Ultimate frisbee was invented in 1968 in Maplewood, New Jersey by some high-schoolers. It quickly spread to the rest of the US, and then to the world. The sport currently boasts millions of players, and competitive leagues can be found in high school, college, and beyond.

What makes the sport so interesting — other than a style of play that evokes soccer, American football, and basketball — is that it is entirely self-regulated, even at the highest levels of club play. The closest thing ultimate (as it is officially called) has to a referee is someone called an “observer” whose job is simply to resolve on-field disputes about the rules.

The sport is most popular in the United States, its country of origin, with teams being found almost everywhere. But there are certain regions of the US where ultimate talent has begun to coalesce. These regions are home to most of the top collegiate and club teams, meaning if you want to play at the highest levels, these places are where you want to be.

Using data pulled from Ultiworld — one of the premier publishers of frisbee content, including rankings — and USA Ultimate — the governing body of the sport in the US — I have created maps and tables which clearly show which regions of the country are the hottest for ultimate frisbee.

College

It quickly becomes obvious that, for the prospective college frisbee player, the coasts are where you want to go. The coastal divisions in both Division I and Division III have historically been among the best teams in the country.

But there are also several other places generating strong programs, like Carlton in Minnesota, whose men’s DI team won the most recent college championship.

Canada also has produced strong teams in recent memory, with the University of British Columbia women’s team winning the most recent DI women’s championship.

This chart more clearly illustrates how the coastal regions dominate the sport at the college level. The sole exception is the Metro East, which has long been a dead zone for collegiate ultimate. (Author’s note: I play on the BU men’s team, and we are not that good and will never make it to Nationals, mostly because there are so many good teams in the New England region. However, the Metro East region is so bad that if we played there we would go to Nationals every single year)

Now on to the next level: club ultimate, the pinnacle of the sport.

Club

While there aren’t as many club teams as there are college ones, this map shows that the hottest areas mostly stay the same. The coasts continue to dominate, and now there are even less teams in the center of the country.

Additionally, the collegiate Metro East dead zone has disappeared, as New York produces some of the best club teams in the country year in and year out.

Canadian teams are primarily limited to the biggest cities in the country, which makes sense, since most of their population can be found within them.

While Canadian teams have never been the best, they have consistently produced good rosters in recent years.

At the club level, the Northeast becomes even more dominant, as the region contains clubs in all three divisions (Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed) that are typically among the best in the country.

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As the data shows, if you are an aspiring competitive ultimate frisbee player, you need to get yourself to a coast. However, if that’s not for you, or if you are someone who just wants to play for fun, simply look around in your area and there’s bound to be a lower stakes league somewhere.

After all, ultimate is ultimately a game for everyone.