There are no new posts because...

Hi All,

There are not many new posts because I am in Chamonix in France. Tom will no doubt be keeping you posted on important stuff like tourneys etc. but the filler posts I was occiasionally putting in will have to wait until I get back in early Feb.

In exciting news, thereès a chance I might be able to meet up with the illustrious Dario in Switzerland. That would be very much in my interests as I have nowhere to stay for the next few days...

Have fun yaèll and pray that I get fresh snow.

John

Diskapital XI payments

Here are the details to pay up for Diskapital. Remember it is absolutely vital to include the identifying reference with your payment. This should take the form of "DK lastname afdanumber"

Transfer $45 to:

ACT Ultimate
BSB: 801-009
Account #: 309871

Also please email anthony [dot] perry [at] centrelink [dot] gov [dot] au when you send off the payment.

Remember you can register at: http://tinyurl.com/dkpigs

National Youth Training Camp

The National Youth Training Camp will be on in Victoria from the 11th to the 17th of January, 2009.

Its going to be a awesome opportunity for players born between 1991 and 1994 to have fun, meet athletes from across the country and learn some of the finer techniques of their ultimate. The support staff for the Australian Junior teams will be in attendance and the camp will be a great avenue for juniors to eventually make it into the Australian Juniors Boys and Girls teams.

Once we have some committed interest from players from the ACT, we will be able to work out cheap transport options, chaperone involvement and the possibilities for outside funding to reduce the cost of the event.

Email me at thomasgabriel [dot] watson [at] gmail [dot] com if you are interested in getting help from the ACT efforts to get down to the camp.

Or Register here
http://afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=561

Match Defence

'Man' offence and defence are huge parts of our ultimate experience. We play 'Man' on most turn-overs and as the basic formation for much of our Ultimate lives. Personally, I have increasingly been getting into tactical discussions and coaching efforts for Mixed teams and on the fringes of discussions for a Women's team. And you know what, in these contexts, calling it 'Man' just sounds dumb.

I've always thought it was a little silly but I'm a pragmatic fellow and until a similar and appropriate one syllable phrase came along I was happy to continue with the status quo.

But that has changed. Our charming Kiwi mastermind, 'G' Glenn Weber, has introduced us to a great replacement that fits, 'Match'. Its short, it sounds similar and it works. We already talk a lot about match ups in 'Man', there is very little

Old habits die damn hard, I promise you. We have been working with 'Match' and not 'Man' for almost a year now and we still have to correct each other. It takes long-term commitment and an active decision from the team leadership to shift terminology.

Factory Girls Training

I just read the message Pookie posted about Factory Girls training. It seems to have more '*'s than words in some places so I thought I'd post the main details again to be clear.

Training starts this Monday (the 17th) at 6:30 at the Reid Playing fields. I can't remember what street they're on but they're tucked into the corner of ANZAC parade and Limestone Ave in Reid. They've got good lights and a reasonable surface so come on down.

If you're looking to learn some new tricks and be part of a great ulty club then sign up for the Factory Girls this season (provided you're a woman). I know I have.

Read about it in the news: Diskapital XI and clinics

Time for an update,

Diskapital XI has been locked in for the 10th and 11th of January and organising has begun. Diskapital is Canberra's annual 'hat' tournament, which started back in 1997 I believe. (We missed a year) It attracts players from across the country to Canberra for a relax weekend of frisbee and good times. We usually have between 80-100 players but have reached into the dizzy heights of over 140 players in the past.

For those that are unfamiliar with a 'hat' tournament, instead of registering as a team, players register as individuals. The whole player base is then divided into rough skill brackets and the teams are picked from a notional 'hat' to randomly form the teams. All the teams will be roughly balanced, so the challenge is to get your team to 'gel' together before the others and take out the title! Its a great venue to meet players from outside your team in the Canberra league or from frisbee communities outside of Canberra.

The weekend should cost under $50 for fields, food, party, insurance and all the frisbee you can get your hands on. Hat tournaments were the way that I was really introduced to frisbee as a teenager and they really opened my eyes to some of the great aspects of our sport.

You can see the sorts of categories of players at the registration page:

http://afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=957

Of course, you need to be an AFDA member to access the online registration. If you are having any problems or have other queries about the tournament, please email me at: thomasgabriel [dot] watson [at] gmail [dot] com


In other news, our development clinics for this league have kicked off. We are seeking more participants and more senior players to help out after league on Tuesdays, from 7:30pm. They will run until the end of league in 5 weeks time.

Despite a brief technical stoppage with the lights last night, we had a good short sharp session which focused on throwing. These clinics are a great way to get some tips on your technique, sharpen up with some practice for league and get the skills needed to play at club-level tournaments.

Anyone that has played league and has a basic understanding of ultimate is welcome to attend at 7:30pm, Dickson fields on Tuesday nights.

Come and Meet the Factory Girls

The ACT's competitive women's ultimate club "The Factory Girls" is gearing
up for the 2009 season. The positive frisbee energy amongst the ladies out
there will be a huge boost to the club this year.
Larissa, Heather H. and I are taking on the leadership of the club this
season and we are happy to welcome John Horan as our coach. The vision for
this campaign is to build a strong women's club for Canberra which has a
positive attitude and technical skills to match. So, "WE WANT YOU!!". We want
every enthusiastic woman interested in competitive ultimate --
regardless ofskill level -- to
come out and be part of the club. Together we will improve our skills and
enhance our enjoyment of the game!

*Tournaments!*

In line with our club development goals, all Factory Girls will have the
opportunity to compete in up to four tournaments including New Zealand
Nationals. With a view to improving the strength of the club, the end goal
for the season is to send a competitive team to Australian Nationals. Hence,
there will be selections to form the strongest possible squad for Nats.

*We've got style.*

In terms of playing style, we want to keep our structure simple and focus on
playing through the whole team, running hard and moving the disk quickly.
For those of you that came to Kaboom training this probably sounds familiar.
*
I'm sold. What's next?
*
*
* Join the Factory Girls mailing list! Just send an email to larissa dot arney at gmail dot com and Riss will hook you up. Spread the word and rally the girls; get them on the
list!

Come to trainings. They will be run by John on *Monday *nights. Cleats on
for *6:30 pm**.*

Our first session is *Monday *the* 17th *of* November *at* 6:30pm. *Stay
tuned:* location to be announced*.

While Riss, Heather and I have put our hands up for the leadership group,
there's plenty of opportunity for everyone to be involved. If you have ideas
or suggestions, please feel free to send them through.

Let's aim high & have a fantastic season!

Jess, on behalf of Heather, Larissa and Jess.

Bashinals: Filling the gap between leagues and nationals

The ACT wants to host a new tournament to help cover the gap between the teams that make it to nationals and the local league players. We have christened this tournament "Bashinals" and hope that it will provide more substance to the summer/autumn seasons of developing players across Australia.

In the past half dozen years, the top standard of Australian ultimate has been pulled upwards by a variety of efforts to ensure that our teams can compete with the best internationally.

Imagine our player base being represented by a triangle, with the apex being the worlds players and the base being the local league players. The top has been stretched higher and higher in the past few years at great speed but the base and middle of the triangle has continued its same steady growth outwards.

While the fast growth at the top has been catered for by NUFLs, training camps, World Clubs and the improvement of Nationals and Mixed Nationals, the gap between the top and the base of the triangle has had fewer and fewer events that cater for it.

In the past, if you were really keen, you could find a way to go to nationals or mixed nationals. Slipping on to other teams, picking up, playing on B-teams/smaller clubs were all good options. However these options are being shut down. And thats a great thing for our sport! Its only because the standard is being raised that B-teams and smaller clubs now struggle to make Nationals.

The problem is that the B-team/smaller clubs solution or the ad-hoc solutions of picking up on other teams etc for player development have not been replaced by anything.

Of course there are still the Hat Tournaments, the beach tournaments and a few smaller local tournaments. The annual Youth Nationals and Australian University Games help out some parts of the player base. B-teams and smaller clubs still make it regionals and smaller local tournaments. So what can a club player look forward to in the first 5-6 months of the year? Regionals and maybe something like Share the Love. Not much of a season for a club or a player. This is why we want to add Bashinals to the calender and have it sanctioned as a form of 'national event' by AFDA.

We envision a 2-3 day tournament where the 6-10 open teams from across Australia that did not qualify for nationals come and play off for a National 'plate'. At the moment, there are probably not enough womens teams missing out to have a womens division but we would be aimming to include a womens division as soon as there is sufficient demand. We want to host the tournament in '09 but we want it to be spread around, being organised by one of the teams playing. We want it to happen a week or two before Nationals.

We do not want it taking any of the focus off nationals as the main event and while we want it to be a worthwhile tournament, it should never take teams or prestige away from Nationals.

We think it would give a better end to the seasons of developing players and clubs than an elimination at regionals, provide a venue for these teams to improve their chances at qualifications next year and contribute to the expansion of the middle part of the player base triangle.

We are very eager to hear from others about their comments, criticisms and ideas for Bashinals.

Fyshwick United 09

Hi Ya'll,

The FU campaign for nationals 09 is already up and running. If you're looking to play some fun, competitive ultimate over the next 6 months and you're ready to take your frisbee relationship to a new level then Fyshwick United is the club for you.

We'll be aiming to take teams to several tournaments over the season. February will see us attend "Share the Love" in Sydney and the CB Invitational in Canberra. March takes us to Regionals in a yet-to-be-announced location. April will see the truly dedicated fly East to defend our title at New Zealand Nationals before we split our squad between Nationals in Perth and Bationals in Canberra. There should be plenty of opportunities to get some tournament time in whether you're a worlds veteran on our A team or a rookie looking to make a name for yourself.

