World cup of Ulimate Frisbee hits Italian beaches

Paganello is a five-day frisbee related event held annually on the Rimini Beach, Italy, over the Easter weekend, April 5-9. This year marks the 17th year of the tournament that combines top level sport, performance art, music and festivities into what has been called the "Lollapalooza of Disc Sports." The main sporting event of Paganello is the World Beach Ultimate Cup (WBUC) featuring 96 teams from 25 countries competing in three divisions: Open (Men's), Women's and Co-ed.

Beach Ultimate is slightly tweaked variety of the grass-based original that was born in New Jersey during the late 1960's. The basic premise of the game is to score points by catching the disc in the end zone of a playing field. The offense can pass the disc in any direction, similar to movement in soccer. However, the players can not run with the disc and have ten seconds to make the next pass. The most unique feature of ultimate, both beach-based and grass-based versions, is the players are responsible for officiating the game themselves by making foul calls and determining the appropriate resolution in light of the rules.