Well, in a terrifying twist of fate, it turns out that there are people (thankfully only a few) actually reading this blog. And asking pertinent questions. Gareth has kindly noted that we've given absolutely no indication of where ultimate is being played in Canberra. So, here's the remedy.
Unfortunately, it's cold and nationals was not that long ago, so frisbee here is in a bit of a lull. Thankfully that will be changing over the next few weeks. Currently, Autumn League is reaching its dramatic finale at Dickson Playing Fields (on Antill street, in Dickson) on Wednesday nights. Divisions 2 and 3 run from 6:30 until 7:50, and Division 1 runs from 8:00 until 9:20. Unfortunately, this league ends this coming Wednesday, so there's not much frisbee to be had there.
Winter league will start shortly after that, but we're having trouble finding courts (we play indoors because it's cold and we're a bunch of wimps) so the location isn't yet known. Once we find a booking (hopefully at the Australian Institute of Sport, their courts are sweet) we'll get more details out. Winter League usually runs on an inconvenient night of the week because that's when we can get courts.
With any luck there'll also be a league running outdoors in a mini-tournament format, but again, more word on that later.
There's not much training going on. The ANU team is training (for the university folk among us) at Willows Oval at the Australian National University on Friday nights from 5:30 until 7:30. If you're interested you'd best contact James "Prince" Kingsmill at aynsof@hotmail.com to find out what the details are, as he runs the ANU frisbee kids.
Rumour has it that people are looking to get regular worlds training going on in the next few weeks but you'd want to be a pretty sharp player to be attending those. Plus, the mixed ultimate players of the ACT must be thinking about training sometime soon. More details on that stuff should be coming out soon as well.
So, after all that, there's bugger all frisbee being ACTUALLY played, but there's quite a lot in the pipeline. Once leagues do get finalised the details will be posted here and also on the ACTUA homepage (www.actua.org.au) and registration will be available through the AFDA website (www.afda.com). More should be known after the ACTUA committee meeting being held on Monday (details on that soon, but I really should go do my rehab or I'll be a gimp forever).
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Some Thursday linkage
Its Thursday and I am doing what I always do on a Thursday, which is waste time on the internet.
http://cultimate.blogspot.com/2008/05/global-ultimate-growth-ultimate-in.html
This is a very interesting post and interview about a development program that uses Ultimate as its means to achieving social change in India.
One day I'll log into Bags' account and add a proper blog roll to our page...
http://cultimate.blogspot.com/2008/05/global-ultimate-growth-ultimate-in.html
This is a very interesting post and interview about a development program that uses Ultimate as its means to achieving social change in India.
One day I'll log into Bags' account and add a proper blog roll to our page...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
OMG! AGM!
Hey ya'll,
Tonight is the much talked about ACTUA AGM, a chance to revive the sleeping princess of frisbee administration. It'll be held at 7:45 at Dickson fields, between the two game timeslots. If you're at all interested in Canberran Ultimate you should endeavour to attend, because there are important things the committee needs to sort out over the next few months.
Firstly, the rumour abounds that ACT Sportsgrounds will again ban the use of cleats at the Dickson ovals over the summer booking season (which works out to be spring and summer leagues). While this doesn't have much impact on division 3, it certainly limits the level of play available to the folks in divisions 1 and 2. Should we simply accept this injustice, or should we fight? Should we (and this seems a lot more feasible) simply move to another location?
Secondly, demand for places in our spring and summer leagues now outstrips supply. Is this a chance for us to use the power of inflation to increase league fees? Should we instead seek larger fields to cope with more players (which might be pretty much impossible)? Is it time for league to split to two locations, or separate nights? Should we simply re-arrange the timing of our leagues to use our current field allocations more effeciently? What will all this mean if we can't wear cleats? Can I finish a sentence without a question mark?
Thirdly, something is rotten in the state of div 1. Numbers have fallen, committment to teams from individual players has fallen and the standard has correspondingly dropped. Our top division should shine like a beacon of ultimate justice! Important results should make the local news on very slow news days (as it does with local football leagues of various codes)! Small children should try out for division 1 teams and cry when they don't get selected! How do we re-invigorate div 1? Do we all need to do pushups for turnovers? Will div 1 die entirely if we can't wear cleats?
