...of Frisbee.
And it wasn't all that pleasant. No I didn't get stabbed while catching a disc or poisoned during a drill, but I felt unwelcome. And I don't like that. And I can see why some people get turned off from the sport in certain situations because of that unwelcome feeling.
As you all know, I'm new in town. That's kinda been a recurring theme for the last 6 years. New to Columbus? Let's play Frisbee!!! Internships in Buffalo and Indianapolis? Great, summer league and club frisbee I can play to pass the time!!! I'm living in Köln, and then in Magdeburg? I just met some of the most genuine and fun people in new cities and a new country thanks to this awesome sport!!! As you can see, it's kind of a thing.
So coming here to Hamburg, I was just gonna jump on that train again. I emailed their generic team email, got a reply and got the all clear to come play. They had already held tryouts and selected their main team, but the guy I was talking with over email (lets called him Contact Guy) said I could still come by on Wednesdays, which are the closed team practices. He pointed me to their list of practices (something every day of the week), and even passed my email along to some other dudes to help with looking for a place to live. I was excited and pleased with the great introduction!
Fast forward. I get to Hamburg. Go to Mondays, have some fun. Go on the first week to Wednesdays, have fun and grab beers afterwards with some of the guys. Tried to talk to Contact Guy, but he wasn't there. Next week Monday and Tuesday same good deal. Today, na, no dice.
Before warm ups, one of the guys comes over and starts questioning me n stuff (let's call him Stuck Up Guy). I was under the assumption that I had received an ok to be there and that there weren't any problems with me being there. Being that I hadn't seen Contact Guy in the two weeks I'd been there, I was still thinking all was good. Well Stuck Up Guy gets right into saying these are closed practices, I shouldn't be here, but that they'd throw me a bone and not send me home before practice even started, probably in order to not look like an ass hat. Sour taste in my mouth.
Go through practice, played pretty well, had some fun with a few of the guys there (one of whom I met at Oktoberfest!) and had a great time at practice. Afterwards some people went to the bar next to the fields to grab some beer and watch soccer. I felt not wanted. I kinda struck up a conversation with one of the guys, but he seemed like he was required to treat me as stand off-ish like Stuck Up Guy, so it just felt weird. Thankfully the guy I met at Oktoberfest went too, so I got to talk to him a bit and catch up. But, after a bit I stole my mug and left. Booooooooooo those people.
Granted. They have closed practices, they're trying to build a team, build chemistry, work on consistency, I understand that. Being in a college program for four years, I really know how much of a difference it can be with a little change in personnel. So I can understand them not wanting to let some random guy jump into the waters and see how it goes.
This was the first time that I've been treated specifically as a bit of an outcast, or a thorn in the collective group's shoulder. I have yet to interact with an overall negative frisbee group, and the leaders that were there today gave me just that. It made me a little sad. I want to think that they're still ok people and they were just being that way because of the team and the strict guidelines or goals they had set, but honestly it makes me question who they are as people too, if they're going to be such dicks to a new guy like that.
That, or I've just gotten really, unbelievably lucky with the amazing and awesome teams in Köln and Magdeburg to get me adjusted to new cities. I really cannot thank them enough for the awesome spirit and good times they showed me. Each and every person I met on both teams, Frühsport 0,2 and Schleudertrauma, were nothing but humble, fun, helpful, and great people to be around.
Sidenote: that's one of the shitty things about moving around so much. You get attached and get to know great people, and then have to move on to somewhere else. Sucks...
Thankfully there's a second team, and they practice on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I think Fridays or so. So I'm not stranded without Frisbee, which is a good thing. The people at the second team have already been more friendly and jovial, so I'm excited to see where that goes.
But all in all, it makes me a little sad that a group of frisbee players would be so unwelcoming. Schade....
Original Publish Date: February 26th, 2014