His socks wet from the dewy grass soaking through his shoes, Benji defied gravity and deftly plucked the plastic disc with the eerie green light from the sky, crashing into the wet field to cheers from teammates and good-humored groans from his competitors.
Benji sprang to his feet and shouted, “Yeeaaahhh!” as his team hustled to him to celebrate and the opposing team trudged toward the other end of the field, heads hung low.
Benji started Midnight Ultimate with his close friend Tony about two years ago and it has grown since then. They meet at Frog Island Park every Thursday night between midnight and 12:30 a.m., barring horrible weather or a police presence.
In these late night/early morning games, men and women of varying ages compete for nothing more than love of the new sport and spending time with old friends.
The rules to the group’s version of Ultimate Frisbee, or just Ultimate, are simple, as Benji explained them with a little help from his friends.
The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to that of football or rugby. Players may not run while holding the disc, but may pivot on one foot.
While the player with the disc looks for a teammate to pass to, an opposing player may stand at arm’s length distance and count off to 10 seconds. If the disc holder has not passed the Frisbee within 10 seconds, it results in a turnover.
If somebody drops a pass, fumbles the disc, completely misses a pass or steps out of bounds, it results in a turnover.
Teams are chosen in ways harkening back to fourth-grade gym class: Two captains take turns carefully choosing their teams while taking advice from friends. While the basis of the game is simple, actually playing proves to be more difficult.
Players are winded from suicide-like runs back and forth across the field. In addition, though the group is usually no larger than 14 people, this past Thursday saw more than 20 players.
With two teams of approximately 10 players, things did get a bit hectic and there were frequent collisions, though no major injuries.
The Midnight Ultimate group is laid back, and when asked why it meets at 12:30 a.m. the answer is simply “because we can.”
However, an added bonus to playing so late is to avoid unwanted attention. There were not many cars on the roads or people walking the streets. This is crucial because, technically, these guys are breaking the law. The parks in Ypsilanti close at dusk, which was around 9 p.m. Thursday.
While individuals in city parks after dusk are considered to be trespassing, usually the group is simply asked to pack it up and get out of the park by local police.
It was surprising when, around 2 a.m., the headlights appearing in the parking lot did not belong to the police but to more Ultimate players.
During game play, events happen fast. There are often more than a dozen turnovers within a minute and one could easily lose track of whether they are on offense or defense.
To complicate matters further, there were no official team jerseys or colors, so it was important for players to remember who was on their team.
Remembering who was with you and who was against you, however, proved nearly impossible when new teams were chosen after a winner was declared. Still, this confusion actually made the game more interesting and snuffed out the brutal competitive nature most people experience in sports.
If a player made a diving catch to score a point, it was not unusual for the opposing team to get as excited as the scoring team.
There were a few new people this past week and the regulars went out of their way to make them feel welcome. Friendly tips were given throughout the night and every player was made to feel valuable.
If you are interested in joining the Midnight Ultimates for their games, they meet every Thursday night around 12:30 a.m. at Frog Island Park, with exception for rainy and snowy days. You do not need any gear, though some players wear shoes with plastic or rubber cleats.
