Heaven smiles on the women's hat

As everyone in Canberra knows, everything is better on the North side of Lake Burley Griffin. As you drive/ride/run over Commonwealth Avenue bridge heading North in the evening you can look to the sun setting behind Black Mountain to the West and the clouds over the Brindabellas lighting up and know that life is getting better with every metre you travel. Heading South over the very same bridge at the very same time all you can see are the austere buildings of the Parliamentary Triangle and every metre you go brings you closer to Tuggeranong and damnation.

Anyway, you don't have to take my word for it. On Saturday, while it poured with rain that slowly leached the joy from the Southerners already bleak lives in Woden and the Deep South, it was dry (albeit a little cloudy) on the Northside for the inaugural women's hat. Hosted by local women's club, Factory, the event was well attended with a number of new players stepping up to play. I saw a few points from the final, where it looked like a bunch of athletic new recruits were duking it out for control of the middle of the field. A great start to the season for Factory and a great way to introduce local players to Women's Ultimate.

This weekend also marked the start of Fyshwick United's strangely named "Noodle Sessions". These are a way for players to meet in small groups and run drills that have been preset by the team's coaches, aimed at improving footwork and throwing. Early reports coming in suggest that the first Noodle Session was well attended and got people thinking about some new approaches to skills training. These sessions are mandatory for anyone thinking of trying out for the men's team next year but they're open to anyone attending Thursday night training who just wants to get some extra practise in. Send me an email at who dot is dot the dot schmooze at gmail got com if you're interested in more info.

Also good, and thus likely to be found on the Northside, is Diskapital. Soma are using this to raise some funds to offset some costs for some of their uni student members so sign up on the AFDA website (www.afda.com) and come out for a great weeked of hat ultimate. The party is already looking like being a somewhat epic affair...