Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan (BUSP) - Doing Better at Establishing New Leagues

So as discussed last week, thinking progresss on the Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan 2011-2013, and we here at stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion once again have the desire to share a concept and invite some comments. Note that everyone in Brisbane will get a say in the eventual Plan - think of this post as a chat at the pub.

Strategic Direction - Doing Better at Establishing New Leagues

So one of the blobs that regularly floats to the surface when discussing Brisbane Ultimate over the years that we've been paying attention is the establishment of new Leagues. Typically this involves thinking along the lines of at least one of the following:

1. it seems our current Leagues have run out of field space, so new field space should be found and a new thing set up.
2. there are lots of pesky beginners (bless them) running around - maybe we should hive them all off into a separate thing (the same thing could be said of elite players too).
3. we want to grow Ultimate, so setting up a new thing in a place and time different to what we have at present will attract new people, as well as give existing players another opportunity to play.

Each of these lines of thought seem to be articles of faith, and while essentially right are of course challengeable - an existing League can operate across multiple venues, many beginners want to play with and learn from their experienced rather than play in a baby League, new geographic areas aren't that important it seems, etc etc.

Sadly, in the recent past when we've tried to set up new Leagues, the model seems to have been Ultimate sending a few individuals off into the wilderness to find a field and make it happen. There is no willingness to change what exists to support the new.

This suggests to me that our efforts to do this in the past have been ‘opportunistic’ rather than ‘strategic’. I say sadly because these efforts seem to be somewhat doomed to failure. Jangles has been struggling manfully to get some regular northside play going for some time now. In the middle of 2009 JdR tried to get some play happening on Wednesday nights at Nathan, with little success.

Part of strategic thinking is about what sacrifices will you make for what benefits. In the past we haven’t been willing to even consider the balance, let alone actually change anything that exists (ie no sacrifice) to do more to ensure the success of any new ventures.

Strategic decision making is about weighing up what are the best short term pains for long term gains.

So here's a couple of guidelines that might go in a Brisbane Ultimate Strategy, with regards new Leagues.

Have a Solid Core
First, we need to do better than just sending a couple of keen people off into the wilderness. Perhaps the Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan needs to say that BUDA will support efforts to set up new Leagues, if:
- the proposed new League is being proposed by an established Ultimate club or group; or
- the proposed new League is the natural extension of an existing weekly Ultimate event (eg training, pickup); or
- at least three teams from an existing League are committed to the proposed new League.

Stating this clearly helps to manage the expectations of the membership, and remind keen volunteers that successfully setting up a new League in Brisbane is probably going to need more than a couple of people. You need a solid base. Even if you think you can recruit a lot of new people into the sport, you need to have enough experienced people to bring them along into a new sport that doesn’t have officials to tell you when to start, what to do, what not to do, etc etc.

So, if you want to set up a new League, you need to have a sizable number of people willing to make the sacrifice of leaving their present comfort zone of League play, for the longer term benefit

Then Look for Fields
If one of the above conditions can be met, then the next step is to secure fields at the desired weekday and time. This is purely mechanical, and everyone has ideas about where and when would be nice, as this is the easy bit (this is also why discussions previously have always jumped straight to this, ie people at the pub saying “what we really need is a league on this night in that suburb”. The hard part of this has usually been in a willingness to spend a long time looking and building potential relationships. Its very rare for a field provider to have a field just sitting there empty at a time and price we’d be interested in (of course, when this happens it’s a good thing if we’re ready to jump!).

Financial Subsidy
I haven’t talked much about obvious sacrifice yet, but we’re getting to the harder end now. In supporting new Leagues, we will need to make a clear decision about whether existing Leagues financially subsidise new Leagues or not.

In the past we haven’t really and clearly (we sort of have, and its been ad hoc). The ‘new leagues’ element of our strategic plan needs to explain this clearly one way or the other.

I think they should, because new Leagues need to be able to make a loss so as to attract players, and because players in existing Leagues benefit from having new Leagues. They benefit in terms of great legitimacy for our sport, for making it easier for new people to come into the sport, for reducing the load on existing Leagues, and for increasing their own long term choices.

It is also necessary to make the new Leagues attractive. Say for example the new League gets enough field space for 90 players, but to start it only attracts 45. If those 45 have to pay close double to support the fixed costs of the League, then this won’t be very attractive.

Hence, perhaps the form and amount of subsidy provided should be based on the budget of what the new League would charge as a player or team fee if the new League were relatively full – ie if the new League would cost $40 if it was full and had around 90 players, then you charge something close to $40 (rather than $70) even while it has 45 players for its first season and is getting established. Brisbane Ultimate as a whole adds in what it has too, taking that money from other Leagues. (Figures above are just rough for example).

Calendaring ‘Subsidy’
A second thing we haven’t done too well in the past and could do a lot more about is ensuring the best possible launch of a new League by adjusting the calendaring of other Leagues.

As discussed earlier, to succeed, new Leagues need to have a number of current players join it from the start. Current players at the moment are getting all the Ultimate they want (this is a topic for another post – are we seeing a decline in growth and the level of volunteering because the old motivation of wanting to grow Ultimate so you could play more yourself is now gone?), so there are few reasons to join a new League.

In planning new Leagues then, we need to launch them at times when there isn’t a lot of other Ultimate on, and going a step further, actively reduce the amount of other Ultimate available.

Again, obviously this involves some sort of sacrifice for current players – eg having your League season start moved and length possibly shortened for reasons outside your immediate League.

A lot of the above will annoy people. These are hard decisions to make. But this is what real strategic planning is about. This is what we have been missing in Brisbane, with our general disorganised ad hoc approach, and we’re getting left behind by the other capitals around Australia.

Of course, I’ll caveat again that a strategic plan is intended to be a guide. Stuff can change and you need to be able to go with it – eg Oakman Park just offers us Wednesday nights out of the blue. Equally, a strategic plan is ideally representative about a series of decisions a group has made, about the sacrifices its willing to make for the goals it is most eager to attain. To make Oakman Park work, where Northside and Nathan Wednesday’s didn’t, we need to think outside our present box.

As usual, comment lines are open.

Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan (BUSP) - New Player Friendly

So folks (including the Lord of the stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion) are starting to work on the Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan 2011-2013. The process is going to be something like a small group doing some thinking and writing together, before putting a draft document out for everyone to consider and provide feedback on, probably via a meeting of something.

To help smooth some of this, occasionally there'll be some posting here on the blog, being as it is a central point for many members of the "chattering classes" of Brisbane Ultimate. So today, a ramble about the importance of new players and what we could be our strategies for getting more and managing them better.

One important thing to keep in mind - the BUSP is not going to change things tomorrow. Some things included in the BUSP may occur at the start of next year, others may be agreed to be good ideas but deferred until 2013. The timing of change is one of our key strategic issues, after all!