If you're thinking about playing club level ultimate for the first time (club level ultimate is between various clubs from different cities and is usually more competitive and of a higher standard than leagues, university ulty or hat tournaments) then head along to the development clinics running after divisions 2 and 3 on Tuesdays. Talk to the coaches there about what to expect at FU training. We're looking for the right attitude and athleticism rather than for experience so come and introduce yourself on Tuesday nights and see if FU is what you're looking for.

If you're ready to dive straight in training will run on Thursday nights at O'Connor, starting in a few weeks (I'll have a precise date for you shortly). We'll be going over the basics for the first few weeks to give new players a chance to get up to speed then we'll be building towards the tournament season starting in February.

Playing for Fyshwick United is heaps of fun, lots of effort and will work wonders for your ultimate. So guys, dust off your most garish orange shirt, wash your sweatbands and tell your partner not to wait up. It's open season!

ACTUA meeting next Monday - clubs policy?

Hi Folks,

There will be an ACTUA meeting on Monday the 10th, 7:00, House o' Twits (38 Scrivener Street O'Connor). Come along and say stuff if you've got stuff to say. Email me or leave a comment if you want to bring anything up.

I'll be proposing a clubs policy which should standardise ACTUA's relationship with the local clubs. Currently the clubs sometimes get money to help cover fields, sometimes they run tournaments and sometimes ACTUA and the clubs each pretend the other isn't there. In fact, I got into frisbee admin by making dubiously legitmate field bookings under ACTUA's name (and without their knowledge) while running Verfremdung in the 07 mixed season.

So, I reckon that it would be easier for everyone if there was something clear we could all use to work out how to treat each other. An arrangement which finally allows us to change our facebook status to "in a relationship" rather than "its complicated". I'm hoping for something simple that lets the clubs leech some money out of ACTUA and lets ACTUA finally get a concrete return on any money it gives away. Here's my idea:

ACTUA agrees to give local representative clubs something like $500 each season (which they seem to do most seasons anyway) on the condition that the clubs do ACTUA's development dirty work.

The development stuff might include: Getting a certain number of new players to tournaments. Running clinics at a level appropriate to league players. Getting new players to regular club training sessions. (I reckon all three are appropriate.)

For ACTUA this ensures that some player development gets done on top of running leagues. It gives players an opportunity to improve their skills for league (at clinics) or build tournament level skills by attending training. Plus it gets new players to tournaments which is a great way to get them more involved in the sport. Players are more likely to volunteer to help ACTUA out if they're totally addicted to ultimate in this way.

For the clubs it provides a way of bridging the gap between league and club level ultimate. It gives the clubs a presence at the league level of the sport which helps with recruitment and visibility and it ensures they're working to bring fresh blood into their ranks. Of course it'll be harder for them to get new players to tourneys and training in some years but we can be reasonable if something tricky comes up. The clubs are the best people to do this development because they're the part of the frisbee community with the coaches and know-how to run sessions and teach skills. They know what kind of development is needed to move between league and club level ulty. It also gives the clubs an opportunity to develop and practice their teaching and coaching.

We should also include an understanding of who is responsible for running tournaments and how the proceeds of those tourneys should be distributed. Fyshwick United will be running the CB Invitational in February and possible running Bationals in April and these could be big money-spinners for the club. How much should go to ACTUA (who will provide shade tents, water drums, BBQs and other stuff as well as (in all likelihood) volunteers) and how much should go to the club (who will run the show and who are responsible for bringing the tourney to Canberra in the first place)?

The devil is (as always) in the details: How much should ACTUA pay clubs? How much development is enough? Should we double the amount in the mixed season when the Kaboom juggernaut stirs to life? Should I declare my incredible conflict of interest on this issue*? Should this policy also extend to the ANU or is something else more appropriate for them?

I think the Kaboom season provides a good model. We ran 5 weeks of clinics aimed at league players. Our club training was tailored to accommodate a broad range of experience and skill levels. It was attended by a bunch of new players, some of whom went on to Mixed Nats in Brisbane. Two of the people who got more involved in frisbee with Kaboom are now helping Sonia to run Divs 2 and 3 (thanks Harry and Jo (and Sonia)). It was great for the club's image at league. We're more visible and accessible than Fyshwick United or Factory Girls and we've got contacts across a bunch of league teams that will help to feed our recruitment next year.

Of course it's also a lot of work. It would have been much easier to get the usual suspects to training and have more managable sessions at a higher level. I think a $500 sweetener for fields or whatever would motivate the clubs to put this kind of effort in each season.

Anyway, tell me your thoughts. Leave some comments or email me because this kind of idea should definitely be something the broader community considers. What do YOU want to get out of the local clubs? How much are you willing to have ACTUA pay for it? Tell us what you think.

* I'm now involved in planning or coaching for Fyshwick United, Factory Girls and Kaboom and I'm also the ACTUA secretary. Soon I'll even be able to PLAY ultimate, rather than just talk about it.

Dev Clinics Tonight

OK kids, my thesis is in and although I still have some late coursework to do, I'm back in the game. With that in mind, the latest set of development clinics start up again tonight.

That's right, they'll run at the Dickson fields after league. This is a chance to improve your throws, work on your skills and field sense and maybe even pick up a few new strategies for your team. The clinics are very relaxed, all standards of players are welcome and they're a great way to learn some new tricks without devoting your life to ultimate. They'll run for around an hour.

If you're interested come and say hello. I'll be kicking around near frisbee central after league in my incredibly attractive Kaboom shirt.

Prince + Matt Morrison =

Goal

(I stole this photo from http://picasaweb.google.com.au/thurberae - thanks Amy.)

Mixed Nats Update

Howdy Folks,

Just a quick update on the results for the Kaboom teams at mixed nationals. The team captained by Dave Young and Alica Daly bottomed out at 24th, after improving all tournament, and they picked up the spirit prize. Woo!

The Kaboom team run by Pete and Carrie Flynn established a reputation for punching above their weight, eventually finishing up 14. They pulled out a massive 13-12 win over Townsville's "Hand of God" who had taken half 8-3. Nat Cheong and Andrew Jackson kept the offense moving in the mid-field and Matt Morrison was dominant in the air all weekend.

And Kaboom 1, captained by Pete Hemphill and Jess Preston made a point of fighting back in tough games, winning their three sunday games by a total of 5 points, including a 15-14 win over Faf from Sydney after being down 12-5. Unfortunately, Faf had the last laugh, edging them out in the semis. They finished third after an epic scissors-paper-rock bout with Spider-Pig from Sydney.

Vintage from Victoria stomped all over Faf in the final to win the tourney. Anyway, I'm going to bed so I'll write something more detailed later.

Off off and away in Brisbane!

As I speak Kaboom players will be touching down on the tarmac in Brisbane, preparing themselves for a fest of ultimate this weekend.

Last night we had our last training session and now the time to play has finally come! Such excitement.

Good luck to all the Canberra teams heading up to Brisbane and hopefully we can bring back something to show for our efforts.

ACTUA: Announcing the 2012 Dingoes

Based on statistical analysis of select trends in Australian ultimate, we have identified the key factors that will shape the Dingoes team of 2012. After churning the data through the stats machine, ACTUA is pleased to announce the Dingoes team of 2012:


Returning from 2008
Paul Denyer (WA) Cutter
Anthony Dowle (NSW) Cutter
Matthew Dowle (NSW) Handler
Peter Gardner (NSW) Handler
Abra Garfield (NSW) Handler
Andrew Glover (NSW) Cutter
Jonathan Holmes (ACT) Cutter
Angus Keenan (NSW) Handler
Tim Lavis (NSW) Cutter
John Liddicoat (VIC) Cutter
Gavin Moore (NSW) Cutter
Michael Neild (QLD) Cutter
Joel Pillar (SA) Handler
Daniel Rule (VIC) Handler
Ken Shepherd (NSW) Handler
Jonathan Tatham (NSW) Cutter
Mark Taylor (NSW) Cutter

Boostering the ranks in 2012
Peter Blakely (NSW) Cutter
Benny Haim (OS) Handler
Dave Jarrott (NSW) Cutter
John MacNaughton (QLD) Handler
Brett Middleton (SA) Cutter
Waz Shepherd (NSW) Cutter
Phil White (NSW) Handler

We have every confidence the team will represent Australia at the highest level with commitment and spirit.

Melbourne Hat #20 on in December!

Hey all

This is actually Tom posting under Bags alias.

Each year about 300+ players from all across Australia and a few international kidlets come together for the largest *hat* tournament in the Southern hemisphere, the Melbourne Hat.

For those of you that are not aware, the Melbourne Hat is going to happen on the 13th/14th of December. Its a *hat* tournament, which means that individual players register for the tournament and the teams are drawn out randomly from a notional 'hat'. The teams are balanced for skill level, so its a great opportunity for players of all levels to play beside completely new players and players that have represented Australia.

I have played three Melbourne Hats and they have all been great social events where every player can make an impact on their teams result.

Registration is filling up real fast, so register and pay as soon as you can.

http://afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=923

www.vfda.asn.au/hat

Day 4 and 5 of Unigames

Well its more than a bit late now but I thought I'd pump out some observations on the Quarters, Semis and Finals

The quarter match ups were Adelaide versus Newwie, Melbourne on Monash, Mac on Flinders and USyd vs the UWA kids.

Now, I was expecting USyd, Monash, Flinders and Newwie to win their various match ups

I started out camping between the USyd/UWA game and the Mac/Flinders game. The points were rolling along fairly slowly, so I had time to bike over to the other quarters and get regular score updates. The wind was still there in all these games but much less so than any other game than the final.