Fourthly, and far from finally, what should we do about winter? Yes, it's cold and that's largely beyond our control, but is this year the right year to implement a complimentary outdoor league to run alongside indoor league? Of course, I'm sure you're all saying "It's too cold outdoors, we'll all die," but have you considered that oft ignored thing in ultimate, the sun? Yes, it's only up for around 2 hours during winter, but that 2 hours is enough to play a game. What about a weekend league? What about a weekend league that runs once a month but involves playing several games in one day, thus compacting a league into several mini one-day tournaments? All the fun of outdoor ultimate without loosing feeling in your extremities. Are you excited? Do you want to be the league organiser?
These four fairly important questions are just some among a host of things ACTUA will need to tackle over the course of the year, and the decisions they make may have a big impact on the development of ultimate in the ACT. There are a number of increasingly keen players out there who are taking the enthusiasm they've gained from on-field successes and directing it towards off-field matters. We haven't had that sort of administrative grunt for some time. The way we're running ultimate in Canberra has successfully taken us to the point where we need to change the way we run leagues to accommodate our growth, and now it's time to make some major structural adjustments that will see us through the next phase. This could be a big year for ACTUA, and it would be great if anyone out there wanted to be a part of it.
So, come along to the AGM at 7:45 tonight, and if you're keen jump up and stand for a position. At the very least you should come on down and see who's going to do what so you know who to pass your ideas on to.
See you there.
Tonight is the much talked about ACTUA AGM, a chance to revive the sleeping princess of frisbee administration. It'll be held at 7:45 at Dickson fields, between the two game timeslots. If you're at all interested in Canberran Ultimate you should endeavour to attend, because there are important things the committee needs to sort out over the next few months.
Firstly, the rumour abounds that ACT Sportsgrounds will again ban the use of cleats at the Dickson ovals over the summer booking season (which works out to be spring and summer leagues). While this doesn't have much impact on division 3, it certainly limits the level of play available to the folks in divisions 1 and 2. Should we simply accept this injustice, or should we fight? Should we (and this seems a lot more feasible) simply move to another location?
Secondly, demand for places in our spring and summer leagues now outstrips supply. Is this a chance for us to use the power of inflation to increase league fees? Should we instead seek larger fields to cope with more players (which might be pretty much impossible)? Is it time for league to split to two locations, or separate nights? Should we simply re-arrange the timing of our leagues to use our current field allocations more effeciently? What will all this mean if we can't wear cleats? Can I finish a sentence without a question mark?
Thirdly, something is rotten in the state of div 1. Numbers have fallen, committment to teams from individual players has fallen and the standard has correspondingly dropped. Our top division should shine like a beacon of ultimate justice! Important results should make the local news on very slow news days (as it does with local football leagues of various codes)! Small children should try out for division 1 teams and cry when they don't get selected! How do we re-invigorate div 1? Do we all need to do pushups for turnovers? Will div 1 die entirely if we can't wear cleats?
Fourthly, and far from finally, what should we do about winter? Yes, it's cold and that's largely beyond our control, but is this year the right year to implement a complimentary outdoor league to run alongside indoor league? Of course, I'm sure you're all saying "It's too cold outdoors, we'll all die," but have you considered that oft ignored thing in ultimate, the sun? Yes, it's only up for around 2 hours during winter, but that 2 hours is enough to play a game. What about a weekend league? What about a weekend league that runs once a month but involves playing several games in one day, thus compacting a league into several mini one-day tournaments? All the fun of outdoor ultimate without loosing feeling in your extremities. Are you excited? Do you want to be the league organiser?
These four fairly important questions are just some among a host of things ACTUA will need to tackle over the course of the year, and the decisions they make may have a big impact on the development of ultimate in the ACT. There are a number of increasingly keen players out there who are taking the enthusiasm they've gained from on-field successes and directing it towards off-field matters. We haven't had that sort of administrative grunt for some time. The way we're running ultimate in Canberra has successfully taken us to the point where we need to change the way we run leagues to accommodate our growth, and now it's time to make some major structural adjustments that will see us through the next phase. This could be a big year for ACTUA, and it would be great if anyone out there wanted to be a part of it.
