The inaugural induction ceremony was held October 30th at a special alumni reunion celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the UPA, which was held in conjunction with the UPA Club Championships in Sarasota, FL. Five individuals were inducted in the inaugural class, all of whom were early stars of the game and/or important organizers of the UPA and early promoters of the sport of Ultimate.

You may read more about each inductee by clicking on a name. More information on the Hall of Fame, including its mission and future developments, can be found here.

Suzanne Fields | Irv Kalb | Tom Kennedy | Dan Roddick | Larry Schindel

Special mention has also been given to the "80 Mold" frisbee.

Suzanne “Suz” Fields was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of a separate women's division for Ultimate play and the first Women's Director of the UPA beginning in 1981. A classic thrower, who held the women's indoor distance record at 239 feet for over a decade, she began her Ultimate career playing with the open division team at UMASS and even went to the 1980 Nationals with Boston Aerodisc. Suz, together with Michelle Pezolli and Louie Cohn, successfully proposed the initiation of an all-women's division of play for the Ultimate National Championships in 1981. Her team, Boston Ladies Ultimate, won that first Women's title. Suz organized the USA women's team which won the first World Ultimate Championship in Sweden in 1983, played with various nationals' caliber teams throughout the 1980s, and was a part of the first Masters Division World Championship team in 1990. A tireless promoter of Ultimate, she got Ultimate included in the Massachusetts Bay State Games in 1987. She is still playing in a local league in Hawaii and continues to be involved in Ultimate affairs today. Suz was born September 1, 1953 and currently lives in Haiku, HI.

Irv Kalb was one of the early stars of the game, as captain of the Columbia High School team in 1971-72 (with a record of 19-0) and of college champion Rutgers University from 1972-76 (with a record of 45-1). He also won a freestyle championship with Stork Roddick in 1975. Irv was an avid organizer of Ultimate at high schools and colleges in the early 1970s, was co-coordinator of the first multi-team tournament at Yale in 1975, and oversaw the development of the rules of the game from 1971-1982. Together with Larry Schindel, he was the “Johnny Appleseed” of Ultimate. Irv was always tireless in his pursuit of on-field excellence, faithful in his promotion of the game, and diligent in his preservation of the game's history. Through the 1970s he authored numerous articles on Ultimate and co-authored the book, “Ultimate: Fundamentals of the Sport,” with Tom Kennedy in 1982. Irv was born September 9, 1954 and currently lives in Mountain View, CA.

Tom “TK” Kennedy was the founder of the UPA in 1979 and its first National Director. TK was an active player of all disc sports throughout the 1970s and was the driving force behind the growth of Ultimate in the western states. He was a founding member, captain, and coach of the Santa Barbara Condors, a team that dominated west coast Ultimate play starting in 1975 for many years, and which won three of the first five US national championships in 1977, 1978, and 1981. As a player, TK dominated the national spotlight while competing in the five-region national championship series that he established in 1979, bridging the gap between west and east coast ultimate. During his playing career and in the years since he retired in the early 1980s, TK has received the respect of all his peers, as he always embodied, through word and deed, “The Spirit of the Game.” TK was born March 31, 1949 and currently lives in Cambria, CA.

Dan “Stork” Roddick is a long-time disc sport champion and organizer in both the US and internationally. Stork was an early star of the game of Ultimate with college champion Rutgers University (with a record of 45-1), where he was Irv Kalb's favorite scoring target, and he was a winner of national and world championships in individual events including disc golf, freestyle, and accuracy. Stork was one of the driving forces behind promoting and supporting Ultimate and all other disc sports through his role as head of Wham-O's sports marketing department from 1975 to 1992, ensuring sufficient financial support for the UPA in its first decade of existence. Besides providing direction and support to TK and others for their efforts in the USA, he also was instrumental in the international arena, serving as World Flying Disc Federation president from 1986-1992 and as secretary from 1998-2003. An Eagle Scout in his youth, Stork has written numerous articles and books on disc sports. He is credited with framing Ultimate's defining “Spirit of the Game” clause which has guided play for the past thirty years of competition. Stork was born July 1, 1948 and currently lives in Pasadena, CA.

Larry Schindel was one of the early players and developers of the game of Ultimate, as player and general manager of the Columbia High School team from 1970-72. While others were interested in little more than tossing a disc around, Larry had the prescience to realize how important promotion, communication, and the development of a critical mass were to the survival and growth of Ultimate. He was one of the key forces in the institutionalization of the sport, working closely with Irv Kalb from 1970-1978 in the development of the rules of the game. Together with Irv, Larry was the “Johnny Appleseed” of Ultimate, and he tirelessly promoted the expansion of the sport in the 1970s at high schools and colleges across the east coast of the US. He chaired the first “East Coast Captains' Meeting” in 1975, with 56 representatives from 32 teams attending, which was crucial in facilitating interscholastic and tournament competition in that pre-internet era when communication was much more difficult. Larry was the founder of the Washington Area Frisbee Club in 1977 (now one of the largest clubs in all of the US), and was coordinator and then director of the Smithsonian Frisbee disc Festival (later called the National Frisbee disc Festival) from 1977-1995. Larry was born February 22, 1954 and currently lives in Bryantown, MD.

Special Mention: The “80 Mold”

In addition to the individuals honored in the inaugural class of 2004, Special Mention is deserved for Wham-O's 165 gram World Class “80 mold” flying disc. The 80 mold was introduced by Wham-O in January 1977 and, over the next two years, was embraced by the Ultimate community. Unlike the somewhat flimsy black Master frisbee disc that had been the Ultimate standard in the early growth years of the sport, the 80 Mold was heavy and sturdy enough to be tossed for distance even in strong winds, and consistent enough to be accurately thrown with a forehand flick and upside down hammer. The adoption of the 80 mold marked a new era of competitive play from west to east in the US. The disc is still considered the classic throwers disc, and it continued to be used in UPA Nationals games by many teams well after it was discontinued in 1983.

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