Cold Hard Stats

Slamtown Flatball Club

Captain: Stephan "The Mayor" Rapazzo
Colour: Sunset Orange / Black / White
Average Age: 28 (Abra's age)
History: Last season - PREMIERS
Likes: Traveling post-victory
Dislikes: Traveling pre-match
Breaking News: As always, SFC have made the strongest recruits, bagging the potent Gref & BW. It appears Al may return. They say good-bye to rookie tall, Weens.

Dojo Mojo:

Captain: Pete Allen (at least, for registration purposes)
Colour: Black/White
Average Age: 31 (Cola's age)
History: Last season - 2nd, Highest Finish - PREMIERS 2010, 2011 and one other time in the dark ages.
Likes: Flying under the radar
Dislikes: Effort.
Breaking News: Steve Cameron is not yet registered. No news is good news, Dojo style.

Moreton Bay Buggers

Captain: Mat Ryan
Colour: Red / White
Average Age: 32 (Rolo's age)
History: Last year - 3rd, Highest Finish - so many premierships, see their blog
Likes: Playing on field 1
Dislikes: The fact that they haven't had rights to field 1 for some time now.
Breaking news: Jangles returns home.

Heroes

Captain: "(formerly) Silent" George Salisbury
Colour: Green/White
Average Age: 27 (my age)
History: Last season - 4th, Highest finish - 4th 2011
Likes: (snake) Whacking Day
Dislikes: Recruiting
Breaking News: Jangles out, Vinko in. The Cone of Silence is broken.

Blitz

Captain: Chris Cunliffe
Colour: Get some uniforms boys
Average Age: 25 (captain Cunliffes age)
History: Last season - 6th
Likes: Playing against Bandidos
Dislikes: Dodgy draws
Breaking News: Cunliffe is restricted to bed-rest at the moment and will miss opening matches.

North American Cobras

Captain: Reece Stewart
Colour: Black
Average Age: 27 (Brian's age)
History: Last season - Spoon, Highest Finish - Grand Finalist 2010
Likes: American recruits
Dislikes: Heroes
Breaking News: Apparently these guys have relocated to the North side. They've swept up all the imports and are making a lot of noise about it.

Northern Regionals Gearing Up

An update on the Queensland Open Ultimate Championships aka Northern Regionals, hosted by the Griffith University Ultimate Club on behalf of QUDA.

Dates: Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March 2012 roughly 9am-5pm
Venue: Griffith Sports Fields, Kessels Rd, Nathan
Cost: $60 two days, or $30 one day.
Includes: Fields, insurance, lunches, BBQ, Saturday night party, prizes, and some surprises.

Team registration closes Friday 24 February, to allow the draw to be sorted. There are presently seven teams registered - Gympie G-Force, NQ Villains, Brisbane Firestorm, Brisbane Firestorm Ignition, the Gold Coast's Slamtown Flatball Club, Griffith University and the "Toowoomba" Heroes.

Player registration closes on Wednesday 29 February. Captains need to collect their players' money and forward it to the TD. Registering and paying on time means you'll get fed, as well as be properly insured.

Please register at: http://afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=1950

If you are looking for a team, I am confident we'll be able to find one for you. Get in touch. We want everyone who wants to play to play! This is a great chance for less experienced players to get some quality game time against 'the big men'.

QUDA Confirms Queensland Women's Fun Hat - Saturday 3 March

QUDA has announced the Queensland Women's Fun Hat will be held on Saturday 3 March, from 9am-5pm, at the Griffith University Sports Fields, off Kessels Rd , Nathan.

The cost of the day is $20, and this includes fields, insurance, lunch and prizes. The fee also includes joining the menfolk (who'll be playing on the field next door) at the party on Saturday night, as well as BBQ lunch if you want to watch the Open Final on Sunday afternoon.

The event is aimed at Queensland Women Ultimate players of all levels – from people having their first ever go, through to Australian representatives. QUDA’s objective is to ensure everyone attending has a great day, and over time to grow the Queensland Women’s Ultimate scene. The event replaces the Women's Division of Northern Regionals. We anticipate running the Fun Hat for a few years until demand for qualification to Women's Nationals grows beyond two teams.

There is no better way to get new women involved and to improve women’s skills in Ultimate (which is often played in the mixed format) than to play a women’s-only event.

QUDA’s investment in the event includes:
- subsidising the player fee down to $20, to make it attractive to as many players as possible;
- supporting several women from North Queensland flying down to play the event - yay, new ladies!
- preparing and distributing ‘women friendly’ promotional materials - http://quda.org/quda-promotional-material/

QUDA hopes that all experienced Brisbane Women players will join us in growing the scene, welcoming our female guests from Townsville, Cairns, the Gold Coast and Gympie, and having a great time!

Please register at http://afda.com/rego/showdivision.php?divisionid=2021 so that QUDA can feed you properly and so that you are insured. If you are new to Ultimate, it is free to join the Australian Flying Disc Association, which then enables you to register for events like this one.

