Dave Stembel (DS): How did you get started playing frisbee?
Jim Powers (JP): My first organized formal frisbee playing was at the University of New Hampshire in the Fall of 1972. I organized an Ultimate team as a freshman there. Before that I just played catch, but I had joined the IFA (International Frisbee Association, a Wham-O sponsored group, membership applications where enclosed with all frisbee packages).

DS: Who introduced you to the game of Ultimate frisbee?
JP: Through my membership in the IFA I met Dan "the Stork" Roddick, Larry Schindel and Irv Kalb. They were spreading Ultimate all up and down the East Coast. Larry and Irv went to Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, where Ultimate was invented (Larry and Irv were in the class under the inventors, see www.ultimatehandbook.com). This was during the Viet Nam War, my draft number had been selected, so I was not concentrating on my studies. I pretty much played frisbee in the quad all the time. Fortunately Dick Nixon stopped the draft and I never had to report

DS: I though that you graduated from Penn State?
JP: Tuition costs caused me to transfer from University of New Hampshire to Penn State for my junior year. At Penn State I started their Ultimate team. It was a most important time for the development of Ultimate. Each of the Ivy League schools had teams and several other East Coast colleges. Larry and I set up an annual Captain's Meetings, first at Maplewood, later at Villanova. Held in the winter, mostly to set the playing schedule for the coming year and to review the rules. There was a battle for the leadership of the sport between the inventors of the sport from Maplewood who started all the Ivy League teams and the athletes that had been attracted to the sport.

DS: What was the Valley Forge Frisbee Club?
JP: After graduating from Penn State I moved back to the Philly area. I started a club with other Ultimate players from Penn State, University of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven as well as other local schools with teams. At first we played on a field at Valley Forge Junior High School. Then we changed the name to the Philadelphia Frisbee Club to broaden the club.

DS: What can you tell us about John Schalberg, Max Smith, Rick Vlam and Joe DiNunzio?
JP: John was a landscaper, a tree surgeon, he did most of the heavy stuff to set up Sedgley. He did the original tee signs, carved into 2x4's. Max, Rick and Joe were our early core of golfers.

DS: In the early club years, what was the primary frisbee focus - ultimate or golf?
JP: The club members did both and we ran big overall, multi-event tournaments. We had seasons, Fall and Spring Ultimate schedules, then we had the overall tournaments in the summer. The two biggest ones were probably OCTAD, that we did, and Jim Palmeri's AFDO (American Flying Disc Open) in Rochester. Golf was always an event at the overall tournaments.

DS: What can you recount from the creation of Sedgley Woods?
JP: It was all very casual with the park commission. I don't remember anything being in writing. We had a few meetings with them, shook hands and that was it. We designed the course in an afternoon. Ed Headrick came in and reviewed it with us. He made some changes. Then once the course was open with the baskets we moved 2 and 12 back.

DS: How does Sedgley fit into disc golf history?
JP: Sedgley was the location of many huge golf tournaments. We had people from New York, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey at our early regular tournaments. Those players spread disc golf all over the East Coast. We also pioneered the "one-card-per-player" scorecard! Before that the poor tournament director had to write up one card with four names, it took a long time between rounds to reshuffle the players by score and fill out all new cards. Jim Palmeri and I had this idea so I had this club member (Dave Stembel) draft up the very first card with numbers for each round instead of player's names down the side and places for all the scores of each round at the top of the card so the tournament director could organize them quickly.

DS: As Sedgley Woods heads into its second quarter-century, what words of wisdom do you wish to convey?
JP: Think big, plan big, set specific goals! I like that the course is expanding with more holes. To generate more awareness and attract more players consider holding a festival, like the old non-competitive Smithsonian Frisbee Festival. And don't forget the crowds love the dogs! I'd like to see one or two more disc golf courses in the park!