AU Australian Ultimate - TopScore...Universities Co-ordinator - Martin Laird [email protected] Insurance Officer - Colin Wagstaff [email protected] Anti-Doping Officer - John French [email protected]

Newsletter of the Australian Flying Disc Association Inc

February Two Thousand and Three

AustralianUltimate

Start’emYoung!

AU

ContactsPage 2

Australian Flying DiscAssociation Inc

PO Box A1086Sydney South NSW [email protected]

President - Jonathan [email protected]

Treasurer - Tom [email protected]

Secretary - Liz [email protected]

Chair of Selectors - Simon [email protected]

National Events Director - Ashley [email protected]

Newsletter Editors - Jason de Rooy andShannon [email protected]

Universities Co-ordinator - Martin [email protected]

Insurance Officer - Colin [email protected]

Anti-Doping Officer - John [email protected]

Western Australian Flying DiscAssociation

P.O Box 149Osbourne Park 6017Western Australia

Email inquiries:[email protected]

President - John [email protected]

Treasurer - Mel [email protected]

Tasmainan Flying DiscAssociation


Queensland Ultimate DiscAssociation

President - Matt [email protected]

Communications Officer - Emma [email protected]

Victorian Flying DiscAssociation

PO Box 549Collins St WestMelbourne 8007


President - Paul [email protected]

Treasurer - Simon [email protected]

Northern Territory UltimateFrisbee


CoordinatorsMatt WardJames Smith

New South Wales Flying DiscAssociation Inc

PO Box A1086Sydney South NSW 1235

President - Simon [email protected]

Treasurer - Lisa [email protected]

ACT Ultimate Association

GPO Box 842Canberra ACT 2601

President - Catherine [email protected]

Treasurer - Anthony [email protected]

Got Something to Say?

Do you have any news, photo’s,competition reports or competitionpreviews you’d like to share?

Maybe you have some tips on tactics,nutrition, fitness or beer.

Or perhaps you just want to sharesome creative prose or poetry.

Whatever it is, send it in to the Editors

at [email protected], andexperience the joy of seeing your nameup in lights...well, up in print at least.

Spontaneous Schtick - Kookie Katie, Dauntless DJ and Chuffed Charlie keep another point out at disKapital VI

Australian Ultimate Page 3

Welcome BackContents Page

Contact(s) 2Just like the movie, only much less lame…

Welcome Back 3...to another installment

Contents 3

What you are reading, right now!...

Bitso’ News 4...nudes and tupperware blues...

The winner is...Can-berra 5National Titles 2003 advance scrapbook

Tassie Two-Hat 6Hi-Jinx with the two headed folk of theApple Isle

Physics of the Disc 7-8Why Newton and Einstein would’ve lovedUltimate

Pennoes’ Pronounce Mints 8A big year cometh in Newcastle

Mangrove Matt’s Mutterings 9Bending banana’s and other stereoytpingin the Sunshine State

How to Organise for O-Week 10-12Beer? Check...Hot babes and sexy fellas?Check...Organisation? Uh oh...

Disc U 10-12mucho successo on campus(o)

Creativity Corner 13When is a frisbee not a frisbee?When it’s a hat..?

Pick Me! Pick Me! 14Now that’s what I call a picky situation

NSW Report 15Busy times in the Premier State

Brisbane Ultimate League 15More fun in the sun

Adios Amigos 16The ACT says ‘later kids’

Well here we are with our second edition of AU – Australian Ultimate – theNewsletter of the Australian Flying Disc Association (or AU for short, to speed upour conversations).

Putting together the second edition has been a lot like a successful band trying towrite and record their second album. The first one contained all of our teenageangst, our deep passion for Ultimate frisbee, and a liberal smattering of naïveexuberance. But in 2003, we became big-headed thanks to the positive publicand critical response.

We took so many drugs we covered our underpants with alfoil and wore them onour heads, and we slept with so many young frisbee players that the magazinesdidn’t have to bother making any of it up.

But then the AFDA bigwigs and the A&R managers started ringing us in themiddle of the night (10am) telling us that although the first newsletter was good,this one needed to be better. It needed to be punchy, but ‘smooth’ and ‘warm’. Itneeded to be serious, but with a slight wink. It needed to contain nothing thatcouldn’t be either confirmed or denied, and it needed to be in their hands onFriday.

Fortunately for Jive-talkin’ Jason, the only wake-up call he needed to get backinto the studio was a two day huff and puff and a dose of sunburn from disKapitalVI. It stopped him making deep fried peanut butter sandwiches for ShamblingShannon, got him off the loo, and back to the keyboard.

Shambling Shannon needed no wake up call. He’d been awake for days anddays and days…

Sadly, even though we had been suitably roused to our task, the Canberra firesswept through and took with them any chance of the newsletter being finished intime for Seeds of Doom. (sigh)

Still, we live and die by our contributors, and we thank them all. Remember YOUTOO can contribute to AU with your words and pictures, and help spread theword about how fine and dandy ultimate frisbee is, yadda yadda – there we goagain, starting the rave that you all know about and can probably give to someinnocent member of the public at the drop of the hat.