UWA came out hard against USyd and managed to score an upwinder early, taking the lead 3-2. USyd broke back straight away and continues to put on the pressure. The UWA kids had partied and played their guts out the whole week and weren't able to continue firing. With the reduced wind, USyd started to play a little bit of match (aka man) defence and this was UWAs achilles heel. They confessed to me on day two that they couldn't play man and it was pretty obvious too. USyd actually worked that out and it was over for UWA. As the game got away from UWA, I started drifting to other fields...

Flinders were steadily progressing against Mac. They wouldn't go on big runs but would score a few doubles from time to time. Flinders were a few points up when I went to check on the other quarters.

I arrived to find Adelaide thrashing Newwie, 6-0....I was stunned and Newwie scored the point that I was watching, so it wasn't immediately apparent how Adelaide were achieving this rout. I had heard on the grapevine that Adelaide was having some 'internal' problems that were holding them back from playing their best but with the score rapidly going to 8-1 I was convinced that whatever it was they had sorted it out! Newwie seemed unable to work the disc consistently against the Adelaide zone and they had lost heart. Adelaide were set for glory.

Monash and Melbourne was another interesting game. Once again, the favourites Monash were behind, slowly setting themselves up for another double game point victory. The reduced wind and the return of Michelle Phillips to the field meant that Melbourne had a lot more tactical options on the field aside from huck and D. The score didn't shift much from a couple of game point difference. I returned to Flinders vs Mac.

Flinders was up but Mac was still battling hard. Joel went high for a contest and came down hard on his ankle. He injury subbed soon after and Flinders game plan had to change on the fly with the loss of their biggest thrower. Joel had 'crunched' his ankle and wasn't sure what sort of injury/problem it was but couldn't run on it. What is a frisbee tournament without Joel getting injured! Mac surely gained an extra resolve knowing they had to one less aerial and throwing threat on Flinders. I watched to see what would happen next. Flinders scored and scored again. Mac answered with one of their own but Flinders weren't slowing down and plugged another one in. Alec Deslanders and Erin Wallis plugged the throwing hole left by Joel, including a great pinpoint hammer from Erin to score. Even with the dispute about the length of the game (80 as normal or 100 minutes because it was a 'final') Mac just could not match Flinders and scores very little in the last 20 minutes of the game.

Since the other games were nearing their finish, I wandered back to the double game point that Melbourne and Monash were destined to play. I arrived and sure enough it was something like Melbourne 9 and Monash 8, game to ten. Monash, of course, score to draw even and I get that hilarious sense of dejá vu. My memory of the point is a little sketchy but after one or two trades of the Melbourne settles on to the left side line and chip their way up the field. Owen is face marking Fresise, who makes a succession of jinky, tiny cuts to no effect. Despite this, the various throwers manage to pike it over to Fresise in a variety of nail bitingly risky ways and once Melbourne are in 15 metres of the endzone, Fresisy gambles on a cross field huck to the endzone.....and scores! Game to Melbourne! The team that everyone thought would be matching up against USyd in the final had failed at the critical moment. Had the wind been the same as in the other games, I would not have been surprised to see Monash go up once again but all Fresisy needed was one clear shot and it was done.

All the other games had finished at the 80 minute mark, so I watched Flinders without Joel pump Mac for the rest of their 100 minute game.

So we ended up with Flinders vs Melbourne and USyd versus Adelaide in the respective semis.

The semis weren't that exciting to watch. The magic that Adelaide had was gone and their red visor female handler had a terrible game from the parts I saw. USyd rolled them.

Melbourne vs Flinders was much more of a contest. It was a fairly even fight but a few things swayed the balance. Tarrant Meehan was injured and stopped playing. While he wasn't the play maker for the team, his solid handling and stability was sorely missed. The other important factor was Joel had some painkillers and actually felt ok to play half way into the game. While he wasn't quite up to full steam, his presence on the field was another mental blow to the Melbourne kids and despite their best efforts, Melbourne were closed out of the game towards the end.

And that was how USyd and Flinders got to the Final on day five of AUGs...

The final has also been covered by Owen Shepherd at thinkulti.blogspot.com/2008/10/2008-uni-games-part-2-stars.html
but I'll throw in my own thoughts as well.

By now everyone should know that Flinders beat USyd in a bit of a blowout. The game was exciting to watch not because it was a tight match filled with good ultimate but because it was an underdog team coming out and beating up the unbeaten favourites. With USyd being generally unable to match the top two men and women on the Flinders team, they struggled to make worth of the other match ups on the field that they could win. A largely sluggish Joel was fairly free to get the disc when he wanted and was able to contribute defensively in the Flinders 4 person cup/pommy. After Flinders went up 6-3 and continued to take half at 8-4, USyd had lost the mental game and couldn't focus back on the task at hand. The rug had been pulled from under them and instead of thinking about standing back up they were too busy wondering where the rug had gone... Save a couple of amazing plays from Flinders and their solid offence, the 2nd half was played out rapidly and the crowd was more exciting about heckling than watching. Flinders closed the game out 15-6, a true rout.

And then it was over

The last night party was a bit scattered. I am more and more convinced that Melbourne sucks for partying. This has not always been the case. I remember the awesomeness of the 2002 nationals party circuit but its gone kids. I suppose the goldcoast is going to have to pick up the slack next year. That said, the UWA kids, Moz and Seb managed to turn shit circumstances into a sweet night of smack talk and verbal ranga bashing. A memorable night, even if some of those memories are mental scars etched into the inside of my skull.

So thats it for another year. It was so much fun that I might just do it again....




blogs blogs blogs!

If you ever want to check out a good spread of blogs with only opening two pages then head on down to

http://frisbeeblogs.mindsocket.com.au/

For all your Australian blogs and

ultimatetalk.com

for North American + Cultimate (now in the UK) blogs

Enjoy kids

Day 3 Unigames

Well its been another roaring day at unigames. High winds dominated most of the day, draining the moisture right out of the players as they took to the fields.

This day has seen the completion of almost all pool play and there have been some exciting matches.

This is a list of games that I got to see.

8:30am
Flinders University (SA) vs Melb

UWA vs Mac

10:30am
Mac vs Monash

12:30pm
ANU vs QUT

2:30pm
Mon vs Newwie

I started the day at the FU vs Melb game. The wind meant that both teams were showing off their zone defences. Melbourne started the game with the downwind pull. After trading turns for a few minutes, Melbourne makes a critical turn near their endzone and FU capitalise for an easy upwind score.

Now it was FU's turn for the downwind pull and zone. Meehan and Friese handler upwind for Melbourne but without their play makers in upfield positions Melb. struggle to make ground. FU soon scores after a couple of turns. FU then have the upwind pull and Melb don't take long to huck downwind for a non-completion. Number 18 throws to Joel Pillar for a score. 3-0 to FU

FU use a combination of huck and hope and working it up during the game and Melb struggles to shut down Erin Wallis, Joel Pillar, Alec Deslandes and Alison Clarke.

The next point has a hilarious moment. Alec Deslandes is marking up as the deep in the FU zone, defending against a Melbourne team eager to not let a turnover occur near their upwind endzone. Melbourne let fly a disc downfield and there is a contest. Alec gets to the disc first, macking it towards the sideline. His relaxation at getting the D vanishes as the disc continues to wobble upward and not to the ground. Before anyone else can react he quickly hits the disc again towards the sideline. The disc bobbles up a little more and out of the field.....before Meehan from Melbourne starts running towards the sideline.... and it drops back towards the field of play and just inbounds where Meehan continues play. Great to watch!

Hilarity aside, FU pound Melbourne and I leave at 6-0 to watch UWA on Macquarie

I arrive at 4-1 to UWA

To my surprise, Neil is playing and despite a tender knee seems otherwise full of beans and smashing the box. Unfortunately his team was not full of beans and smashing up anything.

I begin to watch for what is a mammmoth point. UWA is working it upwind, turning it 0-15 metres from the endzone and seeing Mac fumble or huck the disc back to them. The point sees Twiggy and Eels taking centre stage for the UWA kids, with point blocks, long strikes, intercepts and layout catches coming out of their ears. Another hilarious product of the wind is #16 on UWA throwing the disc hard at two metre range, having it bounce up and off the chest of the UWA target and then recatching the disc to play on. After an epic sequence of play, UWA score after streaking up the far (left) sideline, Twiggy to #16. UWA 5-1.

Mac finally get back in gear and score a relatively easy upwinder to make it 5-2 but their deep #3 from the states misses an easy aerial block which falls into the hands of a UWA player in the endzone for 6-2. At this point I got a score update and it was 9-4 to Newcastle over Deakin and 11-2 to FU over Melbourne. UWA pull downwind and zone, with Mac turning on their endzone line. UWA calls for a iso on Thorn (Twiggy) and Eley hits another player with a floaty high release backhand that misses its target, should have been blocked by the misjumping #3 from Mac and then drops into the hands of a UWA female receiver. 7-2 to UWA.

Mac rally and manage to barfight their score to 7-4 at time cap and then score the next point to make it game to eight. I get set for another tight finish to a game and then....Mac concede the game. They just refuse to play and let UWA win by two. I am confused and dubious but leave to eat food. I hear that USYD crush AU 14-5.

I then watched mac vs monash. Mac rallied from their defeat against UWA and worked well in another up/downwind game. Monash were less successful and Mac maintained a short lead for the majority of the game. Time cap went and Monash once again had to make up lost ground, albeit only one point. I'll just take a moment to remind everyone that Newcastle are truly amazing and I thank them every morning I wake for providing me with hot chips. Monash scored and brought the game to another double game point. Both of these teams had played a double game point match already this tournament and I was keen to find out who was going to drag themselves over the line in this match. Monash had to pull upwind in the last point. Mac worked it hard for a few passes but then a Tiger pass went wide of Neil and the Monash kids went for the kill, rapidly moving the disc before the Macquarie team could set their defence. Monash moved up to within 10 metres of the endzone line and their flow slowed as they probed the mac defence for an opening. It did not take long for them to take their shot, with Moz bombing a leftie flick blade to Sebbo to clinch the game. 10-9 to Monash.

