Sit back, relax, and listen to Robert “Nob” Rauch recount the last 50 years of ultimate’s growth from behind the scenes. One of the forefathers of the sport, Nob is the current WFDF President (newly re-elected) and a USA Ultimate Hall of Famer. Before WFDF, he became the 4th national director of the UPA (now USAU) in 1987. So much of what we take for granted today was spearheaded by Nob years ago.
Nob started playing in 1976 at Williams College, and played on some of the legendary club teams of the 80s and early 90s – Rude Boys, Windy City, KABOOM!, New York New York – winning 6 UPA Club Championships and 5 World Championships.
Listening to Nob speak about the history of the game helped put into perspective how young the sport is, and how much growth it’s still capable of.
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0:00 Intro
3:33 70s
8:45 80s
21:00 Softies Today
22:08 90s
24:00 Sweden Semis
38:17 The Evolution of the Ultimate Players Association
43:04 The Growth of the UPA and Its Impact
46:55 Revitalizing WFDF and Addressing Challenges
53:11 Achieving IOC Recognition
56:33 The Future of Disc Golf and Ultimate Frisbee
01:03:38 The Future of Ultimate and Disc Golf
01:25:55 Legends of the Game: Players Who Shaped Ultimate
01:32:22 The Future of Professional Ultimate
01:38:47 Youth Development and Community Engagement
01:40:44 Global Growth and Olympic Aspirations
01:46:53 Hope and the Spirit of Ultimate
4 Comments
I love Nob
That's an OG Kraftee right there 💜💛
We can talk about referees versus observers, but when Nob said "with an observer" I think you all missed a HUGE opportunity to talk about how ineffective "game advisors" are, especially after how WUC went this past year.
For a current ultimate documentary you all need to reach out to Tony Leonardo as he's started working on one and is fundraising now.
Incredible stories and messaging here. I find it hard to believe that Kenny survived off of solely ibuprofen after tearing an ACL in semis going into finals… maybe I’m Charmin in comparison, but this seems impossible. My closest is getting a Liz Franc sprain in pool play of college Nationals, barely being able to walk normally, and taking ibuprofen for pre-quarters and quarters — paid the price later with a year plus of recovery after doing this though