Cambridge Bay Ultimate Frisbee

Did you know Cambridge Bay has an ultimate frisbee league?

Despite being a small town, Cambridge Bay has a lot of random things. Like Bangladeshi food take-out and a Reiki therapist (but still no sit-down restaurant or hair stylist).  Cambridge Bay has a pretty impressive selection of indoor recreational activities too, which are open to the public and generally free, including soccer, badminton, basketball, curling, volleyball, hockey, and table tennis. 

But my favourite is ultimate frisbee, probably because everyone is super-friendly rather than intimidatingly competitive. There's a wide range of skills, from people who have never played organized sports before to people who I suspect played professionally at some point but won't tell us about their glory days. The rules for the sport are easy enough to figure out quickly: you're trying to score by getting the frisbee to the other side (like football), but you can't run with the frisbee in your hand (like basketball) - you only have 8 seconds to hold it before you have to pass it to someone else. That might be like basketball, but I don't actually know the rules for basketball. Come to think of it, I don't really know the rules for football either.  But ultimate frisbee is easier.

Best of all, everyone's really supportive, since we're just all out to have a fun time while getting a bit of exercise.  It's particularly nice on cold winter days, when you've been cooped up at your desk all day and you just need a chance to run around...just not outside in the -50 winter weather.

First team to get 15 points wins

Ultimate frisbee is at the high school gym on Saturdays at noon, unless there's an event happening that day, in which case it's on Sunday at noon. It's also on Mondays at 8:30PM.  It also doesn't run during the summer, when the high school gym is closed to the public (but then you can just go kayaking).

I like to drink Slush during the games

playing ultimate frisbee in the pool

ultimate frisbee: one big party

good old hockey game

Hockey's big here. When the adults' league plays their games, the stands are packed full of spectators.  They pay to watch, too. You wouldn't normally think to buy tickets to watch your boyfriend or brother play hockey, but here, this is the big game in town. Everyone comes out, buys a ticket, participates in the raffle draw, and take advantage of the canteen. It kind of has the feel of college football in small American towns.  

If only it was preceded by the tailgating tradition as well...but I suppose one might get a little chilly, hanging out with your snowmobile in the parking lot outside the rink in -50 degree weather, trying to get your barbecue going.  I suppose this is why tailgating isn't that much of a tradition in Canada, at least during Canadian winters.

not used to seeing crowds like this in CamBay

I feel like the hockey arena is the nicest building in the whole community.  It's only open in the winter time. In the summer time, the floor is all gravel. But during the hockey season, the rink is kept in immaculate shape for the town's favourite sport. 

 

taking care of the ice

There are three times in the league, and they take turns playing against each other. I am completely unfamiliar with the names of any of them. I tend to distinguish them by the colour of their jerseys.  

"Go Whites!" I'll say. "Get those Blacks!" 

And then I'll feel a little racist.

The hockey games are popular here. People will bring their entire families to watch their favourite sport. They'll call out to cheer and/or heckle their favourite players on the bench. Small rosy-cheeked children wrapped in fur parkas run around the bleachers, chasing each other with small hockey sticks, dreaming of the day they'll be old enough and good enough to play out on the big people's ice.

It gets cold in the bleachers. The arena isn't heated, and while the building keeps the wind out, it's important to remember that Cambridge Bay is -35 degrees outside even without the windchill.  We keep our snowpants and mitts on, and we bring thermoses of hot chocolate to keep us warm.

Arctic Sports

 

pretty serious furs

Another cruise ship came in this weekend, bringing in Canadian tourists this time. Cambridge Bay was quite the happening place. Apparently, Cambridge Bay is the second most popular cruise ship stop in Nunavut, after Pond Inlet.

I popped into the cultural show again, and caught a demonstration of traditional Arctic sports. I swear, every single Inuit sport I've observed looks not only very physically challenging but extremely painful. They certainly are not for the faint-hearted...or the weak-kneed.

This is the knuckle hop. You basically hop across the ground on your knuckles and feet. The person who makes it the farthest wins. See what I mean by painful-looking?  Sorry about the fuzzy photo. The athlete was just so fast.

  

This game involves making your body stiff as a aboard while others carry you across.  It looks like it requires a lot of core strength.

 

this is actually the mayor of Cambridge Bay, doing a great job

The knee jump consists of jumping from kneeling position to your feet. See what I mean about how you can't have weak knees?

This is a muskox wrestling game, where you get in a headlock and try to push your opponent to the other side of the room.

 

This game involves holding what looks like an impossible balance on one knee, and then hitting a target. I'm pretty sure this is a breakdancing stall move, and I'm pretty sure you have to practice for years and years.

This game is kind of the opposite of limbo.  You have to try to kick a target (in this case, a stuffed animal) that is raised higher and higher.  The athletes were able to get some really impressive heights with this sport, kicking far above their heads.

Folks also offered the tourists a chance to watch them perform some traditional Inuit drum dances.  I love watching these, and the dancers in our town seem to be particularly talented and enthusiastic.  There's something about the way the drums kick in, halfway through the song, that gives me chills.  It's quite a beautiful sight.

 

traditional Inuit drum dances

video footage of the Inuit drum dance