In the 12:30 time slot, I watched the first part of the ANU versus QUT game. QUT had no experienced players and the windy conditions meant that the game soon took on a predictable rhythm, with ANU working the disc cross the field, taking a little bit of ground here and there, with the occasional turnover, QUT having the disc for 30 seconds and then ANU resuming their tap tap tapping around the field for endzone goodness. I left at 6-nil and returned to a 15-2 score line.

The 2:30pm saw Newcastle and Monash play off for the top of their pool. There was windy and tense mood over the field as the teams warmed up, like to. The Jonas' boys were swinging their legs in perfect harmony and I was mesmerised. Before I knew it, the game was on with Newwie pulling upwind to start the game. Newwie plays zone but there is some miscommunication and the don't have a deep. Monash capitalise with a low throw. However before they can work the disc into the endzone, JJ scrambles and manages an intercept. Newwie work it upwind but Ellie drops and Monash jump on the disc and O Shep scores to Sebbo.

The next few points continue much the same, with Monash pulling away to 5-1 before Newwie score again. Newwie go on little run to catch up to 5-4, including a Ellie snaffle D and score upwind. Monash continue to hit #21 long with mixed results. The game winds on with Monash and Newwie trading. The wind dies down and timecap is reached... Newwie score off a Monash error to make the game 9-8, game to ten. Yes, thats right, Monash in another close game.

Newwie zones and Monash struggle. Teagan crashes the Moz and Sebbo party with a intercept. Chris Boy promptly throws the disc away but after some dinky about gets the disc back. Newwie works the disc up and Chris (Chilly) Hill scores to Liz. Double game point.

Now at this stage Monash has two double game points under their belt and you'd have to say they were still ready for more. However Moz is not called on to the last line and I write "No Moz = Newwie will win" Newwie pull and Joshie and O Shep combine for a first pass turnover on the endzone line, the second Joshie has been involved in. As we like to say here at the Canberra Ultimate Blog, Joshie was 'turning on a dime' this tournament. Newwie seem set to take the game but cannot do the deal and after three macks in the endzone, Monash get the disc back. Injury is called and Moz comes on for Monash. Suddenly the truth of my prediction gains more power and Monash seem unstoppable as they march down the field and Mish catches the winning goal! Crazy times.

Power Pool one
1 USyd
2 FU
3 AU
4 Melb
5 La Trobe
6 Bal

Power Pool two
1 Monash
2 Newwie
3 Mac
4 UWA
5 Mur
6 Deakin

Quarter final matchups

USyd on UWA, praying mantis on sagely monkey style
Monash on Melb
AU on Newwie
Mac on FU

UWA have to have the best chance to upset out of those quarter.

Tomorrow I hope to actually catch up and post about the quarter final matches.

If you didn't know already USyd and Flinders University will play off for the gold!

Shirt?

Woo! Our Kaboom shirts have arrived in attractive yellow. I'm extremely excited, perhaps more than my restraining order allows. Everyone out there should offer a silent thought of thanks to Max for his splendid design.

We'll have to see about having some kind of "Come and get your shirt and meet everyone" thing some time.

Division 1 does something a bit like starting tonight

A message from John, the Div 1 LOG:

Division 1 starts tonight, sort of. We're moving to a new format for team formation, where captains will pick the teams they want to play with. There will also be two draft teams to accomodate those people who haven't been selected (pending adequate rego numbers). To ensure players get a chance to strut their stuff in front of our courageous captains, we're running a very informal try-outs night tonight at O'Connor Playing fields at 7:00. Players will be divided into random teams and will play scrimmage games to give everyone a chance to show off their skills, athleticism, fine taste in sweatbands or whatever else it is that gets people selected for teams these days.

Having done the rounds of local leagues looking for players to pull into the Kaboom ranks I know that there are a bunch of really talented rookies with great potential out there who should be getting snapped up into div 1 teams. Tonight should provide a chance for that to happen.

If you're at all interested in playing in Division 1 this spring come along to the O'Connor playing fields (nearest the shops) at 7:00. Bring your A game, your cleats, water, a white shirt and a dark shirt. If you're looking for regular competitive ulty games this season turn up and show us what you've got. We can't guarantee that you'll be what our captains are looking for, but the only way to find out is to turn up and give it a try. If you can't make it tonight sign up on the rego page to let us know you're keen (http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=902).

Once our captains have cruised the talent so to speak, regular games will start next week. Div 1 could really improve over the next few seasons, so let's make a strong start.

Day Two of Australian University Games

I have come down to Melbourne to watch University Games and I will be detailing some of my thoughts on the games I see here on the blog.

For the first game there was a moderate up/down field wind, which dictated the play across all the fields. Zone was the choice of defence here. All teams were playing some variety of the four person cup, with two wings and a deep. The three games that I was keeping track off in the first time slot were ANU vs Deakin, USyd vs UWA and La Trobe vs Macquarie.

The ANU vs Deakin game was a tough struggle. ANU were still missing Rose Phelan from a concussion earnt yesterday, apparently inflicted by her teammate Ryan Ickert. Deakin had only nine squad members but were much more happy to take risky long shots that would gain yards even if they were not caught. This proved to be the major factor in them taking the lead at the start and middle game. The ANU have really sought out a possession focused strategy but in the wind and at a university level tournament, 5-15 passes which end in a turnover is not as good as 3-5 that land 40 yards further away. Some costly errors near the ANU's upwind endzone meant easy scores for Deakin and although ANU fought back towards the end of the game, Deakin staved them off to win by three. As expected James Kingsmill, Mica Hartley and Brett Massey were ANU's play makers in this game.

UWA vs USyd was also wing effected. UWA went up early in the game, taking some breaks off poor executions from the USyd team. USyd certainly rallied greatly and when I came back to check on the game they had shut UWA out of the game with the final result of 13-5 to USyd.

Macquarie versus La Troba was another tight game. Macquarie was in the lead from the beginning of the game and Neil Roxburgh was taking some great layout Ds. unfortunately Neil's time on the field came to an end when Ian Macdonald from La Troba hit Neil's knee after an upfield flick lifted up over a female La Troba player's outstretched arm and listed towards the middle of the field. Ian 'Macca' Macdonald and Neil made bids for the disc from opposite directions with Macca's mouth and Neil's knee being the points of contact Neil is likely to be out for sometime, possibly with an ACL injury. At that stage of the game Mac was two point up and after the loss of Neil, La Troba grappled back to evens. Point trading continued until time-cap. It was 12 all, scorer of the next point takes all. La Troba were pulling to Macquarie. Everyone was set for a huge point.....and then Macquarie worked it down the field in about five or six passes to score effectively unopposed. 13-12 to Mac.

The next time slot was largely uneventful for the fields I was near.

At lunch, the initial pools were broken up and split into two 'power' pools and one bottom pool. This meant that there would generally be less blow out 15 to not much matches and more tough games. ANU scored wins against RMIT and Griffith in the Bottom pool and I watched some of the results from the various power pool games that were running at the time.

Macquarie and Newcastle were duking it out to the northern end of my roaming range, USyd and La Trobe in the middle and UWA and Monash to the south. Mac seemed to take control of their game and maintained their lead until the end of the game. On the other hand, the other two games were much more interesting fights with the underdogs in both, UWA and La Troba, coming out to early leads. Both of these underdog teams had more athletic and bigger receivers and they generally pumped their long game hard, playing zone if it did not come off. Both teams took their respective halves 8-7 (La Trobe) and 8-5 (UWA). However USyd and Monash continued to fight to regain control of the game. USyd achieved this straight away, breaking down La Trobe's big huck plays and working the disc much more solidly. The turned this into a comfortable 15-12 end game score.

The UWA vs Monash game was a different story. UWA had the big hucks to the big boys but they also scored several times through their under-cutters and women in the second half. Their women were much more effective for them than Monash's or the comparative La Trobe girls and their building up of their lead in the second half demonstrated that. On the other side of the disc, Monash was struggling against UWA's zone and uncharacteristic errors from senior Monash players and some badly timed drops from a few of their girls kept the UWA kids on the offense. Time cap was nearing and UWA was up by three points, 13-10. Monash fires up and attempts a rally. They score for make it 13-11, within the two points they need to keep the game alive if time cap goes. UWA take a timeout, which burns up the last few seconds of regular time and its game to 14. Monash need to score three times to win and UWA only once. UWA receives the pull and scrambles hard to make ground. They manage to make two shots into the endzone, one wild and the other only faulted by the receiver tripping up as they tried to make the catch. After some more turn overs from both sides, Monash grins out a score. 13-12. Monash pulls again to UWA but this point lacks the tension of the last, with only a few turn overs before Monash plugs another goal. 13-13, double game point. UWA received the pull again, working the disc up and down the field. There are turnovers falling over themselves to be born unto the frisbee field as both teams struggle to search for the killing blow that will finish the game in their favour. A UWA huck goes wild into their attacking endzone, Josh Cukierman picks up the disc and plays from the endzone line but makes a simple dump error and overshoots Sebastian Barr, resulting in a turn right in front of the endzone. Surely this must be the death knell for Monash! But no! Instead of going for the kill and moving fast to set up the score, UWA lets Monash set up defence in good time AND on top of that sets up a horizontal in the endzone. Such a huge tactical error is only justly rewarded with a scrappy set of cuts and a desperate stall nine throw out the back of the endzone. Seemingly aware of the shame that they have brought upon their WA brethern, the UWA kids promptly wilt away while the Monash team revels in their second chance at not sucking and within five passes the game is over, with Andrew "Mozza" Moroney taking a gently floating disc in the endzone to end the game in Monash's favour. A great comeback from the Monash team. Moz was a solid achiever for the Monash kids with Twiggy and James Eley (playing on a ruptured ACL!!!!) being the heavy hitters for UWA.