So, come along to the AGM at 7:45 tonight, and if you're keen jump up and stand for a position. At the very least you should come on down and see who's going to do what so you know who to pass your ideas on to.
See you there.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Heading overseas? Try ffindr.com!
One of the great things about frisbee is the community that surrounds it. Frisbee seems to attract a fairly good sort, generally open, active and friendly. When travelling overseas, this lends to a great experience.
I have managed to play in tournaments in Europe, Taiwan, Hawaii and NZ. The hosts and players at these tournament have always been extremely inviting and accommodating and these tournament have been fantastic highlights of my trips overseas.
With my travels in Europe, I used an international frisbee event listing call ultilinks. This gave me the details of a hat tournament in Halle, Germany. After playing in this tournament I was also invited by the host team to play with them at one of their warm-up tournament before German nationals. Both of these tournament were fantastic and I really hope to catch up with the friends I made there when I head to Europe.
Unfortunately, ultilinks died some time in 2007. This made dreaming up exciting frisbee side adventures to my travels much harder and I mourned for its loss.
Thankfully, earlier this year the hole was plugged by a new European run site, http://ffindr.com
If you are heading overseas, take the time to check out the site and see if you can't catch an extra frisbee or two while you are away.
http://ffindr.com
I have managed to play in tournaments in Europe, Taiwan, Hawaii and NZ. The hosts and players at these tournament have always been extremely inviting and accommodating and these tournament have been fantastic highlights of my trips overseas.
With my travels in Europe, I used an international frisbee event listing call ultilinks. This gave me the details of a hat tournament in Halle, Germany. After playing in this tournament I was also invited by the host team to play with them at one of their warm-up tournament before German nationals. Both of these tournament were fantastic and I really hope to catch up with the friends I made there when I head to Europe.
Unfortunately, ultilinks died some time in 2007. This made dreaming up exciting frisbee side adventures to my travels much harder and I mourned for its loss.
Thankfully, earlier this year the hole was plugged by a new European run site, http://ffindr.com
If you are heading overseas, take the time to check out the site and see if you can't catch an extra frisbee or two while you are away.
http://ffindr.com
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Give me the youth at 18 and I will give you a junior
1989 was a momentous year. The revolutions of 1989 exploded from Poland across eastern Europe to tear apart the Soviet Union, the European Community created the first fledgling ban on the use of chlorofluorocarbons, worked toward their elimination by the end of the century, Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage to become the WWF champion, Andrew Peacock wrested control of the opposition from John Howard, who sported a full head of hair, the ACT assembly sat for the firsts time, ushering in a new era of self government and around Australia beautiful children were born who would grow up to compete in Junior Nationals in 2008.
Yes, Australian Junior Nationals is on again. Sydney will host the tourney on the 11th and 12th of July, with four divisions competing, under 17 and under 19 open and womens. With any luck, Canberra will send a team in both under 19 divisions. The supercomputer here at the CUB secret underground facility is already calculating the feasibility of such teams and scanning the AFDA database for suitable players. The keen juniors of Jailbait, the ACT's last Junior Nats team have scattered across Australia and the world after completing their final years at high school and any teams that attend this year will have to come from the juniors buried amongst our local leagues.
If you are, or know anyone who is, an ultimate player in Canberra born in 1989 or later please contact us at the CUB secret underground facility and we'll pass your information on to the relevant parties. Remember, we were all young once, but only some of us had the chance to play ultimate. Here's your chance to help an ACT junior to smile.
Yes, Australian Junior Nationals is on again. Sydney will host the tourney on the 11th and 12th of July, with four divisions competing, under 17 and under 19 open and womens. With any luck, Canberra will send a team in both under 19 divisions. The supercomputer here at the CUB secret underground facility is already calculating the feasibility of such teams and scanning the AFDA database for suitable players. The keen juniors of Jailbait, the ACT's last Junior Nats team have scattered across Australia and the world after completing their final years at high school and any teams that attend this year will have to come from the juniors buried amongst our local leagues.