Strategic Direction – Making All Leagues ‘New Player Friendly’

There is regularly talk about how to integrate new players into Brisbane Ultimate. Its taken as an article of faith that we want new people to join our sport, and we generally do a good job of this, if in a fairly ad hoc manner.

Thinking about how we integrate new players is frequently tied up with how to manage ‘beginners’. I’m keen to separate out these ideas, as discussions about ‘beginners’ lead us to a belief in the need for beginner leagues run by kind hearted experienced players, which is valid but only takes us in one direction.

At the least, the problem with a concept of a ‘beginner league’ falls over when the beginner league goes into a second season and most people who’ve gotten used to playing at that place and time aren’t beginners any more!

‘New players’ thus includes ensuring we welcome people who are familiar with Ultimate and new to Brisbane. As Ultimate continues to gain wider recognition world-wide, and as people continue to come and go from Brisbane, this will be a growing flow of players. We need to be new player focused to ensure these people come and play Ultimate with us, rather than taking up other options competing for their time in their new home.

My thinking in terms of strategic plan 2011-2013 is that we endeavour to define how all Leagues in Brisbane can be "new player friendly". If we establish this, then we have something that we can try to do consistently across the different places and times to play in Brisbane, as well as carry from season to season.

I also say that by ‘all Leagues being new player friendly’ I include BPL or any ‘elite’ League. The difference between BPL and other Leagues is that the LD puts emphasis on whether new players are welcome onto Captains. A BPL Captain could decide to take on a rank beginner (and in practice may well do that if they have a superb athlete who they think they can train up quickly). In contrast, in our ‘non-elite’ Leagues, efforts are make by LDs in cooperation with Captains to ensure that all new players can find a place on an existing team, or if numbers require it, new teams will be set up specifically to accommodate new players, often with leadership support from spirited experienced players.

So, to be new player friendly all Leagues could (and please remember, I propose these as general directions, not iron-clad orders):

· Program at least one night before the start of each season’s fixtures, where new players are specifically encouraged to attend.

This allows new players to have a no obligation taste, find the fields and get a feel for the League, learn to play, to find a team, etc etc. It gives existing players an easy way to introduce friends etc to the League. (Even an elite league would benefit from this, as players from could give playing at a higher level a go.)

This week (ideally two really) also helps LDs and Captains to get the season and their teams together, and returning players to get going again.

Leagues can do this how they want. Some might run it on a team basis – ie training nights. Some might run specific ‘Learn to Play’ if there are experienced players/coaches willing to teach. Some might run pickup at least so there’s an opportunity to turn up and have a go.

I also say 'program' in that if one of these nights is rained out, it isn't 'replayed' - its just too bad and fixtures should still start on time.

[a strategic alternative might be to not do this, but instead make a much bigger effort to use and support ‘pickup games’ to fulfil this avenue]

· Have the establishment of multiple divisions as a long term goal for any League

I guess it’s a given that all Leagues seek to grow, and that they will if necessary seek multiple locations to support this growth (or at least, this would be discussed in other parts of the strategic plan). Multiple divisions multiply the entry points for new players. They also strengthen retention of players, as players get to play at a level that suits them – they get a more consistent experience from week to week, and can aspire to improve and move up. Multiple divisions also seem to be easier to manage than a single big one.

A rule of thumb for Brisbane Ultimate could be that any competition that achieves 8 or more reliable teams should get cracking on planning to split into two divisions. Equally, if we have two competitions on the same night and within a reasonable distance of each other, then once they achieve a certain collective size, we should encourage them to merge and ‘divisionise’ themselves.

· All League seasons should start around the same time of year

Aside from the obvious of being able to do a single promotional effort, and also making it straight forward for individuals to move between Leagues. Leagues starting around the same time helps new players get into the League that’s right for them. [this assumes a separate discussion that agrees that LDs cooperate to plan the year together across all of Brisbane]

· Look to have more and shorter seasons, rather than fewer longer ones

There is great benefit for LDs to have longer seasons. A large part of your admin effort goes to getting the season started, teams sorted etc etc. Ongoing players like longer seasons too, as they want routine rather than the non-routine of seasons finishing and starting. Frequently they also express the desire to ‘play every team’ for social or competitive reasons.

But, the start of the season is the best time for new players to join. So increasing the number of starts will increase the opportunities for new players. Draws can be constructed to manage this.

Shorter seasons also tend to be cheaper in pure dollar teams (although not necessarily value for money due to slight loss of economy of scale). A 16 week season might cost $160, where a 6 week season costs $60. Which one is more appealing to a new player?

· Leagues should have mechanisms so that new players can join during the season

As the sport gets more competitive, so too do Captains and players want to see consistency in rosters etc through the season. But, to be welcoming to new players, we need to have mechanisms that allow these people to join during a season. The nature of this should vary of course depending on each League’s circumstances – eg an elite League might have an LD acting as an impartial drafter, who allocates new players to specific teams based on their sense of ‘balance’. Another League may leave it to Captains to recruit as they wish during seasons (typically people bringing along their mates), based on what this means for their individual team’s ‘time on the field’ and so forth. There could also be fee reductions etc for the new player and/or a team that takes them on. What is important is that new players are not turned away.


I'll conclude by reminding that the above is only one train of thought in terms of the BUSP, and the ideas here need to be compared to others and decisions made (the most important thing in doing a strategic plan is that you make hard decisions and commit to sticking to them for the next three years). So for example in saying "have more and shorter seasons" to make it easier for new players, we would have to balance that against a desire to have "round robin + finals seasons" to support competitive play, "only one or two seasons" to reduce administrative load, and so forth.

Anyway, ramble out. Comment lines are open - minds are also open to all ideas!

Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan (BUSP) - Brisbane on the National Stage

So as discussed in previous weeks, discussion continues on the Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan (BUSP) 2011-2013.

Part of the focus so far has been on League play, and equally some boundaries about gray areas between Brisbane Ultimate and state-wide/Queensland Ultimate have been discussed. For example, for 2011-2013 at least, the BUSP won't be talking about schools Ultimate or fostering tournaments. These are jobs for QUDA as they are relevant statewide.

But one gray area that's still being considered is whether and how League play has a role in supporting Brisbane on the national stage?

At the moment is is a policy void for QUDA as well as BUDA. It's also pretty challenging as most key Ultimate volunteers are passionate about this area.

At the moment, this sort of thing is left to these grouping of players themselves. Players come together, organise their clubs, training, shirts, etc - all separately from the other things that are going on in Brisbane Ultimate.

I would love to see some strategic plan by the governing bodies about this (even if the strategic plan could well be "we'll leave this to clubs themselves to sort").