In the last round I saw USyd vs Melbourne and UWA vs Newcastle play. It was about this time that after spending the first half of the day having people tell me I was a green and gold selector, I figured out after a chat with one of the captains that that was actually highly unlikely. I later confirmed this with others. I don't know if I was even put up for voting but as I was not here in Melbourne on Sunday when it all happened. Sigh, another bureaucratic flight of fancy. Melbourne and USyd slugged it out in a real upwind/downwind battle, trading till a USyd 8-7 half. Chris Friese then stopped cutting deep for Melbourne and that proved to be the death of their offence. Melbourne's less experienced cutters got on the end of several decent hucks but misread them all. Melbourne did not score again and USyd won 13-7. USyd have a very even team, with heavy firepower provided by the loose cannon of Pete Liddicoat. However Max Halden and Carlo Seeto have so far not set a foot wrong, consistently maintaining possessive of the disc, getting blocks and scores without error. Another notable loss to Melbourne was the niggling knee injury that took Michelle Phillips out of the game. She has now missed several games to the complaint and will only play a limited role in Melbourne's tournament. The other game saw Newcastle University roll a drained UWA.

So that basically wraps up my scattered recollections of the day. I really need a big hat, a bike and some paper to note things down if I am going to ensure more accuracy in my reporting, so I plan on doing those things tomorrow.

Cheap flights, anyone?

Howdy ya'll,

Just a quick heads-up about some cheap flights Qantas has on sale, I just booked flights for mixed nats for $230 return. If you're still wimping out because of money your excuse just got $100 less convincing. It's one of those 30 hour sales apparently, so get onto the qantas website pronto.

Kaboom's Top Team Announced

My spies within local mixed club Kaboom have delivered the lastest roster for the ACT's top mixed team into my waiting hands. Kaboom plans to send three teams to Mixed Nationals this year, but some late pull-outs among their men have opened new spots in their roster. If you're a man and you're in Canberra and interested in attending mixed nats in October (18th-20th) contact me at who.is.the.schmooze at gmail.com and I'll pass your details on the relevant folk. This is the first time the ACT has taken a focused, club based approach towards the mixed division and it will be interesting to see what kinds of dividends this change brings. So, who will don papaya shirts in the name of destruction this October?

Larissa Arney,
Gareth Beyers,
Asher Gentle,
Laina Hall,
Mica Hartley,
Heather Hemphill,
Pete Hemphill,
Jonathan Holmes,
Ian McKerracher,
Keah Molomby,
Jess Preston,
Vicki Saye,
Heather Tolley,
Thomas Walcott,
Thomas Watson,
Max Wheeler,

These kids carry the hopes of at least 4 certified minors and will no doubt do their clubmates proud in Brisbane. If you see any of them around the traps congratulate them on their selection and wish them the best for the tournament ahead. I should have finalised rosters for Kaboom's other two teams once our final few players are confirmed.

The end of Hibernation

Well, Winter is finally over. Not only has the woefully inaccurate Augustine Calendar marked the coming of Spring, but the far more accurate Frisbee Calendar has finally wrapped up its winter leagues and begun gearing up for Spring.

So, what happened at the end of Winter? Well, after I put myself out on a limb with my tips for the final round of WOL I was proven wrong as the ANU came from nowhere to clinch the title. They definitely improved over the final two rounds and in the end did well to deservingly win their final. The Mavericks, hampered by a short roster, put up a brave fight but didn't have the legs to pull the game back into their grasp. They came back from something like 9-5 down to bring the game to universe point at 11 all, but a great grab from Nat Cheong sealed the deal for the bookish ANU kids. Of course, more people were interested in the BBQ, where the harworking WOL organisers cooked up a stir fry with REAL VEGETABLES rather than the traditional "food made from industrial waste" sausages that are standard fare at most finals. Even the weather seemed keen to support the ANU, after threatening to rain all morning the heavens cleared for a beautiful spring afternoon of ultimate. Thanks must go to the crowd who stayed around to enjoy food, beer and a suprisingly reasonable game of ultimate.

The Winter Indoor League finals were back at the very start of September, and not only did I not watch the final I've forgotten the details anyway. Sorry. I was, however, watching two random teams play off for minor placings and thoroughly enjoying watching Twatson get schooled by the Hind sisters, who usually play for Div 2 team "The Bretheren". It's great to see so many keen and athletic players playing in our leagues. I hope that the development sessions we run during spring league give these players an opportunity to learn some new tricks.

The Kaboom Mixed Club is getting firmly into gear, with our final roster for our top team confirmed and the rosters for our next two teams being finalised now. I'll put that up in a separate post.

Also confirmed are the formats for the next two leagues. There are set to be some big changes to Div 1, so stay tuned and I'll try to post soon (as opposed to almost never, like I have been). Anyway, I'd better go eat something, since I keep meeting people for lunch without actually having the lunch.

Spring League rego opens

The contact emails for this league are anthony.perry@centrelink.gov.au for divisions 2+3 and who.is.the.schmooze@gmail.com for div 1.

Here are the details from Anthony:

"Spring League

The ACT Ultimate Association’s Spring Social League will (hopefully) commence on Tuesday 7 October (day after the long weekend) for social league (Division’s 2 & 3) at the Dickson playing fields. The season will run for 9 weeks finishing on 9 December 2008. The cost per league is $25.00 (if you pay before week 4). Please note that you can wear cleats this season.

League Organiser

At the moment we do not have one. Unfortunately i cannot do as i am going overseas for a month starting this Friday. If anyone is interested in being the League Organiser please contact John Horan or myself for details. The league organiser also requires a couple of assistants to help set up fields each week (takes 10 – 15 minutes) and collect scores after the game. It would be a shame to cancel social league this season because we do not have an organiser

Divisions 2 and 3 (Social League)

Division 2 and Division 3 games will start at approximately 6.35pm and go for one hour. In total we are limited to a maximum of 20 teams. We operate of a first registered, first accepted basis. That means if you leave it too late, you may miss out. We will close Divisions 2 and 3 (Social League) if we reach our limit.

Players can register with a specific team or as individuals. Under no circumstances should a person register with a specific team unless they have the consent of the team captain. To register for Division 2 or Division 3 go to:

Division 2
http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=900

Division3
http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=901

To register a SOCIAL team you need to contact the person at the top of the registration page (and for the next 48 hours that will be me so get in fast) and provide a team captain and a team name. You will be asked to indicate a preference for which Division your team would like to play in. Then teams can be registered in their requested Division, on the understanding that it may change depending on registrations. The acceptance of any team is at the discretion of the League Organiser. Ideally there should be 12 players per team (7 male / 5 female). However the final team size and player mix will be determined by the League Organiser based on the number of people who register. If a group of people want to form a team but do not have 12 players there is no problem providing there are at least 7 players (4 male / 3 female). The League Organiser will allocate the remaining players.

The registration of a team does not mean that a team will be guaranteed a place in the league. Each player must still register individually. When we start to reach our optimum size the registration database will be closed. The people who have registered indicating that they do not have a team will then be allocated to those teams that do not have 12 players.

Please note that any person who registers a team is doing so on the understanding that they will have at least 7 players (4 male / 3 female) registered by Friday 26 September. If there are not 7 players registered by this date, the proposed team will be dissolved and any players registered in that team will transferred to the unallocated players list and allocated across other teams. Therefore team captains need to be organised.



Division 1 (Intermediate League)

The ACT Ultimate Association’s Spring Division 1 League will commence on Wednesday 1 October at the O’Connor AFL oval. League will start at 7.00pm and games will go for 90 minutes. The season will run for 11 weeks finishing on 10 December 2008.

To register for Division 1 go to:
http://www.afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=902

League Size

The league will be limited to a maximum of 6 teams (which is all we can fit on O’Connor). In the event that we have more players than required, teams will be selected on a draft basis (i.e. unfortunately we may have to say no and decline your registration)

John Horan will be the Division 1 organiser. John can be contacted on who.is.the.schmooze@gmail.com


Cost

The cost for each league will be $25.00 (if paid by week 4 and then $30.00)

Funds can be transferred electronically to the following account:
Account Name: ACT Ultimate
BSB Number: 801009
Account Number: 309871
Reference: Put your name (otherwise we don’t know you have paid)

Registration Close Date

Registrations close 5.00pm Friday 26 September 2008 or earlier if the league is full.

Questions:

In the next 48 hours about Spring Social League can be forwarded to me at: anthony.perry@centrelink.gov.au .

Questions from Friday onwards about social league can go to the contact point on the registration page (i.e. click on the registration link).

About Division 1 can go to John Horan at: who.is.the.schmooze@gmail.com

Anthony"

Things to get excited about

Hi folks,

Things are definitely getting into gear here in the CUB secret underground facility. Leagues are ending, leagues are starting, trainings are running, teams are forming, and schemes are being fleshed out as the winter hibernation ends and the Canberra ultimate coommunity gets ready for another rowdy 9 months of nightly outdoor leagues.

A few changes are in the pipes for the next bracket of outdoor leagues. Division 1 will move to Wednesday nights at O'Connor playing fields, development clinics and coaching will be on offer to Division 2 and 3 teams, and there's the possibility of changing the timeslots of Divisions 2 and 3 to accomodate more players in the future if required. Our ambitious grab for field allocations has provided us with a bounty of fields which we will exploit to ensure that we can provide the best facilities to out club teams, league teams and development sessions.

