Of the many sports in the world, very few specifically require the sexes to play alongside and against each other.

Accordingly, in the majority of schools, boys and girls are separated for recreational (non-examined) P.E. lessons from a young age, and whilst the girls practise netball footwork, the boys are carted off to kick footballs.

This is perhaps a reductive outlook on the school sporting experience, but nonetheless, it is one based on fact. According to a national survey from 2023, it is exceedingly rare to play mixed-gender sport in school from the age of twelve onwards. Many schools accompany this practice with gendered patterns of staffing (female teachers only teaching all-female classes, for example) and separate gender-based curriculum requirements.
Amongst reasons surrounding physiological difference, body confidence, and gender-exacerbated performance anxiety, the survey also made note of the teachers’ resulting reluctance to teach classes of the opposite sex, the gender-binary nature of such separation, and quoted a few laughably sexist teachers. One begins to wonder if the reasons for gender-separated sport in schools are a short-term ‘pacifier’ promoting a long-term problem…

Enter ‘Ultimate frisbee’, a by no means perfectly mixed-gender sport, but one that largely encourages mixed-gender teamwork and promotes healthy mixed-gender competition. It brings together the throwing and catching game many of us have played with our friends, parents, or even dogs growing up. This is paired with concepts borrowed from both netball and American football—when you are in possession of the frisbee, you may only pivot, and when you catch the frisbee in your team’s allocated ‘end zone’, you score a point. It is an American-founded, non-contact, self-refereed sport played 5 vs. 5 indoors, or 7 vs. 7 outdoors.

‘Ultimate’ generally offers three divisions: ‘mixed’, female-matching (‘women’s’), and ‘open’ —specifically male-matching only divisions (although not unheard of) are surprisingly uncommon. Mixed league games mandate an even split between female and male playing opportunity with alternating predominantly female- and male-matching points in a ratio of 2:3 (indoors) or 3:4 (outdoors). It should be noted that whilst players often play sex-matched marking in mixed settings, marking someone of the opposite sex is not unusual. The non-contact element of the game removes some of the physiological reasons behind same-sex matchups,  which makes for some interesting debunking of sex-based stereotypes. Interestingly the mixed division of Ultimate frisbee was the only division that showcased at both the 2013 and 2017 World Games.

The open division throws all gender requirements out of the window, and, although at its highest competitive levels the composition of open division teams is male-dominated, other genders are still present.

In terms of transgender inclusion, the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF—the power regulating Ultimate frisbee’s international competitions) follows International Olympic Committee rules requiring vigorous and invasive testing for those who have chosen to start hormone therapy. Yet, the governing bodies for both UK and US national competitions (UKU and USAU respectively) encourage athletes to choose to participate in the divisions or gender roles with which they best identify and feel most comfortable. For national competitions, under which national sports federations are not bound by international rules, the focus is on inclusion and participation.

My personal route into playing frisbee was an interesting one. At first sceptical, self-refereeing seemed ludicrous to a basketball player—I followed a friend and picked up my first frisbee around a year or so ago. Many training sessions and new friendships later, I can’t say I’ve really looked at any other sport since. Oxford University’s Ultimate team is made up of everything from the fair-weather casual to well-weathered competitive players, and nobody seems to mind where you fall on this scale. Surprisingly, learning how to throw a disc properly takes a bit of practice, but shouldn’t serve as a deterrent for newcomers: training sessions are a good balance between strategy and relaxed play, with an even greater focus on the latter when tournament seasons come to a close. 

To me, as far as possible, sport should not be gendered—it is about movement, fairness and fun—and in a world that seems so set on separating and marginalising people based on their gender differences, ultimate frisbee (certainly on a national level) feels like a breath of fresh air. 

It is the one sport I wished I had tried out sooner and a sport I would encourage everyone to try out too.