But I think that many folks see the logic in strengthening the links between League play and Brisbane on the national scene.

Does this include the BUSP supporting development camps, training, coaching etc? Do we make money in Leagues and put it into supporting our representative times (like practically every other sport in the country)? Does the BUSP commit us as a group to aiming to have one Brisbane representative club in each national division with the very best players campaigning together? Or should we try to have lots of clubs each developing themselves through Leagues all the way through to pushing onto the national stage if they can?

A theme or thread for the BUSP could well be something like "build a base that supports Brisbane teams being competitive on the national and international scene" or "make Brisbane a city that great players want to move to."

I'll put one big reminder or caveat on any of this discussion. The BUSP aims to run 2011 to 2013. Decisions about things like the above may not necessarily "come in to force" on 1 Jan 2011. Some folks are already thinking about their national and international campaigns for next year. But maybe we can work out where we want to be by 2013 or later, and work backwards and forwards to that.

Future of Brisbane Ultimate - Upcoming BUDA AGM

So JdR posted the following email to the BUDA-yahoogroups list this morning. As the Brisbane Ultimate Blog loves discussion, have a read and post your comments below (click on the word "comments".

Hi everyone,

I am writing to you to invite you to take an interest in the future of Ultimate in Brisbane.

The QUDA/BUDA AGM will be held during the Northern Regionals tournament on Sat/Sun 13-14 March (exact date and time to be advertised).

For couple of years, the BUDA (Brisbane Ultimate Disc Association) has been relatively defunct (bar the sterling efforts of Adilia Murabito as BUDA Treasurer and the League Directors of BUML, WUFL and BPL).

While many people assume QUDA "runs" the Leagues in Brisbane, at present it is limited to providing general support to League Directors much in the same way it supports Townsville and Gold Coast Ultimate. QUDA does provide specific assistance to Leagues in terms of field provider liasion (that's been my job), but generally, League Directors have run their Leagues independently (and done a very good job, I might add - this email isn't about the way Leagues are run - this is about the future).

But it has been frustrating to me as a player and administrator that Brisbane Ultimate has lacked anyone taking a long-term and Brisbane-wide view to supporting the existing Leagues, and developing new Leagues and playing opportunities. Other cities are powering forward to bring new players in and improve the quality of play, but I feel Brisbane is lagging.

The coming AGM is a chance for the membership to discuss whether and how to correct this. The BUDA part of the AGM will involve electing a BUDA General Committee. The General Committee includes a BUDA President, BUDA Treasurer, BUDA Secretary and BUDA Vice President, as well as the Directors of BUML, BPL and WUFL (who are technically appointed by the Committee). There is also room for people to be elected as General Members of the BUDA Committee.

I hope there are people out there who will step up into these roles for 2010-2011.

If we are successful in electing a BUDA General Committee, then, to make the will of the membership clear to the new Committee, I will propose a motion that the BUDA General Committee:
- meet at least bi-monthly over the coming year;
- develop and implement policy and arrangements to provide support and oversight to the BUML, BPL and WUFL Leagues and Directors;
- agree an Memorandum of Understanding with QUDA to demarcate responsibilities for Ultimate in the Brisbane area; and,
- draft, consult on, and approve (by September 2010), a strategic plan, covering the growth and development of Leagues in Brisbane for the period 2011-2016.

If we are unsuccessful in electing a BUDA General Committee, then I will instead propose a motion to the membership that the QUDA Executive take on the role of the BUDA General Committee for 2010-11, and that the QUDA Executive provide support and oversight to the BUML, BPL and WUFL Leagues and Directors, and prepare the strategic plan outlined above.

I am not very keen for QUDA to take on this role, as it has a lot of other work to do. But I would rather make it clear that someone is taking responsibility on behalf of everyone in Brisbane, for the future of Brisbane Ultimate.

I should add that it is equally valid for people to vote against these motions, and leave us with the status quo. At the least, we will have had the debate and come to an agreement, rather than continued with the present ambiguity of people assuming that someone else being responsible.

Thanks for reading this. I would welcome further discussion, either via email direct to myself, email to everyone on this list (if you think your points are of interest to the hundreds of people on the list), or on the various internet discussion areas, including the Brisbane Ultimate Blog.

JdR

So What Would a "Brisbane Ultimate Stategic Plan" Involve?

Stepping out of the normally impersonal stately Brisbane Ultimate Blog mansion here - yes, its a chat on the street with JdR.

So following this post and associated email and talking to folks, I was asked by a couple of people as to what this might look like.

The most important thing that I want to see if a *process*. Even if this thing comes up with things I completely disagree with, I will be happy if we've done something through a good process.

This strategic plan thing is about deciding as a *volunteer* group where we want Ultimate in Brisbane to go in the future, what we think we should prioritise to make this happen, and by implication, what sacrifices we’re willing to make to make this happen (by sacrifice, I mean “instead of putting my volunteer effort into doing solely what I think we should do on my own, I will aim to cooperate and put my volunteer effort towards the things the group (of which I am a part) is keen on.”)

Ie – this is about generating a collective agreement about what we want and what we want to do about it, and the volunteer group committing to it, and in particular not revisiting it unless things change drastically.

To try to get people to abstract from their personal commitments to the present (or the current status quo), its also typical of a strategic plan that it doesn’t start for a while. Hence, my thinking for this one is that we do the work in the second quarter of 2010, and implement for 2011-2013.

A plan like this is also desirably consistent and relatively simple. Consistent so that a new person can pick it up and understand it, and also to harmonise people’s effort over time (ie not waste effort doing something that doesn’t fit, distracts people or just plain goes against the effort of other people). Simple so that you don’t over-do it.

Committing to it is also about conserving effort. If we agree now our plan for the next three years, then we’re also saying we’re not going to spend time and effort doing this again until its done or something drastically unexpected changes.

I’m not really wed to what the Plan should involve – the important bit is that we have a process and that people are willing to give and take and agree to something that is “best for Ultimate in Brisbane”.

I could leave this post here, because as I've written above, the important thing to me is that we do it. Its secondary what it contains. But then I'm willing to offer some ideas on that too, to sketch out some things that I think people might want to address.

What is the goal of Ultimate in Brisbane? We need to discuss this and see if we all have a common goal. Personally, I think it is ‘growth’ in player numbers. Other possible goals – doing well on the National stage, developing quality play, having fun, increasing legitimacy of the sport, establishing stability/consistency in administration/fields/etc, giving existing players more opportunities to play – all of these can be interpreted in terms of growth

What is the scope of such a plan? I’d suggest the focus of the plan be about Leagues in Brisbane - things that are conceivably under the control of a single administrative structure (hopefully BUDA). Tournaments and other things that happen within the Brisbane geographic area are things that are accessible to non-Brisbane players, or need to be consistent with things that are done outside of Brisbane. So these other things can be left to QUDA or AFDA to concern themselves with. So we're talking here about BPL, WUFL and BUML and possibly local pickup. UQL could be in if the UQ Club wants to.