BUD Bigman Badman Confirms 24/7 Play

In today's press conference to launch the new Byron Bay Ultimate field, Byron Ultimate Disc (BUD) Bigman Andrew Badman (aka BUD Bigman Badman) confirmed that Ultimate will "be played seven nights a week, and more nights too if my plans for an eighth day to the week, named Badday, come to fruition."

In the face of today's field opening being postponed due to rain, Bads noted "That's just the spirit goddess replenishing our beloved turf, and reminding us to go make love and/or surfing occasionally, preferably at the same time."

Bads continued, "In your face, rest of Australian Ultimate."

Milestone for Byron Bay Ultimate

This Friday 10 February, the Byron Bay Regional Council will be opening its new multi-sport centre, which includes a dedicated Ultimate field.

It's great to have a dedicated field, but its also great to be part of a larger centre, and be thereby able to negotiate to host larger events.

If you're down that way, the politicians and other community representatives will be doing their ribbon cutting thing from 11am-12.30pm, and they'll surely love to see some Ultimate players.

Of course, they could hang around for the community launch between 4pm and 8pm that evening, which will feature both the Little Athletics and the very BEST of the Byron Bay Ultimate community and their friends, in a showcase game!

Well done BADMAN and all the gang.

Other States are Doing It, Why Not Queensland?

So, UFNSW have announced that they are increasing their league and tournament fees, to help continue employing a Development Officer. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsw-ultimate/message/5653

Which brings us to an important question.

Should QUDA increase the cost of Ultimate in Queensland to employ a Development Officer?

By our rough estimate, funding a part-time QUDA Development Officer would involve something like increasing the typical League fee by $10/season, and the typical tournament fee by $2.50 per day.

The QUDA Executive, being volunteers with limited time, asked that this discussion be focused here on the Brisbane Ultimate Blog, which has the capacity to host lots of comments (including anonymous ones, which of course are read but maybe not given the weight of those by real people), because they don't really want to read and reply to dozens of emails or have people in their face at game time. So please respect their time and stick to discussing the *idea* here (at least for a while!)

So, the QUDA Executive has been thinking about this for a while and has run some figures through the Atari2600 here at the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion (see below). In the lead-up to QUDA’s Annual General Meeting on 3 March, its worth discussing, at the least to give some views for the 2011-2012 Executive to consider as they go into their 2011-2012 planning.

Development Officers in Other States

Ultimate Frisbee NSW have had a full-time Development Officer for about two years. The position has been very successful, a testament to getting the right person and that person working very hard! The annual cost to UFNSW is about @$46k. As it is roughly understood here at the mansion, UFNSW initially funded this position primarily through its deep savings over many years, generated through its main source of income – running the massive Sydney Northern Suburbs League (500+ players over three seasons annually, for many many years). The Development Officer also ‘makes’ money to support the position, in that coaching services are provided to schools for a fee. UFNSW were also able to gain a small grant that contributed to their capacity to fund the job. (UFNSW of course also makes money from other things (disc sales, interest) and spends money on other things, but this is roughly how they’re able to do it. Check out UFNSW’s finances for 2010-2011 at: http://ufnsw.com.au/admin/documents/20110630_ProfitLoss.pdf

Ultimate Victoria and WAFDA also have development officers. There is a bit of variation between the details of the roles from place to place (and we invite them to comment in), but generally their roles aim to a) generate income to help pay for their positions, either through grants or paid services (such as coaching) and b) grow the long term membership of the Ultimate organisation in their state, primarily by ‘getting Ultimate into schools’ and then getting those people into Ultimate Leagues and Tournaments (including helping them set up their own Leagues and Tournaments).

The QUDA Executive’s desire to investigate and see if we can avoid falling further behind the other states has also been stimulated by a detailed proposal from a prominent local Ultimate player to become QUDA’s Development Officer, who has a long history of growing the sport through schools and other work.

QUDA's Finances and Capacity to Employ

QUDA’s finances are unlike these other states. QUDA does not run major Leagues as all other States do. In Queensland, these are run by BUDA, GCU, JCU, UQ, etc. QUDA does run a few key tournaments - Halibut, Northerns, the Q-Hat, and Nationals when they come to Queensland. But generally these events are run to ‘break even’ rather than to turn a surplus (I don’t use “profit”, as that implies money is taken out of Ultimate. A particular event can make money, but this money is reinvested in Ultimate, including when future events accidentally make a loss).

QUDA has not had to seek income this way because we’ve been fortunate that the Queensland Government provides grants system for State Sporting Organisations.

It is however explicit in this grant that it cannot be used to employ someone. QUDA does at various times pay people casual hobbyist rates or honourariums (eg Coaches, Course Presenters, the Executive Officer, promotional workers) or via gifts to particular volunteers, but it usually tries to do this with money from outside the State Grant. But it is impossible to extend this approach to the proper employment of someone for a few days a week, who needs a contract in place so that they give up other work to take the job on, who will need sick and recreation leave, superannuation, and so forth.