If you are, or know anyone who is, an ultimate player in Canberra born in 1989 or later please contact us at the CUB secret underground facility and we'll pass your information on to the relevant parties. Remember, we were all young once, but only some of us had the chance to play ultimate. Here's your chance to help an ACT junior to smile.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Here comes the mixed season
With the location confirmed and single-gender nationals well and truly out of the way, frisbee minds around Australia are slowly but inexorably turning to the next phase of ultimate for the year, the Mixed Season. Brisbane will host the tournament this year on the 19th and 20th of October. Last year the tournament was heavily oversubscribed and, in preparation for such enthusiasm this year the AFDA is already urging local frisbee organisations to start thinking about regional qualifying tournaments.
Canberra was allocated three spots last year and will presumably get that number again this year. It's unclear how many teams will be interested locally but this is definitely a great first tournament for league players who want to get more involved. As the ACT's movers and shakers get talking the details of what kind of teams we send this year will begin to emerge, but it would be great to see if we can get enough teams to run a small qualifying tourney. At the very least we should be looking to get a bunch of new players to mixed nats as it's a great blend of competitive ultimate and varied skill levels, with good close games guaranteed for teams of almost any ability. If you're out there and you want to see what tournament ultimate is all about, get a bunch of cronies together and start talking mixed nats, the earlier you get moving the more likely you are to snaffle a precious precious slot.
Canberra was allocated three spots last year and will presumably get that number again this year. It's unclear how many teams will be interested locally but this is definitely a great first tournament for league players who want to get more involved. As the ACT's movers and shakers get talking the details of what kind of teams we send this year will begin to emerge, but it would be great to see if we can get enough teams to run a small qualifying tourney. At the very least we should be looking to get a bunch of new players to mixed nats as it's a great blend of competitive ultimate and varied skill levels, with good close games guaranteed for teams of almost any ability. If you're out there and you want to see what tournament ultimate is all about, get a bunch of cronies together and start talking mixed nats, the earlier you get moving the more likely you are to snaffle a precious precious slot.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
This week's player profile: Charli Kesteven
Charli Kesteven is one of ACT ultimate's rising stars, having been selected for the Australian Under 19 Women's Team to compete at the world championships in Vancouver later this year. Charli took time out from her busy training schedual to create a facebook page which I have ruthlessly pillaged to create this totally bogus interview:
CUB: So Charli, I hear you're to don the green and gold later this year. Tell us about that.
Charli: Yeah, well I went to the selection camps in January and March of this year in Melbourne, and obviously the selectors liked my style. I'm playing for the under 19 women's team. We'll be looking to notch up some wins against the stronger junior women's teams, Canada, the US and Great Britain.
CUB: Right, how long have you been playing?
Charli: Well, I haven't written that on my facebook profile, nor are the details readily available on the AFDA website, so that's not entirely clear. Of course, I went to training for the ANU last year, and you were there, so you should know that I've been playing for around 18 months. I started taking ultimate more seriously towards the end of last year as I built towards selection for the worlds team.
CUB: Of course. If only this was a real interview. The records from the CUB clipboard indicate that you played nationals this year. How was that?
Charli: It was good. I ended up playing for the Hills Angels, and was instrumental in our victory over Minx late in the tournament. Of course, it's hard for a player like me to come onto a new team without any training, and it definitely took a few days to adjust to their style.
CUB: Hills Angels have 'a style'?
Charli: Yeah, I'm probably a defensive receiver, although again my facebook profile doesn't make this clear, and while my athleticism and intensity work on any team, it's often hard to know what your responsibilities are on D on someone elses team. Once we get the disc for offense it's even harder.
CUB: I'm sure. Aside from dominating your player on D, what else are you up to?
Charli: Well, I'm studying at the ANU, I work part-time and like to read.
CUB: You mean that between uni, ultimate (including training for worlds), and work you still have time to read?
Charli: Sure, training for worlds is definitely time consuming, but it hardly ruins my life. I recently read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". I'd give it five stars!
