Monday 09 July 2007
During a 1 to 1 Performance Development meeting an unnamed Chevron player was again confronted with disbelief and ridicule whilst trying to explain what the sport of Ultimate entails. Despite years of describing the rules of Ultimate to different business team members and line managers the Chevron player, in his late 20s, described the latest encounter, with the newly appointed Head of Department as "incredibly enraging".
The Chevron Player simmers away after the meeting.
After a seemingly innocuous start discussing roles and responsibilities the inevitable question that all long term ultimate players dread; "So what is this Frisbee thing", reared its predictably ugly head. After the normal spiel about Basketball, Netball, American football pitch, end zones, team sport, 7-a-side, etc, the Chevron player, who has asked to remain anonymous, reported signs that his manager was a particularly strong "unbeliever".
"The shaking of the head and the wide eyes made it pretty obvious" the player explained after returning to his desk. "Then they just started to giggle, a little at first and then almost uncontrollably". Eye witnesses of the 1 to 1, which took place in an open meeting area, have reporting seeing the Chevron player begin to rock back and forth as his face went red with rage.
"I've never seen anything like it" began Steve Onions, one of the eye witnesses. "He really started to steam after she said 'It's not actually a sport? I throw mine with my dog'. I really thought his head was going to explode"
Despite describing the copious amount of time and effort that many people across the country put into playing and training for Ultimate the message never got across. The plight for closet Ultimate players across the UK, Europe and the rest of the World, continues. For one player at least it seems the days of a mock free explanation of his beloved past time is still some way off.
Dane