So QUDA would need to generate alternative income if it wished to employ a proper Development Officer over the long term. It is very rare for government grants to pay for staff – this is every sport’s dream but it doesn’t happen, and it isn’t sustainable as the grant may disappear and then what happens.

The AFDA Fee and the QUDA Fee

In the past, QUDA charged an annual membership fee, paid in February and which included a new QUDA disc. While this generated some income for QUDA, it is arguable its primary goal was ensuring that we had a member list to ensure its legal continuity, and keep a steady flow of discs into the community. AFDA used to have an annual fee also, collected at Nationals each year.

As Ultimate in Queensland grew to be more than a single League at one venue, it became impractical to continue trying to collect this annual fee. In 2004 or so, AFDA moved to an event based fee system, which levied a small amount per League or Tournament, collected from the League or Tournament Director and factored into their budgeting for player fees (“the AFDA fee”). The AFDA fee generated enough income to support an Administrative Officer to oversaw the system (amongst many other useful duties). So QUDA saw and took an opportunity to use the same system, introducing a “QUDA fee” that would be collected using the AFDA’s system.

Initially, the QUDA fee was set at a QUDA AGM as 20% of the AFDA fee. At present, the AFDA collects fees from Leagues and Tournaments at a rate of around $1.32 a registered player a week for League fees, and $3.96 a registered player a day for Tournament fees. http://www.afda.com/showcontent.php?page=member_fees

QUDA set its fee at 20% largely to establish the system with a relatively tokenistic amount. There is a sense that QUDA has however been relatively haphazard in collecting QUDA fees, and some events and tournaments in Queensland haven’t been invoiced or chased for payment. Hence one of the primary jobs for a QUDA Development Officer would probably be working with the QUDA Treasurer to get this system working properly.

So, How Would It Add Up?

So, to the figures. By our rough estimates, based on a scan of the AFDA registration system, AFDA would have collected around $21,618 in Queensland in 2011 (not including Nationals).

If QUDA had collected its 20% QUDA fee on this, it would have earned $4,323. This is obviously not enough to employ a Development Officer. But certainly, Step One for QUDA is to start properly and seriously collecting the QUDA fee.

Many events in Queensland do not use the AFDA registration system, and so do not pay AFDA fees (and problematically for QUDA, many of these players are therefore not actually members of QUDA) – this includes Leagues on the Gold Coast, Townsville and UQ (plus Cairns being pretty rough, but then its new and learning). If those Leagues had have been included in the AFDA/QUDA fee system, then our guess is that AFDA fees for Queensland would have gone up to around $28.5k, and QUDA fees to $5.7k. So a second step for QUDA is to continue trying to get those Leagues to become proper members of QUDA (we should acknowledge of course that there is a debate to be had about whether or not a Brisbane-based Development Officer can deliver x% of their attention to regional areas. Our sense is that this is certainly feasible, particularly given QUDA’s long term goal of growing the sport throughout regional Queensland. Also, given these places currently don’t pay anything to AFDA or QUDA, there’s have to be some progressive increase of fees – ie not all at once).

Then to finally get to the point (and I thank you all for reading this far!), there is the option for QUDA to pull the % lever and increase QUDA fees. Here’s our estimates:

Increase the QUDA fee from 20% to 50% of AFDA fee (and collect it all) would generate $10.8k on current takings and $14.2k if the ‘lost leagues’ were gained. This would be a $5.50 increase on a current BPL or BUML fee (assuming 14 player team) (typical and largest leagues in Queensland) and $2.38 on the Halibut fee (typical two day tournament).

Increase the QUDA fee from 20% to 75% of AFDA fee - $16.2k on current Leagues, $21.3 on all Leagues. $10.16 increase on BPL/BUML and $4.36 on Halibut.

Increase to 100% and its $21.6k on current or $28.5k on all, for a $14.78 increase on BPL/BUML and $6.34 on Halibut.

Here's the spreadsheet - click to embiggen. It may not be completely right, but we think its good enough to support this discussion. Please don't point out minor errors to us!

So what’s this all mean?

Well, Assuming you employ someone for half-time and it costs about half of what it costs UFNSW, you need say $24k/annum, with coaching income on top of that to fill out another half to a full day. So the question is: Should QUDA then increase its fees to 75% of the AFDA fee from 1 July 2012 in Brisbane, and say in the regions first start collecting it at 25% and then increase it by 25% each six months until its 75%?

What do you think?

To pre-empt a response from some who may say “So its going to cost more for me to play Ultimate. I play BPL and BUML all year, plus Halibut and the Q-Hat and Northerns, and so it’ll be pouring $65 a year more into QUDA’s coffers. What’s in it for me?”