CUB: Wow! Literate and athletic. Some people have it all. Well, thanks for maintaining that facebook page.
Charli: No worries, I'd better get back to my quota of 400 squat-jumps for the day.
So there you have it. Charli Kesteven, a name to watch over the next few months and a definite player to watch on the score-o-matic website this August. Good luck to all our worlds players!
Stay tuned for next week's player profile as we bring you the unforceable man, James Ley.
CUB: So Charli, I hear you're to don the green and gold later this year. Tell us about that.
Charli: Yeah, well I went to the selection camps in January and March of this year in Melbourne, and obviously the selectors liked my style. I'm playing for the under 19 women's team. We'll be looking to notch up some wins against the stronger junior women's teams, Canada, the US and Great Britain.
CUB: Right, how long have you been playing?
Charli: Well, I haven't written that on my facebook profile, nor are the details readily available on the AFDA website, so that's not entirely clear. Of course, I went to training for the ANU last year, and you were there, so you should know that I've been playing for around 18 months. I started taking ultimate more seriously towards the end of last year as I built towards selection for the worlds team.
CUB: Of course. If only this was a real interview. The records from the CUB clipboard indicate that you played nationals this year. How was that?
Charli: It was good. I ended up playing for the Hills Angels, and was instrumental in our victory over Minx late in the tournament. Of course, it's hard for a player like me to come onto a new team without any training, and it definitely took a few days to adjust to their style.
CUB: Hills Angels have 'a style'?
Charli: Yeah, I'm probably a defensive receiver, although again my facebook profile doesn't make this clear, and while my athleticism and intensity work on any team, it's often hard to know what your responsibilities are on D on someone elses team. Once we get the disc for offense it's even harder.
CUB: I'm sure. Aside from dominating your player on D, what else are you up to?
Charli: Well, I'm studying at the ANU, I work part-time and like to read.
CUB: You mean that between uni, ultimate (including training for worlds), and work you still have time to read?
Charli: Sure, training for worlds is definitely time consuming, but it hardly ruins my life. I recently read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". I'd give it five stars!
CUB: Wow! Literate and athletic. Some people have it all. Well, thanks for maintaining that facebook page.
Charli: No worries, I'd better get back to my quota of 400 squat-jumps for the day.
So there you have it. Charli Kesteven, a name to watch over the next few months and a definite player to watch on the score-o-matic website this August. Good luck to all our worlds players!
Stay tuned for next week's player profile as we bring you the unforceable man, James Ley.
The alarm has been set!
The lumbering administrative beast that is the ACT Ultimate Association has been in a deep, fairytale-princess like sleep for some months now. Throughout its life, the association often roars to life at the start of the year and then, after gorging itself on the influx of players to summer league, gets its affairs together in Autumn and hibernates through the long cold winter. Usually, the beast is awakened by an AGM, held at the start of the year. But last year, the beast didn't set its alarm and has consequently slept through its February AGM and through most of Autumn League as well.
And so it has fallen to the only man in the ACT who can wake the beast, Anthony "Leonidas" Perry, to call a new AGM, to be held a week from now on the 4th of June at League. If you have a searing vision of what ACTUA ought to be doing or where frisbee in the ACT should be going, this is your chance to grab the reins and whip the fearsome adminstrative beast into a frenzy! You could be the prince charming that awakens our committe with a kiss! Or we could just leave that to Anthony like we usually do.
So, turn up to the AGM and vote. It's usually really quick and rather inoffensive. If you've got some ideas we'd love to hear them, either stand for a position on the committee or just use this as a chance to find out who IS on the committee so you can pass your revelations on to them. (Just as an aside, we've already heard about crocheting frisbees. While it does sound appealing for the colder nights of the year, frisbees made of textiles just don't seem to fly the same. Any other ideas are welcome, though.)
And so it has fallen to the only man in the ACT who can wake the beast, Anthony "Leonidas" Perry, to call a new AGM, to be held a week from now on the 4th of June at League. If you have a searing vision of what ACTUA ought to be doing or where frisbee in the ACT should be going, this is your chance to grab the reins and whip the fearsome adminstrative beast into a frenzy! You could be the prince charming that awakens our committe with a kiss! Or we could just leave that to Anthony like we usually do.
