Interesting & fun facts about Frisbees:
1. Flying discs made before 1964 are considered antiques by collectors.
2. The game of Ultimate was invented in 1969 by high school students in a parking lot near Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J.
3. By 1970, FRISBEE discs had become so popular on college campuses that some schools began offering flying disc courses to students.
4. The Navy developed a mechanical FRISBEE launcher.
5. The game of “Ultimate” has been demonstrated to require a higher cardiovascular fitness level than any other field game.
6. The first intercollegiate game of Ultimate was played in 1972 between Princeton and Rutgers. Rutgers won by the same two–goal margin as it did when it beat Princeton on the same field in the first college football game 103 years before.
7. Ed Headrick, former general manager and vice president of WHAM–O, envisioned the FRISBEE disc as a sport, not just a toy. He created the “Professional” model in 1964, developed and patented the FRISBEE disc flight rings (now called the Lines of Headrick), designed the FRISBEE Golf patented disc “Pole Hole,” and founded the International FRISBEE Association.
8. The oldest of all FRISBEE sports is Guts, usually played with five players to a side. The name “Guts” came from an alleged pastime of Princeton students who tossed a six–inch circular saw blade instead of the plastic FRISBEE disc now used.
9. There are more than 1,000 teams now competing at the college and club level in Ultimate; in 1972, there were two.
10. There are over 30 different periodicals published on flying disc sports. In the last 20 years, 13 books have been published on the subject.
11. Virtually everyone in the U.S. has heard of the FRISBEE disc and nearly 90 percent of all people in this country have played with one.
12. More than one–third of the schools in the U.S. use flying discs as part of their physical education programs, and the list is growing.
13. There are more than 700 Disc Golf courses in the U.S. These courses are permanent installations, usually located in a public park, where players actually “drive” and “putt” with specially styled discs.
14. The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is located in Sweden. There are 26 member countries.
15. There are five basic and many trick grips for playing with a FRISBEE disc. Each grip leads to a characteristic throw. The backhand throw is the favorite of most and accuracy throwers, although in power games such as Guts, players favor forehand or “thumber” throws.
16. There is a section on “Flying Disc Throwing” in the Guinness Book of World Records.
17. The Cub Scouts of America has included Ultimate as one of 18 recognized s scouts to play to earn fitness and participatory awards.
18. The first school for FRISBEE–catching dog training was called the Monterey of FRISBEE Dog Studies in Monterey, Calif. The first all–dog FRISBEE competition was held on Nov. 13, 1974 at California State University, Fullerton.
19. Rare flying discs have been known to sell for up to $500.