Aside from a brief “Do you want our sport taken more seriously in the future?” which of course would require a lot of unpacking in terms of benefits and so forth (and requiring Ultimate players to think beyond the next season is a challenge, to be sure), perhaps a simple “Growth = more playing opportunities for you in the future. Growth = more Leagues on different nights in different places, growth means more teams and divisions in existing Leagues and tournament (meaning more competition). Growth = a higher standard at the higher levels (including being more competitive on the national scene).

So, thanks for reading all this. Its a month until the AGM. This isn’t a decision for the AGM – its a decision for the QUDA Executive. But no doubt when they are elected at the AGM, they’d like to go away and start to plan their year of office with an idea of what people would think if they made a decision to increase the QUDA fee and employ a Development Officer.

Odds Bodkins! Beach Ultimate is Ruling!

We'd be remiss not to note that this weekend will see the largest Beach Ultimate tournament held in Queensland that we're aware of - 90+ people will be hitting Coolangatta Beach next weekend for the Australia Day Beach Ultimate Championships. Wooo!

The Olde Order Changeth!

Adam 'Rhubarb' Baker is the new BPL League Director. Well done Adam, and thanks Graham for taking such good care of the torch before passing it on. This blogger apologises for lacking the knowledge, but presumably you can reread our previous end of the era post and update the names.

Adam's first moves in following in the footsteps of previous BPL LD's (and let's list them again: Graham Prickett, Stu Austin, Jon Good, Andy Lankowski, Stew McGlashan and Jason Ray - not a bad starting seven now, and note that Adam's lack of an academic title now tips us to 4 non-doctors against 3 Doctors) will of course be gearing up for the coming season, and Captains and players will be scrambling into shape.

Down the track, we here at the stately but somewhat decaying Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion are hoping 2012 sees a dedicated BPL website (ala the BUML website) that canbe the source of all the news, results and so forth, and well as retaining the gloried history of the Brisbane Premier League. Who will step up?

Through Rain and Sleet and Hail, the Hammer Must Go Through!

People are clearly keen to shake off the break, if the numbers of folks who turned up in the rain, wind and cold for BUML pickup last night is anything to go by. What fun, but where'd my Summer go?

With the forecast as it is for this week, expect solid crowds at Indoor Pickup this Thursday night. Keep out of the rain, enjoy easy catch's and short throws with NO WIND!

Erik welcomes all to the prelude of Brisbane's first (well im calling it that..) indoor league!

7pm start for rego's and warm up, 7:20 for a quick re-cap of indoor differences and a 7:30 game start. Its at the Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000.

Games will run till 9pm, followed by a short commute to the Normanby Hotel for a drink.

Registration Rant

**Rant Mode ON**

As teams start to get registered for upcoming tournaments and events, can people please rack off with the new trend of making up stupid false names to go with their AFDA numbers?

Check out the bullshit that's being pulled by some members of this team (and apologies to the other members of that team): http://afda.com/rego/showteam.php?teamid=10663

Its not even juvenile, and it makes a lot more work for generous-with-their-time volunteers and people interested in taking our sport seriously to work out what's going on. Seriously, sod right off.

Ultimate is based on a concept of personal responsibility, and your reputation (and therefore your *Name*) meaning something. We've always had room for silly ephemeral team names, and personal nicknames, because we're fun people, but this is just annoying.

**Rant Mode OFF**

* please note, rant mode indicates we acknowledge that we're being exaggeratingly over the top with this, as a way to draw attention.

January 2012 Ultimate

While the 'big leagues' in Brisbane continue their Summer break, there's still plenty of opportunities to get some Ultimate in at the moment.

There is pick up Ultimate on Monday and Wednesday nights through January. Everyone from raw newbies to international giants are welcome at pick up games. Bring a black shirt AND a white shirt, a water bottle, friends, family and workmates. Its $5 although newbies are free to have a go.

Monday night pickup is from 7:15pm to 9:15pm at the Annerley Junior Soccer Club, Victoria Tce, Greenslopes, on Field 5 (closest to Pine Street)

Wednesday night pickup is from 7pm to 9pm at Oakman Park, Toowong (off Union St and Milton Road).

To get more information including notification of any changes, join the Brisbane yahoogroup mentioned over there on the right.

The first ever Brisbane Indoor League starts this Thursday too! Its not too late to register.
When: 7pm-9pm Thursday nights, starting the 12th of January through to the end of February
What you get: at least two 35minute games of high intensity crazy indoor action!
Where: Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000
Who: All welcome! - sadly, Due to the limited space and availability at the venue, max of 8 teams can register! so you'll need to get in quick! dont miss out!
Why: Because this is a rare brisbane indoor league!! - right in the city too! AND opposite the normanby hotel?!
How: 3:1 or 2:2 m/f split. offence decides. Traditional ultimate rules. final league structure will depend on numbers.

Gold Coast League 2012 - Details Confirmed!

