PORT ORCHARD – Chris Mueller loves ultimate Frisbee. So much in fact, he used to drive an hour every week to play in Tacoma. After realizing there was nothing like that on the peninsula, he formed a pick-up game of his own to play a little closer to home.

“It was hardly worth the drive once the bridge came up,” said Mueller. “That’s when I decided I had to get something started over here.”

Once he learned about the game, Mueller constantly kept it in his mind.

“I started playing on my mormon mission,” said Mueller. “Some of the missionaries played the game, I picked it up there and then I played at BYU and in grad school at the University of Washington.”

Mueller loved being on a team and playing in tournaments. When he would come home for the summer, he would look for pick-up games.

“I lived in Issaquah and would play with a Microsoft group sometimes. A group from Boeing would play, I’d find pickup games online, finding any way to play,” said Mueller.

Now, Mueller and his family live in Port Orchard where he owns a dental practice and is passing the game on to his children.

“My 14 year-old-son has been playing since he was 8,” said Mueller.

Ultimate Frisbee is simple enough to understand. There are two teams of seven, or as many people available. Like in football, the teams line up on opposite ends of the field as one team “kicks-off” to the other.

The receiving team attempts to make their way to the opposite end zone. One can only throw the Frisbee. You have a pivot foot but you can’t run while in possession of the disc. Any incompletion, interception, out of bounds or act of the Frisbee being knocked down results in a turnover.

Unlike football, this sport is not a contact sport. To mark the player you are guarding, you are allowed to be within a disc’s distance and start counting out loud to 10. If the player does not throw the disc in those 10 seconds, then it is a turnover.

Simple enough. The constant running, however, is another story. This group that meets every Saturday and plays on football field measured out to roughly 80 yards.

“It’s a great workout, better than any other sport that I have found,” said Mueller. “It’s like soccer in the way that you’re constantly moving.”

The disc is also a little different than what you remember from your childhood. It’s 175 grams.

The people who join this weekly pickup game are mostly introduced by word-of-mouth. However, the group also has a Facebook page and are linked to several websites, including discnorthwest.org, the main website for ultimate frisbee in western Washington.

“The numbers will vary,” said Mueller. “Some times we get more than 20, sometimes we get eight. We get a lot of different groups of people; navy guys, a pastor in Bremerton brings people from his church, dads with their sons come, college-aged young adults. It’s a diverse group.”

Mueller describes the group as laid back and supportive. If someone needs a sub they’ll rotate every point with someone popping out after each score.

“It captures the spirit of the game,” said Mueller. “There’s no trash talking, it’s all about good sportsmanship.”

He encourages everyone to come out and give the game a try. When people who have never played before show up, other players spend time before the start of the game teaching the ins and outs. They show the best ways to throw and catch, how to defend and where to position yourself so you’ll be ready when you step out on the field.

“As long as someone matches well against each other anyone can play, men or women,” said Mueller. “That’s the good thing about ultimate. I can’t play basketball against a 12-year-old, but out here, if they can catch it, they can play and contribute.”

Year round, rain, snow or sunshine, Mueller and other fans of this unique sport play every Saturday at Cedar Heights Junior High School in Port Orchard at 2 p.m. There is also a group that meets in Poulsbo and can be contacted via discnorthwest.org or on the Kitsap Ultimate Frisbee Facebook page.