So, turn up to the AGM and vote. It's usually really quick and rather inoffensive. If you've got some ideas we'd love to hear them, either stand for a position on the committee or just use this as a chance to find out who IS on the committee so you can pass your revelations on to them. (Just as an aside, we've already heard about crocheting frisbees. While it does sound appealing for the colder nights of the year, frisbees made of textiles just don't seem to fly the same. Any other ideas are welcome, though.)
Monday, May 19, 2008
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away...
We here at the Canberra Ultimate blog are always looking ahead to the big things that are on the agenda in the distant future and so I was very interested to see some news coming out of WFDF:
"WFDF is pleased to have received three bids to host WUCC 2010. Bid packages were received from Brasilia, Brazil; Nottingham, UK; and Prague, Czech Republic. WFDF will present the winning bid during the World Ultimate & Guts Championships running August 2-9th in Vancouver, BC, Canada. WFDF is also currently seeking hosts for the 2009 PanAm Ultimate Championships, the 2009 Asia Oceanic Ultimate Championship, and the 2010 World Junior Ultimate Championship. Please review this bidding information if you are interested in hosting a WFDF event in your city." (Sourced via Ruebs at http://www.ultitalk.com/index.php/topic,316.0.html )
The World Ultimate Club Championships is held every four years and the highest level of play that a club (a non-national team) can participate in. Something like the UEFA cup for ultimate.
Well, all these cities are fine by me. Canberra will undoubtably have representatives heading to WUCC and there is a good chance that some sort of Canberra team/s will be heading over there.
The word on the street is that because the last WUCC was held in a 'remote' location, (Perth, Australia, 2006) that it is highly likely that it will be held in a major centre of frisbee. This would mainly favour the Nottingham bid and disadvantage the other two bids. That said, the cost of living is much much lower for both the other bid locations, which might advantage them. The bid will be awarded in Vancouver at the World Championships in August. After that it won't be long for all the Australian teams that are attempting to go to World Clubs to start organising.
"WFDF is pleased to have received three bids to host WUCC 2010. Bid packages were received from Brasilia, Brazil; Nottingham, UK; and Prague, Czech Republic. WFDF will present the winning bid during the World Ultimate & Guts Championships running August 2-9th in Vancouver, BC, Canada. WFDF is also currently seeking hosts for the 2009 PanAm Ultimate Championships, the 2009 Asia Oceanic Ultimate Championship, and the 2010 World Junior Ultimate Championship. Please review this bidding information if you are interested in hosting a WFDF event in your city." (Sourced via Ruebs at http://www.ultitalk.com/index.php/topic,316.0.html )
The World Ultimate Club Championships is held every four years and the highest level of play that a club (a non-national team) can participate in. Something like the UEFA cup for ultimate.
Well, all these cities are fine by me. Canberra will undoubtably have representatives heading to WUCC and there is a good chance that some sort of Canberra team/s will be heading over there.
The word on the street is that because the last WUCC was held in a 'remote' location, (Perth, Australia, 2006) that it is highly likely that it will be held in a major centre of frisbee. This would mainly favour the Nottingham bid and disadvantage the other two bids. That said, the cost of living is much much lower for both the other bid locations, which might advantage them. The bid will be awarded in Vancouver at the World Championships in August. After that it won't be long for all the Australian teams that are attempting to go to World Clubs to start organising.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Barramundis Found Unusually Far South
Last weekend, top ultimate players from around Australia put their cleats in their hand luggage and flew to training camps for our national representative teams. The vast green fields of Deakin took a break from Touch Football to host the Barramundis, Australia's national mixed ultimate team, as they prepare for the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in Vancouver in August of this year. These training weekends provide a chance for our top teams to build team structures and tactics and give players a chance to learn everyone else's names. This can be made difficult by the size of the teams (national teams often have 20 players or more) and the complexity of people's names (Peter Blakely, for example, is called "Tex". Why? Brett Middleton = "Sweet As". Again, why? Al Don's name only has five letters, so while his name is easy to learn, he often struggles to remember others').
