Add 80 sunburned ultimate players. The ultimate was competitive and well-spirited, and all said, I think everyone had a great time. As it descends into the end zone, the two rivals both dive, but the man from Singapore, playing defense, tips the frisbee out of bounds, preventing a score. Almost immediately, the Taipei player calls a foul on the Singapore defender. The two players appear headed for a fight, but after minutes of arguing, they grudgingly accept that there was no foul.
Spectators mutter that the Taipei player is too aggressive.
Here, thousands of miles from the New Jersey high school where ultimate frisbee was invented, this fast-paced, noncontact sport has gained a growing number of adherents. Yet even in Singapore, ultimate faces a schism between people who want the game to remain true to its relatively noncompetitive, iconoclastic roots and those who want to make it more intense. The game is now played in more than 40 countries, with tournaments not only in Singapore, but also in Britain and Portugal. Unusual among American sports, ultimate has no officials. But as ultimate has grown, it has spawned a dilemma.