Thursday, November 27, 2008

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

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

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.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

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.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

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.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

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.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

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.

Monday, November 3, 2008

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.