March 19, 2024

Hopkins catches on with Ultimate Frisbee college club teams home and aboard

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Peder Hopkins was a traditional sports athlete through his high school years at Newton. Hopkins went a different route when he went to college after graduating from Newton High School in 2013.

One practice for the Drake University Ultimate Frisbee team and Hopkins was hooked. The club sport is growing across the United States at universities.

“There were several guys on my college dorm floor who had been into Ultimate during high school and I decided to go with them to a practice,” Hopkins said. “I enjoyed it. I kept going back, and I got better and better. It’s a lot of fun.”

Hopkins played as a freshman on the Drake Ultimate team then transferred to Luther College in Decorah. Luther College has an Ultimate Frisbee team. Hopkins said he tried out and made the team.

“Even though Luther is a small college it has an Ultimate team which plays in Division I against the large universities,” Hopkins said. “There’s only three small colleges which compete at the Division I level. In the college Ultimate, there is a Division III, which is all the small colleges.”.

Luther Ultimate Flying Disc Association (LUFDA) has become one of the most successful club sports programs in Luther College’s history. Since its creation in 2003, LUFDA has grown to become a nationally recognized team. It finished fifth in the 2012 Division I national tournament. It plays in the West Plains Conference and in the North Central Region.

Hopkins played on LUFDA in 2014. LUFDA plays against teams from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.

Hopkins said the commitment to playing on the LUFDA Division I team was much like playing a varsity sport.

He said LUFDA would have six practices a week, running 2 to 2.5 hours long. Hopkins said the sport is played by good athletes who wanted to continue competing in a sport at a high level but not in one of the traditional sports such as football, soccer and basketball.

“The Luther program was a study-aboard one for the entire academic year,” Hopkins said. “I’m a history major, and I have two more courses until I graduate, but the past year I’ve gotten more interested in public health and social work.”

So, Hopkins just returned from a year of college study at the University of Nottingham in Nottingham, England, United Kingdom. You guessed it. Hopkins played for his third Ultimate Frisbee team, earning a spot on Nottingham’s elite team for the 2015 season.

Nottingham won the Division UK national championship in April. In the semifinals, Hopkins scored the winning point over Nottingham’s arch-rival Birmingham.

Ultimate Frisbee is played on a field 70 yards long by 40 yards wide with two end zones from 20 to 25 yards deep. There are seven players on each team. Hopkins said each team lines up near its end zone and one team “kicks off.”

“It’s called a pull. One of the players throws the disc as far as he can to the other team’s end zone. Players play offense and defense, and you advance the disc by throwing it. You can’t catch and run with it,” Hopkins said.

Players throw the disc down field and it is caught by a teammate. Hopkins said a player who makes a catch has 10 seconds to make a throw or it is considered a turnover. If a thrown disc is not caught, it is a turnover. Defenders can make interceptions.

“I always wanted to study abroad, so the Luther program I just completed was a tremendous opportunity. I was learning a lot of knowledge at Nottingham, and playing on another Ultimate team,” Hopkins said. “Ultimate Frisbee is much bigger in the U.S. than in the United Kingdom. I showed up to the first practice at Nottingham to discover they are a little more loose about practices.”

Hopkins said he was able to play his way on the Nottingham team with his experience. He said he had to get used to the different terms used by the British players. In the UK, there were university club games every Wednesday compared to weekend tournaments played by the Luther team, Hopkins said.

Teams have two to three handlers, who are the main throwing players, and four or five cutters, who are receivers. Hopkins said during the UK national tournament, he was a cutter. Points are scored when a team catches the disc in the opposing team’s end zone.

Ultimate is a non-contact sport and a self-officiated sport, Hopkins said.

“Players are pretty good about being competitive without the contact. It’s a game played by quality people, who abide by the rules. It’s really a fun game. I had a great experience a Nottingham,” Hopkins said. “Yes, I plan to try out for the Luther team again when I return later this month for my senior year.”

Hopkins said Ultimate has several levels of play from recreational teams to professional teams. It appears on a list of possible emerging youth-oriented sports considered by the International Olympic Committee for future Summer Olympics.

Hopkins said his main sports at Newton High were football and soccer. He is the son of Steven and Sara Hopkins of Newton.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com