We've also tracked down a League Organiser for Division 1 and have several keen candidates for LOGs for divisions 2 and 3. Division 1 can also expect a shake up of format, four club teams will be introduced into the league as a way of improving the standard of the league, although we'll retain two draft teams for spring league to ensure a smooth transition. We should have an announcement on the formation of those club teams soon.

Booking fields has also meant we can pin down our training dates over the next few months. Kaboom training will stay at O'Connor on Thursday nights, as will Fyshwick United and Factory Girls training over the warmer months. We should be running roughly 4 weeks of bridging sessions at the start of the single-gender season to get any keen new players up to speed.

And finally, with the AFDA breathing down their necks, the Kaboom stewards are starting to thrash out some kind of selection plan for the three club teams they'll be sending to Mixed Nationals on the 18th-20th of October. Flights are cheap, so if you're interested in heading up but haven't let the Kaboom kids know either head along to training this Thursday from 6:15 until 8:30 or email me at who.is.the.schmooze at gmail dot com.

Details about registration for leagues, costs, times and all that jazz should be out soon, they'll get posted on the ACTUA website, emailed to the Autumn League list and posted up here. Stay tuned.

ACTUA meeting, Mixed Nationals, WOL next weekend

Hey everyone

Three things,

-ACTUA meeting tonight (Monday) at 38 Scrivener Street, O'Connor. Come along, contribute and eat pizza. 7:00pm start.

-We need to get our rosters in for Mixed Nationals really soon. If you are not on the list soon, you won't be able to join later but if you are on the list we can take you off at a later date. Therefore, if you want to keep Mixed Nats as an option this year, you need to let us know to put you on the list.

-Winter Outdoor League is on next Sunday, 14th of September at Downer Fields. Come along and watch the finals (there are semis and stuff as well - everyone has games).

Shenanigans is on!

Yes, another year brings another university season, and another university season brings another Shenanigans, the ACTs finest intervarsity tournament. Registrations have taken a hit this year as the calendar crowds up with bigger events that teams need to attend to qualify for even bigger events, and we lack the star recruiting power of Piers "Come to my Tournament" Truter, but Shenenigans lives on. Low turnout has forced the tourney into a one-day format (I think) but there may still be places on the local pickup team. Check the AFDA website for details. This tournament has always generated high scores in Fantasy Pickup so get your picks early to secure the best chance at glory.

Guest Coach this Thursday

If you're wondering what that whirring noise is, it's the local rumor mill. Yes, there's gossip aplenty floating around the frisbee scene, and the lastest publishable morsel regards the possibility of a guest star helping out at Kaboom training this Thursday. Pete Hemphill is away and his big shoes are set to be amply filled by Jonno "I once jumped over a guy who was jumping over another guy" Holmes.

Jonno has had a long and illustrious career in Australian ultimate. Reports abound about about his stellar performance in the garish yellow strips of Wanderlust, a mixed team that played at World Clubs in Perth in '02. He's been a stalwart of the Dingos for a few campaigns now, pioneered Deathstar's research into shopping trolley kinematics, invented the curvy bit at the bottom of the letter g and is the only player to have made an opponent weep and soil themself at the same time without crossing the fine line of incedental contact (Tao Brown has managed to simultaneously do the first and second, but never the third). So, if you're waiting for that spark to push you over the boundary from thinking about training to actually attending it, this could be your moment.

A quick update

Hi Everyone,

OK, lots has been happening so it's a shame I haven't posted lately. I'll give a quick update of some stuff now and give a summary of the last round of WOL some other time.

First, some great news. The ACT has been allocated a third team slot for Mixed Nationals in Brisbane (from the 18th to the 20th of October). Unfortunately for them, WA couldn't find a second team to fill their allocation so we got their spare slot. This means that we'll be able to send a development team to Mixed Nats. We're hoping to get a bunch of Div 2 players to attend, so if you're interested post a comment. As the training numbers for Kaboom become clearer we'll know more about who's going to be running each team.

Kaboom training is off and running, with 27 non-gimps attending last night. We're still missing a bunch of old hands who can usually be counted on to turn up, plus there are a few rookies who should be attending over the next few weeks. It's really exciting to have so many people (especially new people) at training and it bodes well for all the teams we send to mixed nats later this year. If you're still planning on attending but haven't made it along yet training starts at 6:15 at O'Connor Playing fields (near the shops). Bring water, cleats and a light and a dark shirt.

The Development Clinics ended last Monday with a session on smack talk. Players were advised on the correct application and use of visors, sweatbands and a number of other ultimate essentials. The players attending the sessions have made a lot of improvement over the five weeks and ACTUA will definintely look to run clinics like this again. In the ideal world we should run separate clinics for beginner and intermediate players, so that's something to aim for in a year or so. As usual, we need more coaches and more time (and more fields). On the whole, the clinics were well attended, especially given the time of year (my whiteboard froze over last Monday). Hopefully we can build on these sessions by offering coaching for league players and teams during the spring and summer leagues.

The field allocation meeting for ACT Sportgrounds' Summer booking period is on this Monday. I'm rather excited about the possible outcomes of this meeting. We've asked for more fields than we ever have before, with an attempted two nights allocated for leagues and an extra allocation for training. We've never had an allocation for training, because the clubs have always tried to organise their own fields after the allocations have been made. If all goes well here it will ensure that we have decent training facilities available to us reliably over the summer period. Unfortunately, it'll still be a struggle getting fields over winter because of the higher demand for fields, but this approach might help us there as well. If we get what we've asked for it should be easy to provide training fields for league players and teams and for club level ultimate. It's great to see the club admin types co-ordinating with ACTUA to get themselves a better deal. I'll keep ya'll posted on how successful our fields bids are.

We still need league organisers. There are some murmuring within the ANU camp about someone helping with Spring League as a fund-raiser. We need volunteers for divisions 2 and 3 which will be run on the same night at the same place so it's easy to do both at once. League organisers get paid an honorarium by ACTUA and there are plenty of people to support and help anyone who's interested.

There's more stuff going on as well, but I'll have to post about it later. The sun is out so it's time for rehab.

WOL next week!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

WOL is on next week. 1:00 at Downer Fields as usual. That means that pickup WON'T be on unless a bunch of people email me who still want to play. If that's you (that is, you want pickup and you aren't playing WOL) email me at "who dot is dot the dot schmooze at gmail dot com".

This will be the last week of pool play so it's every team's last chance to set themselves up for the finals. I'll post about who's playing whom for what stakes later in the week.

Kaboom Training

Hi All,

Kaboom, the ACT's new mixed ultimate club, starts training on the 21st of August (that's next Thursday) at 6:15 at the O'Connor playing fields, at the field nearest the O'Connor shops near the Pedder street car park. Coaches will be available from 6:00 to assist players with any questions or goals they may have and players are expected to be cleated up and ready to run at 6:15. Training will end by 9:00 (some sessions may end earlier).

Training is expected to stay at O'Connor until mid September but may move after that because of changes in the ACT Sportsgrounds' field allocations between the winter and summer booking periods.

All ACT players are welcome to attend training, but the standard of play and the expectations of players at the club level are quite different to those in other levels of ACT ultimate. If you're unsure about whether training is what you're looking for, you're most welcome to attend the introductory bridging session of the 14th of August (this Thursday) at 6:15 at the O'Connor fields (the same location as training on the 21st). This session will give players the basic skills needed to get the most out of club level training and will outline some of the differences you can expect. As outlined in our introductory message (http://canberraultimate.blogspot.com/2008/07/kaboom-mixed-act-ultimate.html) we hope to send three teams to tournaments this year and this season should provide opportunities for players of all levels to attend tournaments.

If you have any questions about attending training or about tournaments during the mixed season please email me at "who dot is dot the dot schmooze at gmail dot com".

All players who hope to play Mixed Nationals should attend training, as should players who are unable to attend tournaments but are looking to take a more focused approached to their ultimate. Sessions will be run by Pete "Mad Dog" Hemphill with assistance from John "Bags" Horan. Players interested in playing in the upcoming mixed season should register at http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=509.

I hope to see you all this (or next) Thursday.

John, on behalf of the Kaboom stewards, Tom Watson, Mica Hartley and John Horan.

Final World Championships results for Australia

Well the fields are still open for four more games but the dust has settled on the Australian campaign at Worlds. The results are in, with some pleasant surprises and a few unfortunate outcomes. Of course, all in all, a great effort from all the teams and it sounds like they played spirited and strongly across the board. I have been following the results from the distance of the interwubs, including the score reporter, webcasts and blogs of those that are there.

The highlight of the campaign has to be the outstanding performance of the Junior Girls, Terra Australis, coming in second after the Japanese. Their pool results were a mix of strong wins and tough losses. They were only beaten by the Japanese (That look set to take out the overall points score) and the Colombian team. They faced up against the Colombian girls team in the semi final in what must have been a daunting mental situation. This was a team that had already beat them twice in this tournament. However, each time the Terra girls got closer and closer to the Colombians and in the semi they managed to build on the lessons learnt from the previous games and bested the Colombians to earn themselves a spot in the final. It also seems that Terra is in line to take out the Spirit competition, contributing to a really strong double medal performance that should be the inspiration of any ultimate team. I can't wait to sit down with Fatty and some of the key players on the team and get a feel for the methods of success the team employed. (Aside from Ellie/Cath throwing it to Ellie/Crystal)

While the girls certainly achieved beyond expectation, unfortunately some of the other teams just did not. The Thunder boys team had some great results, including beating Canada and Great Britain at least once each but once again were bitterly beaten in their last game. The Taipans, our Masters team, also had a great start, cleaning up Japan and GB on the first day and stream rolled through the middle of the tournament but came unstuck at the end of the tournament, losing their last two games to take 4th place. Finally the Dingoes had a shocking loss to the British Mens team in the quarter finals. Report indicate that the Brits were firing and the Australian team lost grip of the game after the second half, as the 'all-star' line was called on to stem the flow of turn-overs and opposition goals. After a tough loss, the team did rally and won their last two games, to come in 5th in the Open division. All three teams looked reasonably strong in the early or middle of the tournament but just had a bad run in the final days. Again, I'm keen to hear all about the insider perspective from these teams and those that watched their game.