From the press centre at the Mayor's Residence:

We're excited for 2012, and we are going to return with a NEW style to league.... we're actually going to revisit what we did to start this league long ago.

Bring on your team.... get your mates together, and get a team registered!!!

Minimum requirements: 6 males, 5 females fully paid at the time of rego.

First 4 teams registered in full are in... after that we'll assess based on demand. but only 4 teams are guaranteed.

Cost will be approx $5/night based on a 6-10 week season ($30-$50).

all score sheets, and evening rosters (how many and who played) need to be submitted by email the following day by both captains.

All games are to start promptly, and teams that don't have a min of 5 players will be deducted a point for every 5min they are below.

Season finale will have free drinks and BBQ for all spectators.

A big shiny trophy called 'The Bondage Cup' to represent the Gold Coast Ultimate League Premiership is on the line. MVP trophies for gents and ladies are on the line. Spirit Trophy too!

I will send out an 'AFDA registration' link in the first week of Jan, at which stage you need to race your team rego in to ensure you'll be a part of it.

Be sure to do your recruiting/rounding up now... and ensure that everyone is an afda member... it's quick, free, and easy.

If you are a new member, and might not know many who play, I'll also put up a spot to rego as an individual, and we'll work to find you a home.

Well.... get to it.... build your team... jump on a team... get those lovely ladies to grace us with their presence... and let's do this.

Oh yeah, team that regos first, gets first choice in jersey colour... and so on and so forth.

Also, Team Attendance Prize will be off the hook.

Thanks for reading.
Have a Happy Festive Season on behalf of:
Gold Coast Ultimate Disc Association

Beach Ultimate - Australia Day 2012

Hopefully you're all keeping an eye on http://adbuc.blogspot.com/ and getting your team together to get those big cash discounts!

Brisbane Indoor LEAGUE - January-February 2012

From the press release:

Gidday all brisbane ultimate players! After alot of research, alot of rejection and finally a stroke of luck, Brisbane finally has on its horizon an Indoor Ultimate tournament! For those who have never played Indoor before, its a completely different style of ultimate. Its played smaller and faster, with no wind or rain to worry about, and every player able to throw the full field- it's a recipe for some great action-packed utlimate! For those who have played indoor, this tournament will be slightly different! Due to physical constrants of the venue, it will be played even smaller on a standard size basketball court, with an added twist of the basketball 'keyhole' as the endzone!

Also the league will be a great pre-BUML season warm up for your team! awesome team building, fitness, sharpens your handling skills, game instinct and discover tricks and techniques you never knew you had!

Certainly, Indoor ultimate is great fun for every one, beginner to advanced, its even a great way to convert all those indoor soccer/netball players at your work that havent yet seen the light and refuse to open their eyes! So, the need to know:

When: 7pm-9pm Thursday nights, starting the 12th of January through to the end of February
What you get: at least two 35minute games of high intensity crazy indoor action! Plus prizes and the never ending glory of being brisbanes indoor league champions!
Where: Howell Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, 14 College Rd, Spring Hill Queensland 4000
Who: All welcome! - sadly, Due to the limited space and availability at the venue, max of 8 teams can register! so you'll need to get in quick! dont miss out!

Why: Because this is a rare brisbane indoor league!! - right in the city too! AND opposite the normanby hotel?!

How: 3:1 or 2:2 m/f split. offence decides. Traditional ultimate rules. final league structure will depend on numbers.


Contact me if you have any questions, or head straight to http://www.afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1148 for more info and register!


So come along, burn off those xmas callories, keep active over summer and have a great time!



Pass this on!



Erik Stevenson
erik.stevenson@hotmail.com

Taya Siedler
tayasiedler@mac.com

State Titles (aka Northern Regionals) Info Announced!

From the press release:

G’day Queenslanders,

I’m pleased to announce that the 8th Queensland Open and Women’s Ultimate Championships 2012 (aka Northern Regionals), will be held at Griffith University Nathan campus in Brisbane , on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 March 2012. The event will be hosted as a fundraiser by the Griffith University Ultimate Club, with oversight by QUDA.

Open Division
The Open event will run approximately 9am-5pm both days, similar to previous years. We anticipate 6-8 teams, from Brisbane , the Gold Coast, Townsville, Cairns and Gympie, of which 3-4 will be seriously seeking to qualify for Nationals (all teams of course will be keen to play well!). If you are an ‘unaffiliated’ Brisbane player, I encourage you to consider offering your services and experience early to our developing regional groups - we want to see every Ulti-lad in Queensland playing this event!

Women’s Division
As we only anticipate 2-3 Women’s teams will seek to play the event for the purposes of qualifying for Nationals, the Women’s event is currently anticipated as involving a all-skill-level Women’s Hat on Saturday (which may include some development sessions) and a short qualification tournament on Sunday (which may frankly be a game of Black Betty 1 vs Black Betty 2 to provide Nationals ranking). QUDA is currently considering providing further support for regionally-based women to attend, as well as new player recruitment material. We want to see every Ulti-lass in Queensland playing this event! More details to come.