After a whole day spent learning names and dietary requirements (Al Don, for example, won't eat anything with more than five letters in its name), the Barramundis matched up against some local punching bags for a chance to try their structures against some unsuspecting opponents. The ACT pick-ups, affectionately called "Team Crush" played a fluid unstructured style which worked well against the Mundis' zone but faltered against man, and the Mundi's offense (especially late in the game) moved the disc faster than Crush were willing to run. After a close first half, the Mundis ran away in the second half to win 17-10. Canberran Mundis Max Wheeler, Adam Mortimer, Vickie Saye, Lucy Stevenson and Laina Hall clearly lamented missing the chance to play for a strong local pickup team, but will no doubt take solace in their role in helping their team to victory and in the opportunity they have to represent Australia later this year. Huy Vu from Adelaide will also be drawing solace from that fact after confidently asserting that local defensive mongoose Asher Gentle "totally can't get near" Peter "Tex" Blakely just moments AFTER Asher got a run-through layout block on the Fakulti receiver. Whoops! Asher's block was just one of a number of memorable moments among Vickie Saye's layout for a contested goal, Lucy Stevenson's forehand huck to score and several as yet unconfirmed sightings of Australia's most technologically advanced clipboard.
Congratulations also to Leon Smith and Damien Jaccoud (who are playing with the Taipans in the Master's Division), Keah Molomby and Helen Osmond (who play for the Firetails in the Women's Division) and Jonothan Holmes (who plays for the Dingo's in the Open Division) for being selected for Australia's highest honour (no, it's not the Australian of the Year). We at the CUB secret underground facility wish all our reps on the nationals teams all the best in their preparation for Worlds.
After a whole day spent learning names and dietary requirements (Al Don, for example, won't eat anything with more than five letters in its name), the Barramundis matched up against some local punching bags for a chance to try their structures against some unsuspecting opponents. The ACT pick-ups, affectionately called "Team Crush" played a fluid unstructured style which worked well against the Mundis' zone but faltered against man, and the Mundi's offense (especially late in the game) moved the disc faster than Crush were willing to run. After a close first half, the Mundis ran away in the second half to win 17-10. Canberran Mundis Max Wheeler, Adam Mortimer, Vickie Saye, Lucy Stevenson and Laina Hall clearly lamented missing the chance to play for a strong local pickup team, but will no doubt take solace in their role in helping their team to victory and in the opportunity they have to represent Australia later this year. Huy Vu from Adelaide will also be drawing solace from that fact after confidently asserting that local defensive mongoose Asher Gentle "totally can't get near" Peter "Tex" Blakely just moments AFTER Asher got a run-through layout block on the Fakulti receiver. Whoops! Asher's block was just one of a number of memorable moments among Vickie Saye's layout for a contested goal, Lucy Stevenson's forehand huck to score and several as yet unconfirmed sightings of Australia's most technologically advanced clipboard.
Congratulations also to Leon Smith and Damien Jaccoud (who are playing with the Taipans in the Master's Division), Keah Molomby and Helen Osmond (who play for the Firetails in the Women's Division) and Jonothan Holmes (who plays for the Dingo's in the Open Division) for being selected for Australia's highest honour (no, it's not the Australian of the Year). We at the CUB secret underground facility wish all our reps on the nationals teams all the best in their preparation for Worlds.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Nationals Results
Canberra was represented at the Australian Ultimate Championships, held in Coff's Harbour from the 24th to the 27th of April, by two club teams, Fyshwick United in the Open Division and the Factory Girls in the Women's Division. It was a great year for both teams. The Factory Girls won all but two games over the course of the tournament and, after being edged out of the semi finals by Sydney's Southside, beat last year's runners-up, Melbourne's Team Box, for a valiant fifth place.