The other good news stories are the improvement in results for the Womens and Mixed teams.  Both teams had good wins through the tournament, struggled with injuries and improved their results from last Worlds by one place, to 4th. Hopefully future teams will be able to build on the success of their campaigns this time round and come home with some bling.

In other Australian International sporting news, I watched some of the first soccer games at the Olympic games yesterday. Australia Vs Serbia was the first match in the double header and unfortunately it was a sloppy affair, particularly in the first half. Lack of touch on the ball, lazy long ball options, teamwork miscues and slow pace soccer was the order of the day. Obviously the heat was taking its toll on the players. The second half was better and the Australian's scored first, off a short cross into the goal box, which about 4 players from both sides had a bid at and missed. I think it was number 13 that slammed the ball in the net after its long and tense (.3 of a second) journey across the Serbian goal face. While our last quarter defence was quite strong, we alloed too many chances at goal, conceding 14 corners and 14 shots on goal. They were destined to break though eventually. The Serbian's answered not long after our own goal, mid way through the second half, with a great cross and header. The final score was one all.

In contrast, the second game of the Argies Vs Ivory Coast was a festival of amazing football. Fantastic touch, pace and control from both teams offenses made for an absolute joy of an experience.  The Ivory Coast "scored' first but had the goal denied by the linesman. On the replay shown at the stadium, I thought it was clearly not off side and that the Ivory Coast boys were robbed. The first half ended nil all after a sweet bunch of football. The Ivory boys managed to punch the ball into the net first in the 2nd half, with a long cross from the right wing, finished by a high header which didn't give the goalie a chance to save. Messi, a highlight of the whole experience for 70% of the stadium, answered soon after, running down a sharp mid-range pass and besting the keeper one on one. Messi was also the architect of the game winning goal, after a sneaky quick play-on from a foul committed just outside the penalty box deep on the left flank of the Ivory Coast half. He slipped into the box and shot at a oblique angle, with the deflection being put away by a team mate whose name escapes me. Final result 2-1, great football.

Ok, food time!

More worlds stuff

Hi again,

OK, so in response to popular demand (that is, a few people at the Dev Clinic last night) I've got more details on worlds stuff AND added a neat new labels bar on the side. Go ahead, try it out - you won't be disappointed (well actually you might, since there's nothing particularly new or exciting about the posts to which those labels refer).

Anyway, the World Ultimate and Guts Championships website www.wugc2008.com not only has a bunch of useless information for players, it also has nifty stuff for spectators too, follow the "scheduals" link to see when games will be played, live updates of scores (which is exciting, but all the action happens in the wee hours of the morning) and details about the standings in each division and individual player's goals and assists. I see that local heart-throb Max Wheeler not only looks good, but also has a whopping 8 assists (that's throwing a goal for the uninitiated). Go Max.

The other place to keep an eye on in the UltiVillage website. UltiVillage have been around for a few years now filming frisbee stuff. Their footage is usually OK, but it is sometimes a little close to the action for nerds like me. Anyway, they've got some clips up and apparently they'll be LIVE STREAMING the finals or something equally technological. I am not up to speed with any of this because I have dial-up. Yes, dear readers, I am one of those people who contribute to Australia's embarrassing broadband uptake statistics. Blame TransACT, and Pookie, who have combined to bring about this sorry state of affairs. Anyway, have a look at http://www.ultivillage.com/ for more details and don't even think about telling me all about the latest clip of Jonno Holmes leaping 92 feet in the air and catching the disc with his nostrils and throwing 6 thumb hammers for goals all on different fields before he even reaches the ground only to have them all called back for travels because he hasn't established a pivot foot which he doesn't need to do anyway.

Also, for those Dev Clinic faithfuls who want to see that Wide World of Sports footage it's up on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5A8tj7F5hc. Since some of the authors here are in that footage we set our internet connection aside for a whole day to watch it. Twatson is the dude in orange who headspikes the disc. A Plus!

Pickup was good

Although I missed all of the action and only turned up in time to see people leaving, I'm assured by a number of reliable sources that pickup was good. Seeing that you may have missed it you'll all be excited to know that it'll be on EVERY WEEK (except perhaps when WOL is on). So, for those who like to see how others find something before committing for themselves, pickup is on Sundays at 3:00 at O'Connor (near the shops) and is good.

See ya'll there next week.

Worlds! Soon! Exciting!

The World Ultimate and Guts Championships starts in Vancouver tomorrow! The aussie teams at this tournament are pretty much the pinnacle of Australian Ultimate and are pretty competitive on the world stage. Last Worlds (in 2004) the Dingos (our open division team) picked up bronze with the other teams coming in around 5th and 6th. The teams have already done a quick tour of a bunch of strong west-coast frisbee towns in the states and have made waves with a number of impressive wins against quality opponents (I think the Dingos got on the news, which is pretty neat). For some of our teams this represents the first chance they've had to play against teams in their own division (the Firetails, our women's team played their first female opponents on foreign soil - just one of the difficulties aussie rep teams face).

You can keep an eye on the proceedings at the team's blog sites,

The Dingos (Open): http://dingos.blogspot.com/
The Firetails (Women's): http://firetails.blogspot.com/
The Barramundis (Mixed): http://barramundis2008.blogspot.com/
The Taipans (Masters): Well, it seems the masters' website is as old as their roster. Hopefully they'll just whack updates on www.AFDA.com.

There seem to be some decent regular updates on the progress of the open and women's juniors teams at www.afda.com

General tournament information with draws and results and stuff will be on www.wugc2008.com and there will no doubt be write ups of most of the interesting stuff on the AFDA website.

I'll be keeping an eye on the goings on. Good luck to all the competitors, especially the Canberra crew of Jonno, Keah, Max, Adam, Helen, Leon, DJ, Lucy, Charli, Laina and Vicki.

Sunday Pickup

NOTE: Daylight savings and warm weather means pick-up now starts at 4:00 on Sundays. It's at Willows Oval, ANU.

Long, long ago, Sunday Pickup was something of an institution among the Canberra frisbee folk. I remember taking the half and hour bus trip to Willows Oval to play ultimate with a mix of players from the very-very-good to the even-worse-than-me. Over the years, however, the stalwarts that bulked out pickup numbers and ensured games would go ahead were siphoned off into club teams and didn't have time to play purely social ultimate on top of their training loads. I was first schooled by both Chris Warris and Owen Shepherd at Sunday pickup, Sunday pickup was where I first had my pulling license granted (and revoked), and I was skied possibly thousands of times by Dan Wilkins regardless of how well I thought I had read the disc.

Thankfully, the vast hordes of players in divisions two and three have finally started producing players motivated enough to revive these traditions. So, it is with great pleasure that I announce the resumption of Sunday Pickup, brought to you by my favorite division two team, the Devolutionaries.

You are all cordially invited to make your way down to Willows Oval, (corner of Barry Drive and Sulivan's Creek Road) at 4:00 on Sunday afternoons to enjoy a game of ultimate that can be as easy or as strenuous as you want to make it. Just bring one light and one dark coloured shirt so you can play for either team.

See ya'll there.

ACTUA update

Howdy Ya'll,

ACTUA had a pretty informal meeting last Tuesday. We were missing a bunch of members to other commitments and overseas travel but we needed to get together to sort out our request for field allocations for the summer 08-09 booking period. It looks very much at this stage like we won't be allowed to wear cleats at Dickson so it seems the long-awaited time when we have to split our leagues may have finally arrived. The current plan is to run divisions 2 and 3 at Dickson on Tuesday nights and division 1 at O'Connor (which has newly upgraded and very swanky lights) on Wednesdays. The change in daylight savings (which now starts at the beginning of October, rather than the end) means we can also add in training fields for league teams to use without needing to raise league fees. Nice, eh?

Now we need coaches. We aim to offer league teams training fields and coaches each week for individual players or their teams to use to improve their games. If you're out there and you're interested then get in touch with me at "who dot is dot the schmooze at gmail dot com". We should even be able to offer you some kind of token payment for helping out.

We also need league organisers. Anthony "I do all the work" Perry will be away for some of Spring league and we're looking for a replacement to run divisions 2 and 3. Again, email me if you're at all interested, you'll get plenty of help and support form ACTUA. We pay people a modest honorarium for that too.

There is also a possibility that divisions two and three might be run in different time slots to free up field space for the leagues to expand. Expect (if you're a div 2 captain) to receive an email from me or Anthony asking about some of the possible details. That's definitely not guaranteed at this stage, it'll depend on how captains feel and how much demand we get for places in those divisions.

In less exciting news we only got two allocations for mixed nationals, and we were hoping for three. We might get a third one if another region can't find enough teams to fill their desired number of spots, but that's not particularly likely. If we can get enough keen players we'll try to send a development team to NSW mixed championships in early September, but it would be great to get that team to Mixed Nationals instead.

I'm going to be on the hunt for organiser types to run four club teams in division 1. These clubs are expected to run perpetually and are a necessary step in the development of high level ultimate in Canberra. There will be two drafted teams as well for those players looking for the traditional mixed bag experience. If you're hankering a secret ambition to run a strong ultimate team in a dynamic and competitive competition this might be your big chance. Again, email me.

We look forward to improving the ultimate on offer in the ACT. Let us know (via an email or leave a comment) if there are any projects you think would improve the ACT scene or if you're interested in helping out in any way. We're always on the look out for new ideas, especially if those ideas come with keen volunteers.

