Ocean Beach League

Take your talents to the beach, and get in on one of the fastest-growing segments of Ultimate. This league is designed to bridge the months in between Lei-Out and Paganello for beach veterans, but also win over new beach lovers transitioning from grass to sand for the first time.

Winter 2011-12 News

Ocean Beach League plays every Sunday 12:30PM-2:30PM starting December 11, 2011. The season ends with 2 consecutive Sundays of expanded tournament-style play on March 11th and March 18th.

Ocean Beach League 2012

We're back! After a wildly successful inaugural run last year, we are doing it again; bigger, better, and way badder than ever before!

Basic Details:

  • Initial registration remains open until December 7th.
  • After Dec 7th, players who sign up will be placed on teams subject to availability.
  • Games every Sunday at Ocean Beach from 12:30PM to 2:30PM beginning December 11, 2011.
  • BULA 5-on-5 rules for mixed gender play. All skill levels welcome, no prior experience in Beach Ultimate required.
  • We have space for 10 teams, max. limit of 9 men, 7 women per team. Roster sizes may be adjusted after games start, so the wait list will be active throughout the season.
  • This league is NOT subject to the same residency requirement as the SF Rec League which operates during the spring, summer, and fall. Anybody who can get to the fields, regardless of home city of residence, is welcome to play Ocean Beach League.

Beach Curious?

Here's a primer in case you're not quite sure what you'd be getting into with Ocean Beach League.

First off, there are two kinds of Beach Ultimate, 4-on-4 and 5-on-5. 4's is a lot like half-court basketball, whereas 5's is almost a perfect encapsulation of playing regular grass Ultimate with only 2/3 of the field field and about 2/3 as many players. Ocean Beach League games will be played 5-on-5. We'll stock your rosters generously so you'll always have 5's with plenty of subs.

There are so many incredible things about Beach Ultimate, but these are probably the most salient.

Harder on your muscles, easier on your joints - If you are one of those lucky people who are actually getting *older*, this is a good thing. Layout with reckless abandon (not into another player though), and your worst injury will be a mouthful of sand.

Slower and shorter (distance-wise), but smarter game - By its nature, the sand slows you down. Being one or two steps ahead of your defender is pretty much considered "open" on sand whereas you would be considered "covered" on grass. There’s still plenty of running, and you can bet you’ll be a bit winded if you run endzone to endzone just a couple of times during the game.

Windier, often tougher conditions - Yes, it’s windy. But Ocean Beach (and the Bay Area at large) has most of its wind during the summer, and not nearly as much during the winter. As the saying goes, 'if it's not raining, its gonna be beautiful!" So, don’t worry about the wind! It’s generally light and pleasant during the winter in San Francisco.

You’re at the beach! - Your worst day at the beach is gonna be better than most days on dry land. So come on, get over it. Sign up and play. It will be awesome.

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Field Status

When in doubt, assume that games are on. The beach does not close in normal wet weather, but just in case of a heavy downpour, check this space for an update. We'll call games on or off by 12 noon on Sunday.

Where's the Field?

Ocean Beach is located at he far west end of San Francisco, just off the Great Highway.

SCHEDULE

See it here!

Standings

here!

More Information

Revolver players in action at WUCC 2010: (left to right) Alex Ghesquiere, Joshua Greenough, Jit Bhattacharya.

About Beach Ultimate

The Ocean Beach League is made possible by the dedication of local beach players who have organized and supported the Gazos Gambit tournament (both photos on this page from 2010 edition), not to mention the weekend pickup game at Ocean Beach. On a national level, please see the Beach Division of USA Ultimate.

While Beach Ultimate has become the game of choice for many players in the San Francisco Bay Area, it's the only choice in some parts of the world where grass fields come at such a premium, you either play on the sand or not at all.

Beach Ultimate is anything but a secondary choice, however. As a "preference" for many, it has flourished thanks to the popularity of huge tournaments from Los Angeles to Rimini, Italy, and also through the efforts of BULA (Beach Ultimate Lovers Association).

Got League?

The Ocean Beach League is the latest option for mixed gender, league-based play at Bay Area Disc Association. If this is not the league you're looking for, then check out:

(c) Copyright 2012, Bay Area Disc Association, Inc. All rights reserved.