Registration and Fees
Team and player registration is now open at: http://afda.com/rego/showcompetition.php?competitionid=1147

QUDA-approved player fees will be confirmed approximately one month before the event. As per previous years, in recognition of the flight costs involved and QUDA’s role in promoting the sport state-wide, North Queensland-based players will not be required to pay a player fee.

Timing, Qualification and Rostering
Teams which are using the event to qualify for Nationals 2012 in Newcastle should be aware of the AFDA’s qualification policies and requirements.

Please note that our event will be one week before Eastern, Southern and Western Regionals, which will be held on 10-11 March. The AFDA Board has agreed with our request to host the 2012 event early, to allow our teams to gain match practice at those other Regionals, should they wish.

Equally, this provides an opportunity for interstate teams and players to come and play at our event. This improves our event, but I should note a few things to ensure the spirit of Nationals qualification is maintained, specifically:
- interstate teams and players seeking to qualify for Nationals via their own region will not be counted in terms of wildcard slot qualification
- Queensland teams seeking to qualify for Nationals should not pick up interstate players who would be qualifying for Nationals via their own region (as this would screw up our local qualification process)
- Because this is nonetheless our State Championship, non-Nationals bound teams should limit any interstate pickup players to three or less.
If you have any issues with regard these ideas, please get in touch. We’re learning.

After Nationals 2012, AFDA is considering reviewing the Regionals/Nationals system with the possibility of allowing different Regionals on different dates in a permament sense, so how this all goes for Northerns may prove an interesting test.


So mark those calendars, get on a team, and we look forward to it!

Jason de Rooy
QUDA Executive Officer and Griffith Club Secretary

Pack Your Mess Kit

The inaugural Queensland Hat is on tomorrow.

All the info is at the Queensland Hat page. Regos have hit 98 as we speak - so the event is a success before the first disc is hucked!

Hopefully by now everyone turns up to tournaments with their own mess kit. If you haven't made this as natural as grabbing your cleats and sunscreen ... well now is the time!

Will Corey Be Queensland Ultimate's Movember Champion?

Our our highlighted lads, it looks like Corey has an unassailable lead, raising $159 for men's health.

You could always donate to Mansauce of course.

Slamtown Wins BPL Final

... that is all.

BPL Final Tonight (Weather Permitting)

So tonight is the Grandal Fin of the Brisbane Premier League.

In one corner, current champions the Dojo Mojo. Sure, they're the current champions, but they've lost more BPL Grand Finals than most.

In the other, the Slamtown Flatball Club will be sweating the call from Special about whether or not the fields are open or shut before they get in the cars and head north. The ground in Brisbane has been pretty dry, so lets hope Annerley has soaked up the overnight stuff and we don't get too much today. We also hope the Slammers all recovered from Kevvie putting on the white Marilyn dress to breathlessly sing 'Happy Birthday Mr President' last weekend.

Heroes deserve a mention of course made the rookie mistake of planning their end of season dinner for last Sunday, ensuring that it was the end of their season.

Here's the original registered roster for Slamtown: Michael Bienstock Abra Garfield Adrian Gepp James Larkin Nandor Locher Greg Orlando Stefan Rappazzo(c) Kevin Stahlman Phil Stocks isaac stone Rob Wiens Troy Zernike

And here's how the Dojo may line up: Peter Allen adam baker Ryan Black Stephen Cameron(c) Salvatore Colangelo Matthew Eastburn Sean Flanagan Andrew Lankowski Leon McIntyre Darren Shi Dan Walls David Watson

Assuming the game is on tonight, tips including scores are welcome.

Using More of the Web

One of the aspects of the 'off-the-field' part of our sport that we've always been a bit slack on (in the view from the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion) is knowing what people do between Ultimate games.

There's other sports out there where players become business partners, professional contacts, old boys networks and so forth. This helps those individuals get ahead, but interestingly it also opens up opportunities to further the sport itself through mutual connections and love.

There's no magic bullet for this, but its interesting to notice more and more Australian Ultimate players turning up on professional online networks like LinkedIn. Maybe if you're building your career, or want to work out a way to use our collective non-Ultimate time for the benefit of Ultimate, then get yourself on there.

USA Ultimate's nation-wide (and remember, its a very very big nation) tournament scoring system was broad to the Mansion's attention over the weekend at the AFDA Administrators Conference (more on that to come). Go check it out if you're not familiar - its cool and fun.

And if you haven't, you should go and check this out: http://www.theaudl.com/

And while its Monday morning, thanks to the fine welcome provided to the Mansion by the Heroes Ultimate Club at its awards night last night, and congrats to the awards winners.