What are some of the key issues? If people are agreed that growth of League play is the goal, then this leads us into a variety of issues.

Do we grow the existing Leagues, or do we establish new Leagues, or do we do both?

I think in reality we do both. A “League” is to a degree an administrative construct. What we need to do to grow though is to establish new playing centres in time and space – these may well be part of a larger administrative structure (eg part of a larger League like BUML) or be a separate League sitting under BUDA.

Growing existing Leagues is easiest, as you’ve got the administration in place, you just need to cope with more people. Currently, we don’t really try very hard to grow our existing Leagues in my humble opinion. League growth has really just come from “Ultimate is a good product” (aka word of mouth aka people liking it and bringing their friends along).

To grow existing Leagues at a speed or rate beyond this, you can prioritise (ie pick one or two to focus on):
- effort on advertising/promotion (eg recruitment)
- effort to ensure the existing League is well run (eg clear start and finish dates)
- effort to support the creation of new teams (eg incentivise experienced players to help)
- effort to develop the quality of play (eg coaching, establish divisions, recognise on field success)

I’d also say that in Brisbane we do a poor job of establishing new Leagues. There is a sense that if someone wants to establish a new League, then they’re sent off into the wilderness on their own to make a go of it. Unsurprisingly, they fail or recognise its not even worth trying. Its very very hard to do everything on your own - find fields, recruit new players, try to persuade experienced players to come over, actually run the League - all while still trying to play your own Ultimate and do whatever else you do with your time.

Setting up a new League in my mind requires more effort, support and possibly sacrifice from the wider Ultimate community. This could include:
- survey existing players to find out where and when they would commit to a new League. Essentially, who is sick of driving the distance they do to play in a new League, or who would prefer to play on a different night?
- use existing League money to subsidise the new League to help it establish itself. This may be controversial but we generally agree we all benefit from more Ultimate. Making the new League a lot cheaper while it gets established (this may take several seasons) is essential, really, and making existing Leagues slightly more expensive to do this is reasonable if growth is the aim.
- change existing Leagues to make ‘space’ for the new League, so that it can attract existing teams and players. Eg, change a night, delay the start date of an existing League so that existing players will go try the new League

This brings me to a common point of discussion at the pub is that if only BPL and WUFL (which have separate player pool in Open and Women) were on the same night, then that would create a spare night for a new league to start and prosper in. Exactly true. People find this quite hard to approach though, as we’re pretty comfortable with the way things are.

The challenge for putting both on the same night is a) inertia - which can be countered by agreeing now that this change desirable, but also agreeing that the change wouldn’t come in to force until some time later (eg early 2011) and b) fields - for which I’d put in the plan that if we can find enough fields to put BPL and WUFL on the same night (it’d be nice if they were near each other, but not necessary), then that’s the night they’d move to – ie if someone can find 5-6 Ultimate pitches worth of space on Tuesday night, then both Leagues can be on Tuesday. If someone can find the same space on Thursday, then move to Thursday. Those who don't want to move are now motivated to find fields on their prefered night ....

I think most people agree that BUML can and will grow, and the long term goal is to increase the number of divisions so that people can get quality games. Having individuals just play one division, and establishing promotion/relegation in this League would improve competition. Having a goal of standard maximum number of teams per division also would help manage seasons and support levels of quality (eg max 6 teams in Div 1, max 12 in Div 2, any number in Div 3).

I've also written and spoken elsewhere of where I think BPL could go in terms of working towards two divisions, clubs where individuals compete and are developed, and where those clubs compete in areas outside BPL.

I say a "goal" here, and this is an important point throughout - that we're setting a general place we want to get to, without necessarily saying how we'll get there or when, or even what the goal will look like in detail.

A further challenge for Brisbane Ultimate is I think generating the desired level of volunteer resources. In one element, there is competition for these resources as many volunteers in Brisbane are attracted and able to act on the state (QUDA) or national (AFDA) level. Many people have recognised that establishing a ‘club structure’ can help resolve this. People will generally volunteer for something that is ‘close’ to them. At the moment, not many people feel close to the 400 or so regular players in Brisbane. But they would feel closer to the 10-50 or so people in their club. Other cities have been very successful in establishing formal clubs to motivate people to help and make their competitions easier to manage. Brisbane should consider this closely, and work out what might be best suited to it.

A more formal Club structure can also improve the quality of Ultimate played. Eg people are more willing to help develop a fellow clubmate than they are a random stranger. On the other hand, we need to balance this with our roots of being welcoming to everyone, and the strength that we get from being one large common and friendly community.


So there's some of the things I think I'm talking about in terms of a Brisbane Ultimate Strategic Plan.

a) Its a record of lengthy discussion amongst interested people, followed by an agreement about how to move forward on our shared desires and goals.

b) And I've gone ahead and sketched some of the things I'd like to see discussed - that I think we want to grow, and how we want to grow by giving more support to new Leagues, enhancing our existing Leagues, and establishing clubs more clearly to take the volunteer load of recruiting and developing players and managing competiton.

Thanks for reading, and having an interest in more than "I just want to play."

WFDF2008 Ultimate Rules Update: No More Middle

So we're currently in transition around Australia into the 2008 WFDF Rules. The rules of Ultimate are updated periodically, primarily to make them clearer to Ultimate referees (ie everybody). Leagues are changing over at their own pace, but Halibut will be run on the updated rules.

But we figured we'd have a go at noting a few changes here at the blog (although there's a handy change list available, drafted by our own Rubes).

One notable change is that the "middle" call, once available when the Pull went out on the full, is now gone.

The receiving team now has two options: the Brick Mark (see out tip below for finding that), or the point closest to the field of play where the disc went out.

Here's the updated rule:

7.13: If the disc becomes out-of-bounds without first touching the playing field or an offensive player, the thrower may establish the pivot either at the brick point or at the spot where the disc was last partly over the playing field. The brick option must be signalled by the intended thrower before picking up the disc by fully extending one arm above their head.

Note that the definition of the playing field is:

Playing field: The area including the playing field proper and the end zones, but excluding the perimeter lines.

So here's a few diagrams showing some scenarios - the red line is the flight of the Pull going out on the full. The green lines show the two options for the receiver to put the disc into play. (Sorry we can't get the rest of it perfect - time is eluding us here today)

1. Pull goes out the back:

You can either bring it up to the BACK of the endzone (not the front), or to the Brick mark (I know which one will be used 98% of the time!).

