An Ultimate disc tournament for about 40 veteran players, some of them former collegiate champions, some of them — as is the case with the tournament's organizer, Sas Peters — world champions, was held recently at the John M. Marshall Elementary School field with games contested over the course of two days by 50 through 71-year-olds, men and women.
"Did we win? Yes, we won," said Tom Pinzino, 71, of Maplewood, N.J., where the fast-moving sport was first played, when asked about the Immortals (65-and-over) game contested the first day. "But the biggest thing for me now is the social aspect of it — on and off the field — though I enjoy the competition."
Pinzino was among seven or eight Garden State Geezers who came up from New Jersey to play in the tournament, which, he said, has become for him a highlight of spring.
When asked for some personal history, he said, "I grew up in Summit, and began playing Ultimate in high school in the mid-'70s, me and my friends. We made our own rules. Another group of guys was also playing . . . we set up a game with them, and then we got together to form a team that played college teams. Did we beat them? I could have sworn we did, some of them. I'm laughing because a teammate of mine recently told me we never won, though in my mind we were always better than the college teams we played."
Dan Lambeth said he came upon Ultimate "by accident, just out of grad school," in 1980 at Bell Labs in New Jersey. "I grew up in Texas — there was no Ultimate there. I had to wait for it to be invented. . . . Everybody loves the culture of Ultimate. It's competitive, but in a nice way. There are no referees. It's a different kind of sport . . . very nice, social. Everywhere I go, I'm welcomed to join. And it keeps you in shape. You can play longer than you think. It keeps you moving and you're having fun."
"I love the community of nice people," Chris Knigge, 65, the Geezers' captain, wrote, when asked at the tournament for his thoughts. "Other sports are often violent, but collisions are avoided in Ultimate. It's all about fair play, not always winning. The first rule of Ultimate is known as 'spirit of the game,' which says you don't do anything that detracts from the game."
The Geezers have over the years, he said, come up the age ranks, from Grand Masters (40 and over) to Great Grand Masters (50 and over) and then Legends (60 and over), "though we'll take anyone over 40 here because Sas's is a Grand Masters tournament."
Peters, himself, said that "East Hampton is historical in the sport of Ultimate. The Grand Masters, Great Grand Masters, Legends, and, now, the Immortals division all were begun here."
Though he's about to turn 69, the Amagansett resident plays against 20-somethings three times a week at the State University at Purchase, and still can throw the disc 80 yards for a score.
"Nothing makes me feel better than Ultimate," the seven-time world champion said, "because of the level of endorphins and things that are released in the body from intense competition. That feeling is more delightful than what you get from walking or running. It's much higher. I don't have the scientific answer except that in Ultimate you're intensely running, leaping, diving, throwing . . . and there's something wonderful about that. It makes the body feel great and the brain alive. It elicits something that makes you feel fabulous. I love it."
That one should slow down as one aged was to his mind "absurd — the need for movement is even greater. I've never stopped training. I lift, do plyometrics, ride a Cybex bike . . . and play Ultimate three times a week in the summertime leading up to the world championships in Sarasota in October."
He won his seventh world title in 2023 with Surly, a Minnesota-based Great Grand Masters (50-plus) team that had included him as its sole allotted out-of-region player. "We went up against the best players on the planet who were 20 years younger than me. . . . I'd feel blessed if Surly includes me again."