First Aid at Tournaments

Its a frequently asked question for a tournament organiser - what do I do about First Aid at tournaments? While First Aid provision is mandatory and a no-brainer at big and competitive events like Nationals and Halibut, for other events, here's some thoughts.

TDs need to think about First Aid at Ultimate tournaments in terms of providing a focus for players to act quickly when someone gets injured, particularly if hospitalisation is a possibility. As a sport without referees, coaches and played by amateurs and run by volunteers, we generally don't have someone else watching a game and having responsibility for acting when someone is injured.

So, much like interpreting the rules, acting on injuries is everyone's responsibility (not just teammates, subs or friends). Games should stop for as long as is required (there's often a temptation to urge someone off the field so that the game can continue - resist this).

TD's can help by providing a focus for treatment, particularly a physical one in terms of a First Aid Station that is visible/known to all and mentioned during pre-event briefing.

(Side note - TD's who play their tournament should ALWAYS rig the draw so that they play right next to frisbee central and the First Aid Station, and are therefore nearby and can notice problems even while playing in their own game).

TD's can also help by focusing on flexibility in hot weather - if your tournament weather is looking hot, be very careful about heat exhaustion. Check out the AFDA's Hot Weather policies or talk to JdR about the things he's seen.

Folks often think first about getting St John's Ambulance Volunteers or some other dedicated first aider. This is appropriate for large events, both in terms of risk, and in terms of ameliorating the cost. A general rule of thumb for Ultimate seems to be day-long events of more than 150-180 players should closely consider getting St John's. More than 200 people and you should probably do it. The cost is something like $200-250/a day, you need to book at least six weeks ahead.

For a smaller event, a highly visible First Aid kit, ice and a good Captain briefing seems adequate. By Captain briefing, I mean that at least one person from every team should know:
- who the TD and/or delegated person for First Aid is and where they will be;
- where to find the First Aid kit and ice;
- where the nearest emergency room is;
- what their option is if their team doesn't have a car to drive someone to hospital.

Make sure your First Aid kit is properly stocked.

Remember, the most common part of First Aid at Ultimate tournaments is helping the injured person with decision making and then acting on that - should this injured person go to hospital, or at least not play any further? You often don't need much fancy training for that.

Green Ultimate

... no, not the Heroes Club.

A fella is doing a small uni research project on sustainability and Ultimate.

Perhaps you can spare 10 minutes to complete the survey?

[Some Off-hand Comments] Semi-Final: Buggers vs Dojo

It's that old showdown again, ye olde rivalry, the battle of the silver-backs.

Matt Ryan has been bragging that they've got Dojo figured out since last season. Basically, fast handling, jam it through the fence, and trap side-line on D. In other words, he thinks that their usual style trumps Dojo's usual style (Huck it to Pete, controversially re-invented this season as Huck it and Play D).

He may be right. Bugs certainly have the wood on Dojo this season. Steve Cameron described this season methodically: "Bugs beat us 15-3, and Heroes beat Bugs by a point twice, so technically Heroes are 11 points better than Dojo, but we beat Heroes.. What a season!"

While every other team in the comp had their statisticians working out what certain results may mean, Dojo seemed content to coast into the finals, and get Pete back. At one stage, Fatty got worried "We will make the finals, right?" We assured him that it was set in stone.

Pete's in for Dojo, Stu's out for Bugs, and we know these teams will use the same strats as usual.

[In Lieu of Interviews] Semi-Final: Slamtown vs Heroes

Slamtown have been closely guarding their mothers in the lead-up to this weeks final, following a mid-season barrage of threats coming from the Heroes Blog. In response, Stefan has said "Everyone's talking about the Heroes, but we haven't played them since Round 1, and what was the score? 15 to... the usual. Underwhelming."

Heroes will be going into battle with out the artillery of Bevan and Myall tonight. We haven't heard of any Slamtown casualties, aside from their pre-season losses of Jody and Al. Heroes have some hype after training with Firestorm again, and no doubt SFC have been training too, if lack of power rankings is any indicator. Do either of these sides have what it takes to go all the way this season? While the stoic Bugs and Dojo grind it out again on field 1, these two teams will be looking for fast movement and mongrel D, changing the tempo throughout. Matchups look good.

What We Know About Men ...

... is that they appreciate your support when they get around to doing Movember.

Donate to Corey (Cairns Ultimate)

Donate to Chris (Heroes Ultimate)

Donate to Mystery Dan (Griffith Ultimate)

Donate to MikeRick (Heroes Ultimate)

We will try to get some photos out of them ... so that there can be some judging in the final week. Don't forget to check out the Movember tag to see some past triumphs.

What I know about Women

During a Heroes bye in the BPL season, I completed a recon mission to Oakman park to check out the talent over there (and to throw with Jmac and Carl). The Women's League (WUFL) seemed to be an environment where any woman could come and improve their game with the likes of Kailtin, Sandra, Suze, Jo, Soph, Gio etc.