2. Pull goes out the endzone sideline:

You can bring it to the sideline where it went out (not the front corner), or to the Brick mark.

3. Pull goes out the sideline:


You can bring it to the sideline where it went out (whether its in front of or behind the Brick mark), or to the Brick mark.

I suspect the rule of thumb when teaching strategic application of the rules to new players is "take it to the brick, unless we're way upfield."

Aussie Beach Ho's

Well, that title ought to lift our google-search-traffic (not that I approve of such language).

Once a week we're looking to give the Brisbane Ultimate Blog over to a guest blogger, and this week we have the delightful 'Queen of Diamonds' herself, Danielle Smyth, who is recently returned from the World Ultimate Beach Championships in Brazil. Take it away Danielle!

“You know you’re in trouble when your face goes numb” (Bree Edgar)...with a comment like that, this was going to be one hell of a week at the World Beach Ultimate Championships in Brazil.

I arrived in Maceio only to find that my bag decided not to, but as Notty had my playing gear and…hell no cleats were going to be needed…it was time to just kick back, have a beer and enter tourney-land! The Aussie teams were staying opposite the fields…well done Matt Ward for organising this piece of strategic genius! The two main playing arenas were apparently cemented football areas, so they knocked down the goal posts and flooded them with sand (it definitely felt different to run in than the beach fields). The three beach fields were therefore on the beach (how novel)...and all had a slight incline, which made it interesting!

Funniest/greatest bits:
Winning bronze and winning spirit with FULL POINTS!

Supporting ‘our’ boys (so many proud Qlders) to victory in the final against the Philippines!! Both teams were often playing at the same time during the week, so we didn’t have many chances to see them in action…they were awesome!!

Mica emailing the team the week before saying that she had been in a car accident and may be wearing a neck brace, but don’t worry, she has since played some Ultimate and can still layout…during the week Mica was a layout queen!!!

I had brought some green and gold zinc to get all patriotic, everyone got into the spirit and wrote OI down their arms…but as I walked towards the team I innocently asked why we are all writing ‘HO’ on our arms…we then referred to ourselves as the Aussie Ho’s for the rest of the week and incorporated it into many game chants.

Singing Waltzing Matilda at the top of our voices before our semi-final against the USA and Leanne and Kaz (Karen Palmer) creating a couple of songs for us to sing to the other teams after a few of the games!

The final party night: So many stories, here’s a teaser: food fight, Brazilian reggae band, naked Ultimate, Club 504…

From a personal experience, being the least experienced on the team (and, cough, the oldest), I was inspired beyond belief by how supportive everyone was towards each other. It was clear from the start that we were all there to play great ultimate, improve as a team over the week and were dedicated to having a great time. Leanne King was a fantastic choice for captain and was cool headed and consistently came up with positive strategies for when things got a bit hectic on the field. Apart from being awesome on the field, Notty also got landed with being manager for BOTH teams (and did a brilliant job) and also got some sponsorship from her workplace! The final time the team got together we sat in a circle and passed around a coconut to drink from. The idea was to say something about a person who inspired you throughout the week and pass them the coconut to drink from…we could have sat there for hours, the team really clicked and it was clear that everyone played their all and got inspiration from everyone else…awe bless!

Danielle and Notty have heaps of photos over at Facebook ...

The Women's Team with their US Semi-Final opponents:

The Open Team:

Bit of laying about:

QUDA Confirms - Go (Way) North Young Man!

QUDA President Matt Boevink confirmed today that Northern Regionals 2011 (the Open Division anyway) will be held in Townsville on the weekend of 19-20 February.

Matt is encouraging all eligible South-East Queensland (and northern NSW) young males to book their flights asap. "You'll get on a team - you just get yourself there!" Return flights are presently in the realm of $150-200.

Townsville are promising to host a Regionals to remember, offering billets and airport pickups to everyone and promising a hot hot party to remember.

Word on the street outside the Firestorm international headquarters were that a few folks were peeved at having to spend a few more precious bucks than expected for what they'd view as their 'automatic' entry to Nationals 2011. However, the flamers seem to have sucked that up with confirmation of the BCI in Canberra in March (between Regionals and Nationals - remember Nationals is three weeks early next year) and recognition they've got to qualify like everyone else. No word yet on Firestorm B, but it seems unlikely that the brains trust will be interested in bringing newer players along when their focus will be laser-tight on trying to bring home a medal at their home Nats. If you otherwise missed it, training starts on 2 November!

Our pals Corey and Jay up in Cairns reckon they'll be able to put the bones of a team together - but anyone from SEQ who's looking to give them a hand will be very welcome. Having such a major event only four hour's drive away may be what gets Cairns Ultimate permanently on the map!

Senior players on the Gold Coast face a tough decision very soon - try to gain a spot on the Firestorm team in pursuit of personal glory, or dig deep and get the Slamtown Flatball Club first to Townsville and then onto Nats. Any early decision here may be important in attracting Brisbane based players who are looking for an option other than Firestorm, although the ambitions of key personalities just over the border in Byron Bay may be influential in the end.

Those in Brisbane may also want to look towards the Heroes, who are also commiting to Regionals and hold genuine hopes of qualifying for Nationals. The Heroes Senior Executive (now properly elected and all) are putting together a strategic plan that will take the Heroes to World Clubs 2014 in Columbia, and the next six months will be vital to developing talent.

The big winners of course are the TownsVillains in gaining a local qualification event after spending the six previous years travelling south. Hosting what's effectively the State titles is a great headline in recruiting and promoting Ultimate in Townsville, and of course they'll be able to put the absolute best of their locals on the field. A 'Townsville B' team is planned too, so as to begin exposing the future of Townsville Ultimate to some high level competition.

QUDA has indicated at this stage that it expects to keep the Women's division in Brisbane.

It's all building up to Nationals 2011!

Late Mail - BPL Grand Final Tips and Early Heckles

Following our preview yesterday, the following late mail came in:

From Julian 'Big Jules' Sacre (and apologies we didn't get this posted with the others yesterday):

"Bugs to win in a close one. The Dojo have had a great season and taken out top
spot on the ladder through a reasonably reliable offence. But I just cant see
them getting enough blocks against a bigger, faster Bugs team to win the game.
Dojo have had some success with their zone D, but Buggers have plenty of
reliable handlers and good poppers to get through it. Look for Dojo to trade
some early points by working the unders and getting some break side throws out.
First turnover to be an Eastburn 'huck to Jesus' which allows the Bugs to get
their first break of the game. Don't be surprised if Dojo start to come back
after half, before a strategic Buggers timeout stalls their momentum and JRay
slows the game right down by walking toward any disc lying on the ground at a
pace that would place him second in a race with Eric the Eel. Final score: Bugs
14 Dojo 11. "

Meanwhile, the following was offered anonymously via a very weird looking email address:

Top 7 Reasons for Tipping a Buggers Win
1. Grand Final Form – 7 wins from 10 appearances, including 5 of the last 6 Premierships.
2. Have the best player in the country at the moment.
3. Need something to update their blog with.
4. George will cheer out loud (I think). Trevor will grin even more sillily.
5. More girls supporting this team – no idea why. I guess they like the shy ones.
6. Better outfits, including matching shorts and stuff.
7. TD Stu will want the game over quick so he can drink some of that tasty beer.

