Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Flying Saucer Association (PPTI) is leading a mission to expand the organization’s representation regionally next year to meet the requirements for recognition of the flying saucer game or Ultimate Frisbee as official sport by the Indonesian National Association. Sports Committee (KONI).

“In 2024, we will focus on expanding our representation with our goal in Yogyakarta, Semarang, Lombok, Padang and Sulawesi,” said PPTI Chairman Randi Tulus when contacted in Jakarta on Monday.

He said one of the conditions for the flying saucer game to be recognized as a sport is that it must have management representatives spread across at least 17 provinces in the country.

PPTI currently has three representatives, namely in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. Therefore, he said, his party is focused on increasing representation in a number of areas that already have Ultimate Frisbee communities.

Randi said that the existence of PPTI also has legality and is legally recognized as an association. The number of active and passive members of the PPTI was recorded at 532 people.

Moreover, he explained, the flying saucer game is not yet popular among Indonesians. However, this game actually exists or has been played in Jakarta since 1996.

Ultimate is a sport played by two teams of seven people each using Frisbee flying saucers.

The game, popular in the United States, combines a number of game elements from American football, soccer and basketball, but replaces the round shell with a frisbee disc.

A team scores a goal if one of its players catches the disc across the end zone line in the opposing zone.

This sport, he said, is recreational and is practiced by expatriates from various international companies, intercultural schools and embassies in Indonesia.

An international flying saucer competition was also held in Bali in 2022 through the “Nusantara Cup” event in which players from various countries such as Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines participated.

“This game developed for a long time because no one focused on expanding the ultimate game, so now through PPTI we are trying to develop it so that it is known at different levels of society” , did he declare.