See you in the April Edition

Jason and Shannon

February 2003

Shannon “Get out of the car, punkass”Wandmaker

Jason “I’ve come about that article youpromised” de Rooy

A Word From The Editors

Cover Photo by Craig Turnbull

Page 4

Bits o’ NewsCanberra to Host 2003 Nationals

After a grueling bidding process, theAFDA Executive was recently pleased toannounce that “the winner is Can –berra”.

The organisers have promised all thegently smutty disc-play you can handle(with extra wah wah guitar in the back-ground). “Everyone normally only sendstheir federal politicians here, but this timewe’re going to get the crème of AustralianUltimate”, said one of the organisers, “sowe’re really excited.”

Following on from last year’s decision tomove the titles from the Easter weekend(to avoid players having family conflicts),Nationals 2003 will be held over theAnzac Day Long Weekend, although“people need to line up getting Thursday24 April off work now.”

However, for those looking to spend aweek in the National capital, investiga-tions are underway into holding theAustralian National Individual Disc Gamesthe weekend before. “Keep your ear tothe ground, golfers and artists of the disc,

for more info”.

You will be here...

disKapital Nude Point Amuses Some,Burns the Eyesockets of Others

Building up its tourney organising experi-ence, Canberra hosted its sixth annualhat tournament, disKapital VI: Platter ofthe Apes. Nude points, robot dancing,ape-related team names, and thegrouping of people with grazed knucklesabounded. Thanks to all who came, (andcame again) and congrats to ChewbaccaDefence for their win.

DogHouse Takes Out Mixed Nats 2002

Last October (cripes, was it that long ago?)the 2002 AFDA Mixed Nationals saw somewild and wooley Ultimate played in Sydney.After a gruelling tourney, the green-cladand prop-carting team DogHouse took outthe final and took home the trophy,defeating Tribute. Hot tips the Family andGuys and Dolls shared third place, whilethe Omnipotent Monkeys and Maroonedrounded out the top seven.

Meanwhile, Newcastle 1 were the clearwinners of the spirit prize, scoring anamazing 9.1 average for the tourney. AndNewcastle 2 came in second! What arethey putting in the water in the steel city?

Exotic Beach Tournament

The Nova Boracay International BeachUltimate Tournament, Asia’s first beachultimate tournament, will be held on thegorgeous white sands of Boracay in thePhilippines on March 22-3 2003.

This will be a fun and action filled eventfeaturing teams from Manila, Hong Kong,Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and others.And the website reminds you that ‘Vice’ isthe local club’s middle name.Rumour of the Month – the TupperdiscCometh?

According to an anonymous source whois related to a Tupperware lady,Tupperware is considering entry into theultimate disc market.

At this point it is unclear whether or notTupperware discs will come with a self-sealing lid, enabling your disc to doubleas a lunchbox or other food storagedevice.

The camera may not lie, but it can choosewhether to focus

disKapital winners Chewbacca Defence sharing grooming time with second placed team Lemon Spread


The ACT Ultimate Association in conjunction with the Federal Government and the Pornography Proprietorsof Australia proudly invite you and yours to attend the...

AFDA NATIONAL TITLES 2003To be held in our Nations Capital - Canberra - 24 to 27 April

You can even fill up your album with disc-shots at all the famous Aussie icons, like this fella did.

My protest up on ‘The Hill’ Me buying ultimate-related porn

Me and an unidentified political figure

See You There Gang!

That’s right kiddies, the 2003 Nats are going to be held at the CAPITAL OF THE NATION ANDTHE HEART OF THE AUSSIE PORN INDUSTRY.

The lush, green and flat University of Canberra fields (as seen at DisKapital VI) await yourpleasure, as does the friendly and regularly naked ACT Ultimate community.

Canberra is an all-round exciting place to visit, so why not line up a week of travelling from Aussie iconto Aussie icon (the War Memorial, the National Museum, the National Gallery, Black Mountain Tower, thelush green lawns everywhere, Lake Burleigh-Griffin, Namadgi National Park, oh, yeah, and ParliamentHouse, both new and Old) or check out the many fireworks and adult stores that ring the city?

Me in Debate at Parliament House

Page 6

Tassie Two-Hat

Well, another year, and another Tasma-nian Two-Hat has come and gone.(Although the pleasure still lingers.)Those of you who turned up know howgood it was, and for those of you whodidn’t turn up this year, read on and thinkabout coming to Two-Hat V in 2003.

Despite an early rush of registrations, andthe possibility of over 50 players and 5teams, some late withdrawals resulted inTwo-Hat IV featuring 44 players, compris-ing 4 teams of 11 players, still recordnumbers for the Two-Hat. That totalincluded one player from Sydney and 11from Victoria. Thanks Victoria for providingour 4th team!

The tournament was held in Hobart onSaturday 12 October, a fine and sunnyday with a little wind that strengthenedduring the proceedings. (It rained all dayon Sunday, so we were lucky.)