Top 7 Reasons for a Tipping a Dojo Win
1. Season Form – Undefeated this season. Beat Buggers 13-11 in Round 1 and drew 11-11 in Round 2.
2. Not carrying injuries into Final, as they did in previous appearances. Semi against the soft Lovers no doubt helped. But generally less biff this season suits the Dojo.
3. More backbone this season – some big comebacks after being several points down.
4. Not so distracted by their video camera this season? “Look mum, we’ve lost again” won’t be part of the show.
5. Additional nervousness of driving to St Lucia means team actually turns up on time.
6. It would be a cheap way to feel like you’re on LSD to see Stephen Cameron hold up the RC Craddock Trophy.
7. It’s about &*^%ing time they won one!

Top 7 Hecklers to Watch For
1. Piers – reuses funny things he’s heard Pottsy say.
2. Jray – if calling amusing fouls counts as heckling his opponents.
3. JdR – volume can count as much as wit. “Champagne Ultimate”.
4. J-Mac – not very articulate, but “substandard” is his new word. Encourage him to use it.
5. Wetnose – but only if you like the words “fuck”, “hammer” and “Jangles” repeated
often. See also T-Ross.
6. Stefan – he’s playing, but if you heckle him, he’ll heckle you back, only harder. He’s like the Charles Bronson of heckling. Eastburn is also playing, but I'm not sure if saying "Not" after being heckled counts as a heckle itself.
7. Me – anonymous heckling, particularly using the internet, is great fun.

Ultimate Summit 2010: The Ramblin'

So tomorrow afternoon the glorious Maylin has invited all and sundry to a few drinks and a gasbag about Ultimate in Brisbane over the next few years.

If you're not going to make it, why not post a few comments?

To get things going, here's nine things I'd like to see happening by 2010 (if not before), and a bit of strategy about how to get there. I'm sure a lot of this isn't new or original - I'm just blurting it all out there in one place. This is all personal, and quite probably uninformed, and of course I'm not committed to any of it. They're just ideas. Do what you want, people, and don't worry about me!

The thing I tend to be really committed to in Ultimate Administration? If someone wants to do something, don't fuss too much about what that something is – just get out of their way and let them do it their way!

1. Open and Women's League on the same night.
This would increase the sociability interaction, and free up a night for another mixed League and/or training. To get there, someone just needs to make the decision to move. If you wanted to do it soon, then I'd go for moving Women's to Thursday at Annerley, just because there's scope for field space. But there's nothing to say both Leagues couldn't move to a new place, or to a new night all together.

2. Open League having two divisions.
I think BPL's success indicates that there's lots of guys who want to play hard Ultimate, and I think a default goal is to keep increasing the numbers. To cope, new teams get formed, and its fair to say, the standard may drop a bit. But in the longer term, the numbers can be converted into two tiers, with the current BPL continuing, but with a four team Super-League or A-Grade sitting above it. I'd like to see A and BPL (Reserve Grade?) teams linked through a Club system where possible (that is, each Club in A Grade should also have a Reserve Grade team) to foster development and so forth. The A Grade might even be limited down to four teams to keep it very high end, a lots of pressure on individual players to retain their spot in that Grade. While the two divisions would stay on the same night to allow easy player movement between the two, the times might be staggered a bit so that teams can support their fellow club members (for example, an earlier start for the second division, and a 30-60 minute later start for the first division).

How to get there? Keep recruiting and possibly tolerate weaker players coming in for the next season or two. Have teams talk to each other if they start to get too many numbers, so that new teams can be formed and so that teams don't stop recruiting their mates and so on.

3. Women's League following a BPL-style development path
Its always easiest to comment on what you know least about so forgive me, but from the outside, Women's League looks stalled, with just the same level of numbers and skill from season to season over the last few years. The critical mass doesn't seem to have come, and while there's new beginners each season, people are also leaving.

I think its time to move the focus from recruiting beginners (with lots of learn to play, training drills together, and hat-style teams) to forming fairly permanent teams and having a regular League. Keep recruiting beginners of course, but focus on providing a good experience for everyone, particularly to women who come across from Mixed Leagues - make them want to stay.

When BPL kicked off, as I understand it, it formed three teams and tolerated byes because that was the right number for the players they had and the level of play they wanted. Forming fairly permanent teams gets people recruiting for their teams, and encourages people to build commitment to turning up regularly and for each new season.

4. Two divisions of Mixed Social
The Monday night League's growth is heading this way, with 10 teams now. Once the numbers get to enough for twelve teams, I'd like to see two divisions here, with again an A-Grade and a B-Grade, with the latter being considered open to beginners and to entirely new teams. I've offered the suggestion in the past that if this League can get to 12 teams by the end of 2008, then the start of 2009 would be a good time to split into the two tiers of six, using the results of the final season of 2008. If the plan can be announced late in 2008, and if which teams are going into which tiers can be confirmed in December, then this gives until late January for people to work out what they want to do.

To me, the two divisions would feature promotion and relegation from season to season, with the winner of B-Grade going up, and the wooden spooner of A grade dropping down (this is different to a two division BPL,.where I'd see players moving up and down, not teams). Any time a new team is formed or entered, they would start in B grade, with A grade staying a consistent six teams (at least until we see see 16 teams running around on a Monday night.

As in the past, the eventual pressures on field space can be managed via development of two time-slots, or finding additional fields.

5. Gold Coast League
I think this is a given, and its great that Stef is about to kick off the first steps, and I've ranted about it before somewhere else on this blog.

6. No more "night's off" between seasons
Its kind of standard to have a few weeks off between seasons. Part of this is to give League Organisers a bit of a break, and fair enough to them. Part of it is because it’s a hangover from days when it was the only League in town, and there weren't enough people to sustain all the teams all the time. The numbers are now there on most teams that they can handle if people are away or take a week or two off during the season.

I think we need to change this mould and use these weeks – make sure the lights are on and the fields are available, and factor the cost into the preceding League's fees. Depending on the League, set these between-League-nights up as two weeks of Learn to Play (perhaps best suited for Women's and Mixed nights), encourage teams to come down and train (great for the week before the season starts, to build up the vibe), or just announce that pickup is on (which is an excellent way to let new people get a flavour for the league, and let people play with people they normally play against. I think BPLers and Monday night socialers would love the opportunity for some pickup play). Yes, there are people who will take this time off, but we may as well facilitate it if people want to keep up their regularly weekly night.

