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.