What is Spirit of the Game?
At HUC, Spirit of the Game means competing hard, playing fair, and lifting each other up every time we take the field. It is the heart of Ultimate Frisbee and incorporates our commitment to fairness, respect, and joy in competition.
SOTG Principles
Spirit of the Game is a set of principles which places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play.
Players should be mindful of the fact that they are all acting as officials in any given game between teams and must:
- Know and abide by the rules;
- Be fair-minded, objective, and truthful;
- Allow opponents a chance to speak, then listen to and consider an opponent’s viewpoint;
- Resolve disputes efficiently;
- Acknowledge potential bias and preconceptions in order to treat every player equitably
Hamilton Ultimate Club does not use the WFDF spirit rating system of 5 categories, in favour of what we perceive to be a more diverse and equitable system. We have 4 categories: Rules Knowledge and Use, Fouls and Body Contact, Conduct and Communication, and Inclusivity. This was done in an attempt to consider and eliminate any implicit biases that affects a players perception of the other team’s play and allow for a fair assessment of the other teams’ Spirit.
Spirit Captains
A Spirit Captain must:
- Have a solid grasp of the rules of the game
2. Communicate well with their own team and the opponents
3. Understand that SOTG is about upholding the rules of the game, not about having fun or being friendly (but that doesn’t hurt!)
4. Remember that rule violation calls are not a moral judgement and shouldn’t be taken personally