Fris-Zing takes disc games to new level

Date: 6/16/2016

EAST LONGMEADOW – A new summer game called Fris-Zing, a flying disc game that also has elements similar to horseshoes, was created by two residents and will be sold in Western Massachusetts stores.

Jamie Erickson and Mike Poggi have been collaborating during the past two years to create Fris-Zing. A Kickstarter campaign recently raised $2,245 to make the game a reality. Twenty people contributed to the Kickstarter.

Erickson said Fris-Zing could be played with two players or a team of four. Each player receives a red, white, and blue Fris-Zing disc and the goal is to score points by throwing the discs inside squares or on posts. The scoring zones consist of red, white and blue piping.

Players receive one point by throwing their Fris-Zing disc inside white square spaces and can obtain higher amounts of points by landing their disc on the posts. If a player “rings” their disk with a post of the same color, they receive double points. If another team gets a ringer on top of another team’s disc, the last team to get the ringer gets the points that their disc earned them and the first person to throw their disc on the post losses theirs. The game is played up to 21 points and can only be won by a two-point lead.

“It’s a unique scoring system and that’s what’s going to set us far apart from anyone else,” Erickson noted.

He added he’s received orders from across Massachusetts as well as other states.

“One went out to Washington State,” Poggi noted.

A total of 500 games have been made at this point, which are stored in a warehouse in Chicopee, Erickson said.

“It’s a side thing right now, but hopefully it’ll turn into a full-time business,” Erickson, who is also a Springfield firefighter and owner of a landscaping company, said.

Erickson said he believes the game would be ideal for being played in a pool or lake, on lawns, or during tailgates, visits to the beach or barbecues.

Students at Mountain View Elementary School played Fris-Zing on May 25 and greatly enjoyed the game, he noted.

“For kids it’s more of a hand eye coordination [game],” he added. “It’s just a fun game."

Poggi said Mountain View’s gym teacher told him the game would be ideal for students to play inside during rainy days.

Erickson said they worked on many different designs for the game before the final version was finished.

“This is our first [game],” he noted. “I wanted to get this out last summer, but we kind of ran out of time and then it was July and forget it.”

Poggi said it took more than a year and a half to patent their game.

Erickson said the game would be available for purchase at Graziano Garden’s in East Longmeadow and they would also deliver Fris-Zing for free within the communities of East Longmeadow and Longmeadow.

“We’re going to try to get into more camping stores, things of that nature, because it’s a huge game for camping,” he added. “People go there for the weekend, they want a new game to play … once people play it they just get hooked.”

The duo also plan on donating a game to rehab patients at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield.

For more information visit www.fris-zing.myshopify.com.

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