee from a teammate in the end zone, which results in a point.

One rule is that defenders may not double-team the passer. However, they may double-team other players and even play zone defenses.

Although the game is somewhat similar to football, contact is only allowed if opposing players are attempting to catch the frisbee simultaneously, which is known as “incidental contact.”

Infractions are called by the players themselves. The only official is the timekeeper.

The game consists of two 15-minute halves with a running clock, and the team which scores the most points throughout the game wins.

Ties are settled by a sudden-death overtime format.

Eric Holzmueller, captain of team Paco, said he learned the game from his uncle, and looked forward to having a team of his own this fall.

“I thought, man, it’d be fun to set up a team,” he said.

Young was drawn in to the game by Holzmueller’s excitement.

“Eric wanted to start up a team, so I tried it,” he said.

The Paco squad proceeded to eliminate its competition en route to an intramural championship.

“We had a lot of height,” Young said. “We didn’t practice at all, but three or four guys knew each other.”

He also said the team’s strategy of utilizing “cherry pickers”, or long passes to straggling teammates, was the team’s most effective offensive weapon.

With the continued growth of ultimate frisbee, Marticke hopes to create increased camaraderie with campus and off-campus leagues, with the possibility of both a competitive and a recreational league in the future.

“We’ll see what happens,” Marticke said of the proposed changes.

One thing is for sure, however; one can bank on the Paco squad returning to action next fall.

“We’d like to repeat next year,” Holzmueller said.