Kaboom - Mixed ACT Ultimate

Its my pleasure to announce the formation of the ACT mixed club Kaboom.

We are looking to produce a more cohesive and organised effort during our mixed season this year. We hope this will be a longer standing mixed club that gives opportunities for all Canberrans to play for.

This campaign will be a building phase in our wider plan and will set our men's, women's and mixed teams up for 'great success' in the future. We are aiming at getting three mixed teams to tournaments and to qualify as many as possible for Mixed nationals. The teams will share style of play, training and administrative functions but will all have a different focus and goal for their campaign.

There will be a top level team, a competitive but more relaxed team and a development team. The top level team will be aiming to put itself into a position to win nationals and will play the smartest and cleanest ultimate in Brisbane. The 2nd team will be for those that want to have a good competitive tournament but also want to indulge in the more social aspects of the season. The development team will hopefully consist of players from the current Winter Outdoor League and previous div 2 leagues, with a core leadership of players that have played tournaments before. Its purpose is to expose new players to the tournament scene.

The campaign is effectively already under way. WOL and the development clinics on monday nights are new features of ACT ultimate that will prepare players for the mixed season. We are expecting to start training in mid August, giving us a ten week lead up to mixed nationals. This training will be run by Pete "Mad Dog" Hemphill with support from John Horan and conceptual guidance from G. Training will be held at O'Connor Playing Fields (the fields nearest the O'Connor Shops off Pedder Street) at 6:15 on Thursday nights, starting on the 21st of August (with an introductory bridging session held on the 14th). Details about selections and tournaments will be announced at a later date.

We are hoping that the merry batch of players heading off to Brisbane in October will all contribute to the improvement of Ultimate in the ACT and our eventual goal of qualifying for and winning World Clubs 2010 in the mixed division.

If you are interested in playing competitive ultimate with the ACT during the mixed seasons then please register your interest here: http://afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=509

Thomas Watson, on behalf of the current stewards of Kaboom, John Horan, Mica Hartley and Thomas Watson.

Plan B wins Halibut

Several lovely Canberra players were involved in the multi-state team that won Halibut just last weekend. This team was called Plan B and was the brain child of Erin Wallis and myself. The ACT players were James 'Jesus' Ley, Thomas 'Chumpy' Walcott, Sarah Jones (who is now moving overseas) and myself. We played with Erin, Alec, Ali (formerly) and Allison from SA; Alex Ong, Jo Creswell and Luke Stephens from Victoria; and some chump called Jmac from Brisbane. Good times

The tournament was its usual good self. Good fields, food and people. The party did seem to suffer from terrible music selection. Apparently the DJ had been involved in a car accident and thus the manager was in control. The outcome was a big turnout early in the night but rapid losses from the party as halibutters attempted to find a better groove.

The most challenging game was (unsurprisingly) the final. Mind the Gap shifted off to an early lead, going two nil up. Plan B settled and the first half saw the team slowly gain control of the lead, taking half at 8-6. In general, there were very few turn-overs from both teams, with the wiley cuts and undefendable throws of Mind the Gap matching the quick moving, high work rate offence of Plan B.

Half-time looked tense over in the Mind the Gap camp but the Plan B players had other things to worry about....just what exactly was going to be our last dance move? Every half over the entire tournament, we added another sequence to our dance. This was to be our last effort, so we settled on the addition of our team cheer "Plan B - Good enough for me" to close out the dance. Our last performance of the dance was met with wild acclaim and cheers (jeers?) from the crowd and once finished, we were ready again to play.

The second half saw Plan B tightening their defensive efforts and further lock the game down. Mind the Gap rallied briefly at around 14-8 to take the game to 14-10 but Plan B settled to take the game 15-10. Working the way up the field against a 2-3-2 zone defence, Plan B swung the disc wide and punished the defence with several backhands into the middle of the field from the right-hand side. This throw was to be the game-winner, with a wide swing and some gaps upfield giving me a clean backhand shot into the middle of the endzone where Tom 'Chumpy' Walcott, our 6'7'' receiver, had gone into stealth mode and was unmarked. Victory again, my third tournament win for the year.

I was really happy with how I played over the weekend. In the final I had a strong game, with 5 assists and two blocks. I really enjoyed playing as a O/D handler and I am really giving serious thought to giving up on cutting (which really screws the skin on my feet) and working on my core-strengthen handling ability. We will have to see about that....

The highlight of the tournament was seeing a multi-state team come together so strongly on and off the field. At the end of the tournament, our offence was exceptionally clean for a team that had not played together before. The crazy random way our half-time and timeout dance had come together was also a crazy organic happening that was enjoyed by the whole team aside from Chumpy, who is far too cool for us.

There are plans afoot that will see the return of Plan B at another time but it seems likely that I will be going with Plan A for next years Halibut, the ACT mixed club. I look forward to defending the title next year with a different batch of trouble-makers.

I am a man!

Hello all,

Recently it has been brought to my attention that it is not entirely clear what gender I am simply from the posts on this blog. This not only makes me feel inadequate, it might also alienate a possible blog reading audience who might benefit from occasional updates on stuff that's happening in the local frisbee scene. Plus it gives me something to write about on yet another slow ulty news day.

Thus, let's quickly profile the authors of this blog so you can get to know a few more of the movers and shakers (we're all definitely shakers, rather than movers) of the local community.

Twats started playing ultimate in Canberra at the very end of 1999 as a proud product of the legendary recruiting power of Nikki Shires. Nikki (who was teaching at a local boys school now found in the paper for all the wrong reasons) combined with PE teacher Pat Belgard (who apparently has some brother who played on top teams in Canada) to found a number of school teams loosely connected to the more established snow-sports program. These teams flourished briefly in the local leagues with the voraciousness
of a virulent fungal growth. Unfortunately, the departure of Nikki to greener pastures and the loss of Pat to a long-term injury proved the "Easy-Off Bam" to this renaissance of junior ultimate in the ACT. Without the administrative drive of these two, most of the juniors teams (which once numbered four in one league. In 1999. Unheard of!) folded. Only Team Pov, the most virulent strain of the infestation, had the drive to continue playing as a team and collected most of the left over players to continue playing as a juniors team. Twats was drawn into the Pov fold after his original team collapsed and was a stalwart of the Pov "Stampede" offense from 2000 until 2002. During the Pov exodus of 2003 (as players left school and moved to new cities for uni) Twats headed overseas and insodoing missed a significant period in the development of men's ultimate in the ACT. Returning for nationals in 2005, Twats was one of the develoment players brought into the Deathstar training camps and acquitted himself admirably as a cutter. Unfortunately, he had to wait until 2006 to play with Deathstar at major tournaments, including nationals and the world club championships and his experience on that deeply troubled team was formative in his attitude to and goals for ACT ultimate.

Since then, Twats has worked hard to provide cutting firepower to a number of ANU teams, played on the highly successful Barefoot NUFL campaign of 2007 with rave reviews and contributed to the Fyshwick United campaign of 2008 as a selector, admin director and through his dangerous on-field presence. Twats also holds the highly coveted record for the first head-spike on national television.

Bags started playing ulty in the prototype Nikki Shires juniors team in mid 99 before becoming one of the driving forces behind Team Pov. Unfortunately, some confusion between the distinction between a driving force and a leadership figure plagued Pov then and echoed through Bags' playing days until present day. Pov did not have leadership, rather team behaviour emerged from a number of conflicting internal drives. As a central element behind many of these drives (including many successful initiatives like the throwing of forehands and some less successful ones, like the growing of hair) Bags had a key role in directing the team without ever having any conscious direction of his own behaviour or the behaviour of the team more generally. First appearing in ACT representative teams at nationals in 2001, Bags was frequently included in teams in the hope that investing in young players would improve the player base ACT elite teams drew upon. In 2002 he attended the world club championships in Hawaii in what might turn out to be the stingiest appearance of an Australian player at any international tournament held outside Australia. Highly regarded for his ability to withstand sometimes enormous strain upon his body and digestive system, Bags pioneered the "coffee and doughnuts" approach to the transition from cutting to handling.

Bags and Twats combined in 2006 during the university season to try a new approach to team management in the ACT based on evidence suggestion a strong correlation between the amount of time spent talking during game time and the number of games lost. Unfortunately, Bags tore his ACL before his dream of playing ultimate informed by 19th century German nihilism could be fully realised by the ever suprising "Verfremdung, das Springspiel" at Mixed Nationals in 2007. Bags now directs his will for power into the local ultimate administration, rehabilitative gardening and a column on meditation in a local alternative lifestyle magazine.

Pookie has written a post on this blog if we include that one I wrote while accidentally logged in as her, so she gets a profile too. Pookie arrived in Canberra after growing up in upstate New York. She was quickly recruited into Team Pov after she betrayed her background of social ultimate in the US by throwing a suspiciously decent backhand to the Pov kids at a school function after collecting a stray disc. After a period of overseas travel during the great Pov exodus of 2003 Pookie returned with a renewed enthusiasm for competitive ultimate and worked her way into the ACT women's team Phoenix, which won spirit at world clubs in 2006. Since then, Pookie has continued to play as a cutting utility on a number of local women's teams and has made major contributions to a series of university campaigns. She has also pioneered the breaking of bones playing ultimate, breaking one collarbone twice and a leg. These injuries, combined with several periods of overseas travel, have ensured that Pookie continues to suprise opponents who don't recognise her soon enough to respect her committed cutting and dangerous throwing range. Strong seasons with the Factory Girls in 2007 and 2008 seem to putting an end to this luxury.

Pookie is currently committed to the ANU push to unigames and continues to take a direct, persistant and personal approach to recruitment.

So there you have it! The innermost details of the blog authors revealed! One day I'll learn to post photos and that'll make recognising us a lot easier. Can anyone else feel the rapport?