Fyshwick United built on strong performances at Regionals (third) and New Zealand Nationals (first) to reach the final undefeated after dispatching Newcastle's I-Beam in their semi. Despite well-structured offense and strong defense they lost to the superior speed and skills of Fakulti, from Sydney. Fakulti have been runners-up for the previous three nationals and earnt their victory this year with exceptional strong-side offense, eventually winning 15-12.
Both teams improved their positions from last year and took a number of valuable scalps. Check out the photos (Factory Girls are in blue, Fyshwick United in orange) by Roger Barnes at http://frisbee.mindsocket.com.au/press, or see DJ's pics at http://biggszone.net/NATS08/index.html (I think these are all of the boys but he might have some Factory Girls ones somewhere as well). Leon took a bunch of photos as well, but I don't know where they are...
A number of Canberra locals also played for the Sugar Magnolias from Newcastle, Bush from Hobart, Hills Angels and Wildcard X-Factor (who made the final of the women's division but lost to Raging Wahine from New Zealand) from Sydney, and two of our old guard played for the Taipans, the Australian Masters' Team who'll play at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in Vancouver later this year.
Both teams would like to thank Ian, the coach driver, who drove us to, from and all around Coffs, and the boys would also like to thank the Holmeseses, who billeted half the team. More info about the tournament, including the scores of each game, can be found at the AFDA website.
Roll on nationals 09.
Fyshwick United built on strong performances at Regionals (third) and New Zealand Nationals (first) to reach the final undefeated after dispatching Newcastle's I-Beam in their semi. Despite well-structured offense and strong defense they lost to the superior speed and skills of Fakulti, from Sydney. Fakulti have been runners-up for the previous three nationals and earnt their victory this year with exceptional strong-side offense, eventually winning 15-12.
Both teams improved their positions from last year and took a number of valuable scalps. Check out the photos (Factory Girls are in blue, Fyshwick United in orange) by Roger Barnes at http://frisbee.mindsocket.com.au/press, or see DJ's pics at http://biggszone.net/NATS08/index.html (I think these are all of the boys but he might have some Factory Girls ones somewhere as well). Leon took a bunch of photos as well, but I don't know where they are...
A number of Canberra locals also played for the Sugar Magnolias from Newcastle, Bush from Hobart, Hills Angels and Wildcard X-Factor (who made the final of the women's division but lost to Raging Wahine from New Zealand) from Sydney, and two of our old guard played for the Taipans, the Australian Masters' Team who'll play at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in Vancouver later this year.
Both teams would like to thank Ian, the coach driver, who drove us to, from and all around Coffs, and the boys would also like to thank the Holmeseses, who billeted half the team. More info about the tournament, including the scores of each game, can be found at the AFDA website.
Roll on nationals 09.
CUB is born!
After reading JdR's Brisbane Ultimate Blog and feeling jealous, Twats and I have started this, the Canberra Ultimate Blog. It's just like the Brisbane one only better, because we choose a superior blog layout. Observe the beautifully coloured heading. I believe it is orange, but since this is the inaugural post I haven't actually seen it yet. I'm sure it's nice though.
With any luck this will serve as a convenient place to find out about goings on in the Canberra Ultimate Frisbee community. Whether it's league scores, details of pick-up games, updates from local clubs or rep teams at tournaments or just a dose of out-of-date rumour and innuendo, this should be the place. As I learn how to work teh internets, I might even be able to add links to other useful frisbee blogs. It's more likely, however, that Twatson will have to do the tricky stuff.
Imagine, if you will, Princess Mary breaking a bottle of cheap champagne over the bow of this blog and kindly join me in wishing it "bon voyage" as it sets forth on its maiden voyage.
With any luck this will serve as a convenient place to find out about goings on in the Canberra Ultimate Frisbee community. Whether it's league scores, details of pick-up games, updates from local clubs or rep teams at tournaments or just a dose of out-of-date rumour and innuendo, this should be the place. As I learn how to work teh internets, I might even be able to add links to other useful frisbee blogs. It's more likely, however, that Twatson will have to do the tricky stuff.
Imagine, if you will, Princess Mary breaking a bottle of cheap champagne over the bow of this blog and kindly join me in wishing it "bon voyage" as it sets forth on its maiden voyage.
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