Regurgitating things from mailing lists

An update from JMac
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G'day all,

We're halfway through the year.
In Australia, this means that the university and mixed seasons are ramping up, and some of Australia's longest-running tournaments will be announcing this year's details.
I thought it might be useful to give a heads up about what's coming in the next 6 months...

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EVERYONE - LOCAL

The Mayor of Slamtown is making sure everyone knows about Halibut (August 6-7, Gold Coast).
This is one of the oldest and best tourneys in Australia, combining fun & participation with a high quality top end of teams from around the country.

We may be seeing a local tournament in late August (TBC), if necessary - QUDA will be able to confirm this soon.
Mixed Nationals, in late October, requires teams to qualify through their regions. For everyone who's not trying to go to Mixed Nats, this will mean a chance to get out and just play Ultimate.

Lovefest has been run in early September for a few years now, and the UQ crew have got it pencilled in on 10-11 September at the moment.
Like the Mixed Nationals qualifier, this is a mix of focused teams preparing for a national competition (in this case, uni teams), and a bunch of locals just having a good time.

The previous two years has seen the Big Sky battle in late October. You can expect to hear over the next couple of months if this tournament is returning in 2011, so keep an ear out.

EVERYONE - NATIONAL

The Melbourne Hat is only second to Nationals in terms of size and history, now in its 24th year. The date has been locked in for 9-11 December at Albert Park.
Playing the Hat is virtually a rite of passage for Australian Ultimate players. From international superstars to complete newbies off the street, the goal of all players is to meet people and have fun playing summer frisbee.

One week later, (officially TBC, but very likely) on 18 December, the Longest Day (and Longest Weekend) continue the summer Ultimate in Sydney. Another fixture on the Australian calendar, but with a twist: it's the country's longest-running beach tourney.
After golf on Friday night, and usually a solid Saturday afternoon hit-out of beach schtick, a wide array of summer fruit awaits competing teams of all levels. A dip in the waves between points can be a great way to relieve the heat.

(I'm currently planning on heading to both, probably driving... anyone want to join me? gimme a yell. tourney convoy!)

UNIVERSITY

With Monash and Macquarie freshly crowned as winners of Southern/Eastern Uni Games, all eyes are now turning to the Australian Uni Games, 25-30 September on the Gold Coast.
UQ has enjoyed this location in the recent past, taking the crown in 2007 and 2009. Griffith and QUT are also looking to send teams; could there be any chance of seeing resurgence from JCU or Bond? Be there to find out.

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A special plug: Halibut, Melbourne Hat and Longest Day are probably the three biggest, longest-running, most popular participation tournaments in the country.
That means that all of them now have limited space available; since they're open to anyone without restriction/qualification, they all fill up easily each year.
Get in early!

Hopefully that's a useful summary.
If there are tournaments on that list you've never played, have a think about it (and then do it!). They're all fantastic experiences.

Cheers all. Happy Julius Caesar's birthday :-)

John