‘Ultimate’ pastime Any given Saturday, it’s game on at Magruder Park by Jessica Wilson Magruder Park is filling up with athletes of all kinds as various sports teams start coming out of hibernation for a new season. But for the Hyattsville Ultimate club, it is just another Saturday of a season that goes all year long. What’s so “ultimate” about what they do, you ask? We’re talking ultimate Frisbee. “It’s a cross between football and soccer,” said club founder Colin Strauss Riggs. “It’s much more of a throwing sport than soccer.” Riggs founded the club with some other members about two-and-a-half years ago. By putting feelers out on the HOPE (Hyattsville Organization for a Positive Environment) list serve, he was able to garner interest and since then, the group has grown by word of mouth. There are 10 to 15 people any given Saturday and anyone is welcome to join. Though some members of the group have played in college or with other organized groups, no experience is necessary. “The most challenging thing for beginning players is developing good short-range throws that they are comfortable with in a game,” Riggs said. “When you catch the disc, you are then expected to throw it to the next person, and that can be a lot of pressure. If you drop it the other team gets it, and that is bad.” Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport that focuses on throwing, or passing, the Frisbee to a teammate. You have 10 seconds to pass, and cannot run when in possession of the disc. Though scoring in the other team’s end zone is the objective, for this group, it is mostly about having fun. “None of us take ourselves too seriously,” said Bob Koerpel, Hyattsville resident and team member. “The best thing is the spirit of the game. It’s all about having fun.” The club stretches beyond Hyattsville. Players come from Takoma Park and even Gaithersburg. Washington, D.C. resident Lukas Phomsquath was jogging by one Saturday when he was invited to join a pick-up game. “It’s a work out and it’s also fun,” he said. “We all come down here to drop a few pounds,” Koerpel laughed. “It kind of combines the endurance of soccer and the skill of … basketball and football.” Riggs said the group tries to play year round, but attendance suffers when it is really cold. There are usually at least four or five people per team; the standard is seven. Riggs said they have played with more, but it tends to make the field pretty crowded. The group is strong thanks to consistent presence. They catch up with one another before the game starts at 10 a.m. and sometimes bring children or other family members to watch or to play at the park. “I think the general attraction is the easygoing competition,” Riggs said. “It allows interaction without the stress that other sports can bring.”

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[Environment committee reports on solid waste, trash]

The Hyattsville Environment Committee presented its Landfill Waste, Recycling and Compost Report -- the first of four reports on city environmental issues -- to the City Council on March 10. The committee joined a conference on the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative. It also reviewed waste-reduction documents drafted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative and the Environmental Protection Agency.

• --Placing recycling bins at City Hall
• --Reducing waste at city events by usingenvironmentally friendly products such as compostable cutlery and paper plates at the monthly Summer Jams