Nationals 2009 - A Tournament in Review

Having spoken to some people regarding their Nationals experiences this year, we felt it was our place to state both our experiences that other people's experiences.

Fields = A+
The fields were amazing. The fact that there was no rain also helped, but even then they probably would have held up. All the fields were also close to each other so watching the other games after finishing your game was easy to do. Great, even, thick grass cover cut to the perfect length for Ultimate.

Lunches = C+
While achieving a passing grade, the lunches left much to be desired. They were the standard frisbee lunch of rolls and roll inserts. However some inserts were missing and some were unusual. We haven't before seen capsicum and broccoli included in many sandwich packs before. Also, there was often not enough food to go round. No chocolate or lollies and no dips some days were unfortunately as well. On one day, Firestorm resorted to a trip to McDonalds to pick up 12 Big Macs and 6 Large Fries, which caused some unpleasant looks from the McDonalds staff.

Dinners = B
The main issue with the dinners was the fact that they ran out on the first day. Then ordered pizza, which the people who had managed to have dinner already seemed to end up with most of anyway. Also, the stinginess really rose after the shortfall on day one. Often players were allowed 1 sausage, some Caesar salad (which was mainly just lettuce) and some potato salad (3 bits of potato) and told if they wanted more then they had to wait for seconds. Although, better that than running out.

Draw = A-
While the draw was a fairly standard 2 hard pools and 2 cusp pools, the best thing about the draw was the semi finals being the only games played at 3:30pm on day three, with all other games starting at 2:00pm. This gave the other players a chance to watch/cheer/heckle the games, including the HoS/Chilly derby which included a number of "We hate you coz you're Victorian" chants.

Player Packs = B-
No discs?! WTF?! The hats are pretty cool though. And the new cleat bag isn't bad either. But the lemon flavoured V? No thanks.

Facilities = B-
The facilities themselves were fine; what you would expect. The main problem was the lack of available water. On at least 2 occasions, the water from the field that Firestorm were playing on was taken away to be refilled, and wasn't returned for over an hour.

Beer Tent = B+
A great meeting place for the players after the days games and whilst having dinner. The only issue was that they didn't extend the beer tent to down the hill until the last day during the finals, but was a very popular decision when it was done.

Party = C+
This has nothing to do with the Tim Booth incident, more to do with the beer and the lighting. The beer was rank, but then that could be just a personal choice. Also, if you are encouraging people to dress up then the lighting should be sufficient that people can actually see each other.

Overall = B
While there were some little things that weren't good, overall the tournament was a success. The fields really were the saving grace that made the whole thing worthwhile. And before people say "one thing doesn't make a tournament", fields really are the first thing you remember (everyone remembers Coffs last year) and the main part of the tournament is to play frisbee, and the fields allowed for good frisbee to be played.


Any other thoughts out there?