Let the games begin -- after dark
Players take shine to evening matches
As the sun goes down, the call goes up: "Heads!"
Even though the multiple Frisbees flying through the air are aglow with light-emitting diodes, the deepening dusk makes it hard to pick them out and several people duck just in time to avoid a direct hit.
By now, almost everyone has heard of Ultimate Frisbee. But the glow-in-the-dark version played weekly on the Cambridge Common is putting a whole new spin on the sport.
Cambridge resident Chris Beaman started a group on Meetup.com, an online social networking website, announcing biweekly get-togethers to toss around LED-illuminated discs after dark. From the first meeting of five people in late May, the group has grown to online membership of 166 people and a turnout of at least 30 people for the now-weekly meetings.
Beaman says he liked the idea of people getting together to throw a disc around in the dark. "People can't really see each other and they don't know each other while they're playing. After that, everyone goes out for ice cream and has a chance to get to know other people."
Many of the players do attend without knowing anybody else, but they often form friendships and relationships on the field. Bhavesh Kapadia and Catje Jecmen met during a get-together on July 3.
"Cat keeps reminding me that our one-month anniversary is coming up every time we come to play!" Kapadia says.
Beaman adds that this was his main reason for starting the group. "I've lived in other parts of the country where people are a bit more personable, more friendly, and I really wanted to make a connection between people in Boston."
On game nights, people gather on Cambridge Common at 8 p.m. and break off into small groups to throw the disc around and learn one another's names. Once the darkness sets in and the soccer players head home, the group moves into the middle of the Common and demarcates two playing fields using neon yellow LED sticks. To make it easier to spot teammates on field, everyone dons a red or blue glow stick bracelet.
Ultimate Frisbee, or just Ultimate, as it is commonly known, pits two teams of seven players against each other trying to pass a flying disc into the opponent's end zone. Often described as a cross between football and soccer, Ultimate is popular on college and high school campuses all over Greater Boston.
While many of the players at the weekly sessions in Cambridge are just out of college, the age range spans a few decades, with Bill Freitas, 53, and his son, Will, who is 16, on either end. Some people have played Ultimate before, but most are relatively new to the sport and Beaman gives a rundown of the rules every time, stressing that Ultimate is a non-contact sport and that there is no name-calling or physical aggression allowed.
Alok Bhushan says he likes playing Ultimate because its rules are straightforward. "I didn't know how to play Frisbee three weeks ago and I'm not very athletic. But I feel like I can play now -- it's a very easy game to join."
Bhushan, who works at an investment firm, says he also appreciates Beaman's emphasis on "making things friendly and open -- it's a lot more fun than going to the gym."
For Paul Martin, the game's starting time allows him to take part. With two kids and a regular day job, "I can't do anything at 5:30," he says, adding that there is a certain appeal in playing a sport when it's "pitch black" outside.
The group often attracts attention from people walking through the Common. As the players chase after the glowing disc, their shadows flit across the field and their calls to each other seem to arise from the darkness.
"I've never seen such a thing as this. This is something!" says one passerby, who had come back to the field to look for a soccer jersey.
More than once, a player has joined the group after stopping to ask about the game. Others came with a friend and kept attending even after the friend stopped coming. Most people found the group on the Meetup site while looking for something to do.
Randolph resident David Bahm finds that playing Ultimate with the group keeps him busy as he goes through a divorce. "I don't really want to be at home in an empty house. This is good for me to meet new people and just have fun."
Play wraps up whenever people start to feel tired, around 10:30, and the group usually heads over to an ice cream shop. "People usually go for a beer after a game but this group goes for ice cream -- there's a kind of innocence about it," Bahm said. "It's like being a kid at summer camp again!" 