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History of Manila Vice

by Dominic Diongson*

Coming from New York City, where I would play pick-up Ultimate three times per week during summer, I was itching to play some Ultimate after arriving in Manila in August 1998. I contacted Tom Nunan in Hong Kong via e-mail and he said that Julie Gaw, a veteran Ultimate player, was in town. So I called her, then we started tossing in October in a grassy field on Ayala Triangle. By November we had gotten enough people together to play our first game in Urdaneta Village. I brought my cousin Marilou Garingalao with me. Amongst players I was seeing for the first time were Peter Ayre, that amazing Aussie player, and Julie's boyfriend Alex Russin.

Over the next few months, while most of the players were away for the holidays, I continued to recruit people to play on Sundays and, even if there weren't enough people around for a game, I'd teach them how to toss the disc. Alex invited other people to play, as did I. It took a lot of people's recruiting efforts to get more players interested and the hard work eventually started paying off. Soon we had 10-12 players consistently on weeknights, rain or shine, and 15-18 on Sundays.

Raj Sood was instrumental in convincing other people to play and contributed so much to the shaping of the group in the early days. It was Raj who also coined the name "Manila Vice" and the phrase "Just Put It In!". One day he was explaining to players how to use the complete field space rather than limiting play to the middle of the field. He would yell "Spread it wide then just put it in!", which was shortened to "Just put it in!".

Another player who was instrumental in the growth of Manila Vice is Ed Bondoc. Ed joined the group in March 1999 after his cousin, who saw us playing in Urdaneta Village, phoned Ed with the news (Ed was a disc-o-holic since his youth in California). Ed worked at the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. and he was instrumental in helping us get the Army Support Command Center field for our Sunday pick-up games. Now back in the US, Ed plays with the University of California team in Davis and pick-up in Sacramento. Replacing him on Manila Vice were his brother Joe and sister Lex.

Kevin Kitz, the man from California with a wife and two kids, remarked back in 1999 that when he arrived in Manila a few years before, that he never thought that Ultimate would be played in the Philippines. He admitted he was wrong, and glad of it. From the efforts of a few people back in 1998, Ultimate has come a long way to get the sport where it is in Manila today. At New York University many years ago, I did the same thing... started an Ultimate group with the efforts of a few.

*Dominic Diongson now lives in Bangkok, where he plays for the Soi Dawgz. He still flies in occasionally to team up with the Breakfast Club and play in PUA leagues. His flick is still one of the best ever seen on Philippine soil. =)