From 1965 to 1968 a group of Amherst College students played a game of team frisbee known as the ancestor to ultimate. One of the players, Jared Kass, a future psychotherapist, taught the Amherst frisbee game at a nearby enrichment camp during the tumultuous summer of 1968. When the summer ended Kass joined anti-war civil disobedience protests at Amherst and never played team frisbee again. But the game he taught — imbedded with countercultural values of the times — improbably survived.

In the fall of 1968 at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ then-junior Joel Silver, fresh from the summer program Kass taught, proposed on a lark that the student council and newspaper club settle a dispute "on the frisbee field." When the Kass frisbee game proved popular, Silver and friends Buzzy Hellring and Jon Hines did everything they could to promote the new frisbee game and codify the rules. It worked — but how would this new mixed-gender game continue when the founders graduated in 1970? 

Ultimate's missionary appeal is evident as we meet the die-hards from the early years who fight to keep the sport alive, including women pioneers excited to join a co-ed team sport that welcomed them before the passage of Title IX. The driving forces behind the game's appeal: egalitarian, fun, frivolous yet still competitive, mirror the 1970s and translate well across the country as new teams began to form across the country — and draw expressed interest from frisbee manufacturer Wham-O who seek to change the rules of the game...

The 1980s brings a global adoption of ultimate and the attraction of sponsors looking for the next breakout sports hit like beach volleyball. Enter Jose Cuervo Tequila and their quest to put Cuervo-sponsored ultimate on national television to skirt the laws on liquor advertising. They change the rules, sponsor national tournaments and the great sell-out is under way... or is it?

Ultimate's policy of resisting referees in favor of the 1960s-70s era player-controlled "Spirit of the Game" rules no longer works as cheating starts to take center stage. To preserve Spirit of the Game, stave off referees and make the game appealing again, Charles Kerr and Will Deaver create a new and unique system of refereeing that requires players to resolve disputes before a potential ruling. "The Callahan Rules" changes ultimate and provides a pioneering blueprint for other sports.

In 2000, outspoken feminist and co-founder of the world’s largest coed ultimate tournament, Potlatch (now Sunbreak), Joey Gray wins nomination to run the governing body of the sport in the United States. Her vision to promote Spirit of the Game and mixed ultimate becomes the template for ultimate's recognition by the International Olympic Committee. Will this stage elevate the sport and hold it back from developing professional leagues?