Of course, the December/January break should stay there because of the general social disruption, although it wouldn't hurt if each year someone looked at the calendar, picked out which night of the week isn't directly affected by the public holidays, and booked some fields and lights (for example, for the end of this year, a Summer Hat League could run be run very neatly on Mondays 15, 22, 29 December 2008 and 6, 13 and 20 January 2009). This break is nonetheless a great time to foster strategic/structural changes to Leagues (as noted under Monday night social above).

7. Fostering a Club-based scene
A few months back, some folks asked me to think up a few ideas for a Clubs policy for QUDA, and I recently dumped it on them (and its way longer than this). Now, I'm not a real fan of people being fairly permanently attached to the same Club of people – something I've liked about Ultimate relative to other sports is that we're all a community together. But as the community has grown, we're not a face-to-face group any more – nobody knows everyone, even within particular Leagues. So I'm coming around to thinking we need to get a new band in there, and Clubs fit the bill. And we're seeing it in reality anyway – the BPL Clubs, and most of the YUFL teams are getting very very solid. Look at UQ, with its own development league, two teams in BPL, another team in YUFL.

So lets foster more of that, and have Clubs going that next step from organising shirts and paying team-based fees, to having a bank account, doing some fundraising (by holding events like tournaments), linking up with other teams to support each other (for example, Open teams and Women's teams aligning, or teams aligning across divisions to recruit and promote players up and down).

Let's see UQ getting game enough to buy, store and sell 200 nice UQ shirts (and heck, why not shorts and socks too), selling them to players and using them across their BPL, YUFL and (one day) WUFL teams over a few years, and having a real identity of supporting each other, running tournaments to raise money to make their shirts cheaper for members, having Club Coaches, filling out a social calendar, and so forth.

And lets see other groups following that model (and those that don't have captive University development pool populations like UQ does, can be looking more closely at High Schools some would see the Buggers doing at the moment via Mike and Spinner).

8. More Coaching and Training
At the elite end, aside from developing and limiting numbers in A Leagues to foster development through week-in, week-out high level play, a great way to improve the quality of Ultimate is through Coaching.

Coaching also helps a lot at the learn-to-play end. If you've ever watched an "old hand" teach newbies, and then watch a qualified coach, you'll see a big difference.

So let's be doing what we can to get more people interested in and qualified to Coach Ultimate. There's a whole bunch of ideas here that I can't unpack right now, but its all doable.

Connected to Coaching. There's been steps the last few years, and I hope that by 2010 there is always some sort of training night, year round, going on. Whether it is fostered by particular Clubs, or is an 'everyone welcome' thing (a bit like Firestorm do now), its really valuable. Fostering Coaches will foster people wanting to have training and to benefit from it.

9. Sunday Pickup
It still pains me that in Brisbane we don't have a regular and large pick-up game in Brisbane – as a pathway/route into Ultimate; to have a break from disciplined play; and also as a way to maintain the old-school informality of Ultimate.

Having some well-known and reliable regular pick-up on allows potential new players to have look or get a taste of Ultimate, without any pressure to continue.

It also helps to free people from the 'shackles' of disciplined team play and stretch themselves – it’s a concern at the moment that we're too busy teaching people to stack and dump and think and conform, and they aren't getting the chance to run about and huck and have fun.

Regular pickup also provides a space for people to see old mates and make new friends across Leagues and nights and genders and so forth. Pickup gets random people who have the time to have a game together. Its also from pickup that I can see new organiser-types emerging – people who're interested in Ultimate and have time to talk about it.

So lets get some Sunday pickup happening soon (Sunday being relatively free and flexible). Maybe from the start of Spring this year. Maybe from 3pm. Maybe at Kalinga Park.


So that's that - an hour's typing from early this morning. What do you think? Or drop by Friday night to give us your two cents.

February QUDA Newsletter

Just in case you aren't on the right email lists (and you should be if you want to keep up to the minute), here's the February 2010 QUDA Newsletter, cut and pasted from email (apologies for lack of full formatting transition).

Yes, you know you can rely on the Brisbane Ultimate Blog to keep you up to date!

Hi everyone, happy new year,

Here's a whole heap of info about what's coming up. Sit back, relax and read all about it!

1. Northern Regionals 2010 - 13-14 March, J.F. O'Grady Fields, Fairfield , Brisbane

QUDA is pleased to award hosting rights for Northern Regionals 2010 to the Black Betty team, who plan to host the tournament in Brisbane . The national association, AFDA, recently devolved responsibility for Regionals to the local state associations. QUDA has approved Black Betty using the event to raise funds to support its nationals campaign.

Northern Regionals has two divisions - Women's and Open - and is used by some teams to qualify to attend the corresponding National titles, which will be held in Adelaide at the end of April.

Northern Regionals has traditionally been a high participation event - everyone is welcome at whatever level of skill they choose to bring. For many mixed players, Northerns provides a great change of pace in just playing with the boys or the girls. We hope everyone can attend.

2. Brisbane Northside Pickup Starts this Sunday 7 February - Kalinga Park , Clayfield.

If in Brisbane and you're fangin' to play some Ultimate, Jangles has generously offered to take the lead in getting regular Sunday pickup games played. Pickup is a great way to bring new people down to have a go at Ultimate, while also stretching yourself and playing with different people. Its free, just bring a white shirt and a black shirt, a waterbottle and some sunscreen. Arrive about 3pm, and leave when people are to pooped to play on (or it gets dark).

Location: http://www.whereis.com/qld/clayfield/149-diggers-dr?id=2DC59F2FCC2873

3. $200 grants for under 18’s going to major tournaments this year

The Queensland State Government has a grant program that provides a $200 rebate to under 18’s who must travel more than 200km to compete in a State, National or International Championships. The grant can only be applied for after the event.

So if you are an under 18 who is travelling more than 200km to attend Northern Regionals, Nationals, Halibut, Mixed Nats, Youth Nats or World Juniors, please get in touch and we’ll help you out.

More info at: http://www.sportrec.qld.gov.au/Funding/Ourfundingprograms/YoungAthleteAssistanceProgram.aspx

4. Brisbane Canberra Invitational - 27-28 February, State Hockey Centre, Colmslie

Its Brisbane 's turn to host the Brisbane Canberra Invitational (aka the BCI) at the end of the month. Teams and players are already sorted, but this is probably the highest quality Ultimate you'll see in Brisbane this year. 16 of the best Open and Women's teams from Australia and New Zealand will be attending. The Firestorm team are leading the charge in running the event, but if you want to lend a hand, let them know. But otherwise, get your spectating gear on (including your Firestorm and Black Betty fan supporter's merchandise)and get along.

