Diane Kanady worked in marketing and training in high tech for about 15 years before returning to school to study mental health counseling. She earned her master’s degree in 1999 ,and has worked in the field ever since, serving clients in the New England area. When she is not attending to her professional responsibilities, Diane Kanady enjoys riding motorcycles, golfing, and playing ultimate.
Developed in 1968 by New Jersey high school students and originally called “Ultimate Frisbee,” ultimate incorporates features of several different team sports, most notably American football and soccer, but is definitely not a contact sport. A unique feature of ultimate is that players are their own referees, honor-bound to know and play by the rules and call infractions, even on themselves, in observance of the spirit of the game.
Two teams of seven players each face off on a rectangular field resembling a football field, 70 yards long by 40 yards wide, with each end zone an additional 20 yards deep. The game’s object is to score points by successfully passing the frisbee to a player in the opponent’s end zone. Doing so scores one point, and the first team to reach 15 points wins.
Unlike either soccer or football, a player who catches the frisbee must stop running and may not hand it off, but rather only pass it. There’s no restriction on the direction of the pass, but if it lands on the ground, possession passes to the other team (as also happens if the pass is intercepted). There’s no stoppage of play when possession changes, resulting in a very fast-paced game. Further information about this exciting game is available at USAUltimate.org.
Diane Kanady 