Teams looked pretty evenly balanced. The four teams were lead by:

Jo Ashdown - Wonder Women (Green)
Kaitlin Richards - Supertramp (Yellow)
Moulin Rouge - Giordana Rock (Red)
Titanium Nachos - Gemma Sherridan (Grey)

In the previous season, Wonder Woman was a creation of Robyn Dowley's, representing the Heroes club with some handy pickups (Sandra). This team finished 4th. All the teams made the semi's and they won 2 games in a row to take the premiership.

This season, a different looking Wonder Women team secured their place in a 1-week final series (1vs2) with Supertramp.

Kaitlin made the following statement in the lead-up to the big night:


Wonder women are out to fluke a grand final win again this season. Although based on results during round robin games it might be a little less flukey.

Supertramp will outclass their opponents before they even step onto the field with their 70's inspired cheers and supre inspired kit.

A bias pick would be Supertramp and an unbiased would be Supertramp.

All in all there will be no fiddle playing just some good fricking frisbee.

From all reports, it was the casual attitude of Sandra and Suze, suppliers of fine cidar, and the cidar education of Lauren Hutton that helped Wonder Women toward a second victory, disposing of the Tramps in fashion, 15-6. Yes, many a brew was shared throughout the season, and Lauren has been misquoted to have said "I drank a whole beer on the way from the car to the field".

That's all I know about women.

Looking Ahead - Northern Regionals aka Queensland Ultimate Championships 2012

So earlier this week QUDA put out the call for hosts to bid for the Queensland Ultimate Open/Women's Championships (aka Northern Regionals) and the Queensland Ultimate Mixed Championships (aka Halibut).

This seems as good a time as any to start some speculation commenting everyone (and of course, with BUML over JdR needs something else to blog about on Fridays).

Here's some triggers for your wild or not so wild thoughts.

Who's going to host, and where?

After the trip to Townsville in 2011, QUDA is getting Regionals back to SEQ, but that's a big space. The Griffith Club submitted their bid to host Regionals at Nathan to QUDA this morning (oo-yeah - inside gossip - we have our fingers everywhere here at the stately mansion!). There were rumours about the event going to the Gold Coast too. Sound good? Is anyone else bidding? What's important to a good bid? QUDA aims to confirm the hosts in early December.

Who's going to play?

Open division first. At the 'top end of town', Firestorm have started their season. Hopefully we'll see FS A and B again, or is that depending on whether or not the key Heroes players feel ready to stand on their own?

Slamtown and Townsville will no doubt turn fully up, to make things interesting in terms of who else qualifies for Nationals. Will 2012 see some B teams for these venerable groups?

At the newbie end of the scale - can Cairns make it under their own name (presumably grabbing a few stray Townsvill-ites?) Griffith's bid says that if they host they'll probably be able to enter a team for the first time, assuming their best players aren't lured elsewhere. Will the event being at the end of Week 2 of lectures enable enough time for some ambitious non-Firestorm UQ players to get a mob together? MattB is crossing his fingers for embers at Gympie and Toowoomba to burn ... can they ignite with the prospect of being able to tell their mums that they're going to the State Championships?

Meanwhile, the form of the Women's division each year has really depended on the level of ambition of key players. Black Betty will no doubt be there to do what they have to to qualify for Nationals, and before then be looking to hoover up the best players they can and the numbers to make their training sessions as good as they can be. Griffith's bid mentions running a Women's Hat on Saturday and then whatever qualification games are required on Sunday - is this the way to go?

Northern Regionals vs Queensland Ultimate Championships?

What's in a name? Northern Regionals has long been the name of the event within the Ultimate community, highlighting its role as the stepping stone towards Nationals. But then any member of the Australian public - including field hirers, sponsors, and your mum - understands the concept of a sport's State Championships.


Ok, let the informed and uninformed speculation begin!

What it means

Bugs vs Slamtown

OMG, freakin' huge battle!! Classic last round clash to decide top of the table.

Heroes vs Cobras

A Heroes win puts them 2nd or 3rd, which means they get Myall and Bev for the semi, so it's a little important.

Bandidos vs Blitz

If it rains tonight, these teams will be pissed. The clash they've been waiting for.

bout time for some power rankings

amirite?

Co-Mingled, Discheads win BUML17 Finals

It was a surprisingly blowy night at Griffith last night where the Division 1 Final between the UQ Lovers and Co-Mingled; and the Division 2 Final between What the Huck? and Discheads took place.

The 'old gringos' of Co-Mingled took the gusts in their stride, putting extra spin on the disc and taking advantage of the downwind hucks that were on offer, defeating an unhungover UQ by something like 17-5.

Meanwhile, the battle between the Discheads and WTH seemed to get most of the crowd attention, with the teams trading downwind points. The grey nomads however managed to get the break late in the evening, and won 12-11.

Spirit for Division 1 was awarded to Heroes, and Division 2 to the Griffith Go-Go's.