Full info is available at: http://firestorm.quda.org/?page_id=211

5. QUDA Gets a Trailer!

After many years of relying on the good nature and general roadworthiness of the McNaughton family trailer (thanks Bruce!), Ultimate in Queensland now has its own piece of registered on-road hardware - the QUDA Trailer - with which to cart its gear around in.

There's even a photo on line at: http://brisbaneultimatedisc.blogspot.com/2010/01/quda-gets-trailer.html

Did you know that QUDA also now stores most of its tournament gear (marquees, water containers, BBQ, etc) at JF O'Grady Field, in Fairfield ? If you need to borrow the gear, now including trailer, for your Ultimate event, get in touch. Oh yeah, and we need a volunteer Equipment Manager to handle this baby - see below.

6. Leagues Starting Up Around the State

For those in the know (and on the right emailing lists):

The Brisbane Women's League (WUFL), starts tonight, Tuesday 2 February, at Oakman Park , Toowong;

The Brisbane Mixed League (BUML), held on Monday nights has been delayed slightly while fields get finalised, but hoping to start in the next week or two - news soon on the BUDA and YUFL email lists;

The Brisbane Premier League (BPL) for A-Grade Open players, is programmed to start on 18 February, with some training nights beforehand, field availability pending;

The Townsville League for all comers, is getting going on Wednesday 24 February at the JCU AFL Oval - keep an eye on Townsville Ultimate at: http://townsvilleultimate.blogspot.com/

The Gold Coast League (GCL) is set to go on Wednesday 17 February at Pizzy Park . Email gcultimate@gmail.com or keep an eye on http://goldcoastultimate.blogspot.com/

7. North Queensland - Fee Free QUDA Events and Local Travel Grants

Two bits to this. First, QUDA has agreed that in 2010 and 2011, any players from North Queensland who travel to South-East Queensland to play the Northern Regionals or Halibut tournaments, will be able to play these QUDA-run tournaments for free. This is to support those players who must spend a lot on travel to get to these events, and folks in the south certainly benefit from having extra teams attend.

Second, Townsville City Council provides occasional travel funding of $150-200 to people from Townsville heading to the SEQ or interstate for a State or National titles (so Regionals, Nationals, Halibut, Mixed Nats, or Youth Nats). Ideally, people would apply for this as a group. http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/services/departments/cip/grants/sport-rec

Also Cairns Regional Council also provides travel funding of $100-$300 for under 18’s travelling to State and National titles. http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/content/grants/files/Young%20People%20In%20Sport%20Application%20Form.pdf

8. Halibut 2010 and Regionals 2011 - Invitations to Regions to Bid

To support and reflect the growth of Ultimate on the Gold Coast, QUDA has invited Gold Coast Ultimate to prepare a bid to host Halibut 2010. It is hoped to announce the success of this bid by the end of March at the latest. Halibut had previously been held on the Gold Coast in 2004 and 2005.

In April 2011, Brisbane is due to host the National titles, so QUDA has invited Townsville Ultimate to prepare a bid to host Regionals 2011, along with a two year plan to further develop Ultimate in Townsville. This will be a big step for this event. It is hoped to confirm this arrangement by October 2010 at the latest, to allow for SEQ-based players to get organised.

9. QUDA Annual General Meeting

The QUDA Annual General Meeting will be held over the weekend of and at Northern Regionals (13-14 March). The meeting involves reports from the President and Treasurer on the state of the Association, as well as elections for positions on the Executive. Members are also welcome to propose items of general business - please get in touch if you think there's anything you'd like to see discussed. More to come.

10. Play in Cairns

Do you know any Ultimate players in Cairns ? There seem to be plenty around, and we're trying to link them up so they can start playing more officially. Spread the word, and send us your contacts.

11. Other Weekend Disc Fun to Mark on Your Calendar

There are a few more announcements to come, but here's a few to salivate over:

Disc Golf - every Sunday from 3pm, at the Yeronga Disc Golf Course! Enjoy a round of relaxed or competitive disc golf (whatever suits you, really).

Beach Ultimate - The Beach Ultimate Series (BUS) is still running, with play planned for the weekends of 20-21 February and 20-21 March (will probably be one day events). Keep your eye on the blog at: http://adbuc.blogspot.com/

Bashionals - 17-18 April 2010 "The Nationals you have when you don't qualify for Nationals!" Bashionals is a new tournament we're hosting in Brisbane , open to all the many teams who don't qualify to attend Nationals (which will be in Adelaide the following weekend). We're hoping a few local Queensland teams will line up against the best B teams from around the country, so lock it in, Eddie.

Fight the Phat - 9 May 2010 - The hat for cool cats, returns. Jangles wants you for a day of Ultimate fun.

11. Volunteer of the Month

QUDA's Volunteer of the Month is Ms Notty Nott! If you haven't heard otherwise, you'll be saddened to know that the long-standing Director of Brisbane's biggest League, BUML, is leaving our fair State, as her employer is sending her off to steely Woolongong.

Notty has been a fantastic and dedicated League Director for Monday nights, as well as being one fo the first to put her hand up whenever there's any Ultimate-related work to be done around Brisbane .

Hope we'll see you back here a lot for tournaments and stuff, and moving back here permanently in 12 months!

12. Yes, and You too Can Help!

As you may guess, there are lots of volunteer jobs currently looking for someone to take on - maybe you can make 2010 your year to lend a hand and give something back to the sport?

BUDA (the Brisbane Ultimate Disc Association) is looking for committee members (particularly a Secretary). Elections will be held at the QUDA AGM. Want to help develop the strategic direction of Ultimate in Brisbane ? This is your chance.

QUDA is looking for a new Equipment Manager, when Jangles retires at the AGM. Like to buy stuff and keep records of what we've got and who's borrowing it? Go to lots of tournaments? Get in touch.

QUDA is also on the lookout for a new Universities Coordinator, with the upcoming retirement of Nathan. Perhaps you're into the Uni scene but don't think your particular club needs all your attention. Maybe we want to help spread Ultimate to new University campuses. Maybe you like to party, hard.

Griffith Nathan O-Day - QUDA is putting on a stall at the Griffith Nathan O-Day on Wednesday 24 February. We're trying to encourage a club to form. Let us know if you can come and give us a hand!

Really, any time you feel like putting your hand up, there'll be something for you to do. Or we can work out what you might want to do, so that you can put your hand up! There's so much going on building our sport larger and better, and we rely on your help so get in touch with someone who's doing something, and offer them your time, hands and brains.


Well that's it - a big year coming for Ultimate in Queensland ! See you on the field.