They call themselves Freaks and Geeks, an odd assortment of people varying in age and ability who get together twice a week to play soccer on Sundays and ultimate frisbee on Thursdays.
An obscure, late ’90s television series called Freaks and Geeks is the inspiration for the group’s name. The show, which only lasted one season, followed a gifted student, part of the freaky-geek clique, and her younger brother, who was part of the bullied nerds.
Stephen Robinson, co-founder of Powell River’s upstart sports gatherings, said the show featured scenes of gym class that brought memories of torment from his own school years, a sentiment that resonated with other members.
“So many people spoke of their own painful past with team sports that I named our little misfit league after the show,” said Robinson. “I believe it has exorcised quite a few demons for quite a few people already.”
According to Robinson, it all started with him and a friend throwing around a baseball. Then, four people playing a game of scrub, which had no teams, no set number of players and no score.
“The next week we were up to seven players,” said Robinson. “We played baseball for three or four months.”
One day after watching some kids playing soccer, the group decided to join them rather than playing baseball. “Interest for baseball wained and soccer took over,” said Robinson.
In the last few weeks, Freaks and Geeks decided to start playing ultimate as well. Invented in the ’60s, ultimate has simple rules, involving throwing the frisbee, more properly called a disc, to a teammate who must pass it when received.
An opposing player tries to knock it down for a turnover. The goal of the world’s most widely played disc game is to score points by passing the disc to a teammate in the opposing end zone.
For Adam Hockin and his wife Jen Zacher, finding a group they could play ultimate with was a huge bonus of moving to Powell River from the Comox Valley.
The spirit of the game appeals to him, said Hockin, adding that with no referees, players are on their own honour system when it comes to the rules.
Hockin said ultimate requires a different skill set, and although physical fitness is part of it, some of the best players are veterans or old-timers that might not be able to run as fast or jump as high, but can throw the disc or see the field really well.
“It is definitely a game of skill as much as fitness,” said Hockin. “It’s a game that makes the average person athletic.”
Freaks and Geeks play soccer on Sundays at 11 am and ultimate on Thursdays at 6:30 pm at Henderson Elementary School field.
