FAIRBANKS — A lot of strange phrases get tossed around on an ultimate Frisbee field.

“Nice pancake catch!”

“Stall one! Stall two!”

“Nice cut back!”

The phrases are only part of what makes the soccer-like game with a flying disc appealing. The goal is to get the disc from one side of the field to the other by tossing it to teammates in a timely fashion.

Last week at the Randy Smith Middle School fields, Fairbanks Ultimate Association led a three-day clinic for youths. Out of 10 kids aged 11 to 18 who showed up Wednesday, many had gone to previous years’ clinics.

As Gabe Stutz, 15, tossed to his partner about 20 feet away, he showed a mastery of front-hand and back-hand tosses.

“I’ve been coming for two years, but I play with my dog a lot,” he said.

The tossing was just a warmup for the youths. They continued on to drills like learning to read where a long toss will land, and how to play defense and offense correctly.

For some of the youths, the drills were nothing new, but they keep coming back anyway.

Clinic coordinator Rose Hewitt considered it might be because ultimate Frisbee offers a different environment from other sports.

“It’s self-officiated,” she said. “It’s ruled by the spirit of the game — nobody’s out for blood.”

“And they get a free Frisbee every year, so maybe that’s it,” she joked.

Miranda Jackson, 12, began playing ultimate about three years ago.

Her two older brothers play in the adult league, and one of them — Zach, 18 — was a clinic instructor this year.

“They got me into it,” she said. And she has stayed into it, reading long tosses with the best of them.

“You don’t need a lot to play with,” she said. “You just need people, an open field and a Frisbee.”

Wednesday evening’s hot sun and still-greening grass was an improvement from Tuesday’s wind. Following the drills, everyone took to the field for a long scrimmage. After two hours of hard work and hot weather, many were ultimately played out.

Contact staff writer Reba Lean at 459-7523.