Unlike the Melbourne Hat tourney, it ispretty hard to find the hats at the Two-Hat, but the team balancing and selectionprocess is taken pretty seriously. In thelast three Two-Hats every team has hadat least one win in the round robin, and inall four Two-Hats to date, no team hasremained undefeated in the round robin.Yes, fun is always the focus here on ourisland in the sun.

Who Came Where

Full results and table of the Round Robinare available at the TasFDA website.Despite appearances, the final rankingwasn’t decided by ranking the “points for”column! In the semi-finals, OrangeOrganix managed to knock out top rankedButch, winning 7-6 in a tight game, andthe Monsters reversed their round robinresult to oust the Zombies, 9-6.

In the Final, the Monsters were up 5-3 attime cap, having scored an up-wind point,but the tournament rules stated that thelast point had to be finished. Almost halfan hour later, Organix finally managed toscore the second upwind point of thegame, but lost the game 4-5.

Then We Dressed Up

The party starts early in Hobart. We havelots of kids, so the Halloween costumesand food started coming out soon after6:00pm at the Polish Club. Instead of thetraditional post-tourney pizza, there wasan amazing multi-course feast arrangedby Leslie, with contributions from many ofthe locals. The dance floor was packedearly with kids in fancy dress, althoughsome of the dancing was a little non-traditional. I’m told that the dance floorkicked off in a more spectacular fashionafter the food was over, but I had to takemy kids home to bed!

Bubble Spirits

Play of the Day went to Brendan for aspectacular layout catch early on. Therewere three nominations for this award -but only Joe saw all candidates for thisprize, so he was instantly appointed thejudge. Jeff and Paul Egan receivedhonourable mentions. Hope you enjoyedyour Bananas in Pyjamas bubble bathBrendan!

The Spirit Prize went to Butch, theVictorians and the Plastic Zombies wonthe party, Matt and Naomi won theHalloween fancy dress prize and Gabeand Dan established new dance stan-

The Zombies - at the Fourth Tassie Two-Hat - and what a friendly looking bunch of undead.

Brendan (on the left) - The Red HairedWinner of Play of the Day!

dards at the party. (Check them out if youever get the chance!)

Other Miscellaneous Reflections

Two-Hat IV featured the worst Two-Hatinjury in history, with Alex spraining anankle early and sitting out for the rest ofthe day. Doesn’t quite match theMelbourne Hat and their broken bonejackpot raffle however.

Seven people have attended all four Two-Hats: Jemery, Shavawn, Madeleine, DaveCooke, Peter, Ian and Sam, and PeterPurdon has managed to win three ofthem!

See them and you this October at Two-

Hat V.

With Jazzy Jemery Day


Disc PhysicsWith Terrific Tom Brennan, JovialJonathan Potts, and others.

Ever wondered to yourself how a flyingdisc actually flies? Well, a flying disc is alittle like a cross between a gyroscopeand a wing.

A wing works by having the top andbottom sides of different lengths. The airflow moves over the longer surface faster,creating a low pressure region on top ofthe wing. The higher pressure regionunderneath the wing tries to move towardthe low pressure region, and as a resultlifts the wing. A disc is like a gyroscope inthat it uses gyroscopic inertia, thetendency of a gyroscope to keep spinningin the same plane without twisting andturning.

With no spin, a disc is inherently unstable,and with no speed, no lift is generated, soa combination of these factors is neededfor a disc to fly. The exact combinationvaries significantly from disc to disc, sincedifferent discs have different “wing”shapes. Combining the wing and thegyroscope also introduces other factors,as the two are not mutually independent.The most obvious one is a torque on thedisc. If the disc is spinning clockwise andmoving forward when viewed from thetop, then the left side of the disc ismoving faster than the right side. There isa corresponding pressure drop over theleft side and that side will produce greaterlift, and the disc will try to twist clockwisewhen viewed from behind. As mentioned

above, the gyroscopic inertia acts tocounter this, and the greater the spin, thehigher the inertia.

SpinThere is almost never any reason for nottrying to put as much spin as possible ona disc, all other factors being equal. Spinprovides stability, so that the disc willcontinue to fly in the direction it is alreadyflying. A disc that is lacking in spin willtend to “turn over”, that is, twist about theaxis of flight, and will generally not go asfar as one which has more spin. Lack ofspin is probably one of the two majorproblems encountered when trying tothrow accurately over any reasonabledistance.

One time when too much spin is possibleis when throwing some golf discs. Theirflight characteristics are such that theyhave a very narrow window of stability.Too much spin and they can twist oneway, and too little spin and they will twistthe other. In general, however, too muchspin is better countered by other factorsin the throw, such as speed and angle ofrelease, rather than by simply spinningthe disc less.

Particular discs are termed “overstable”,“stable”, and “understable” depending onhow they to spin and speed. A disc whichneeds a lot of spin to be stable at a givenspeed is called “understable”, while a discwhich needs little spin to be stable at agiven speed is called “overstable”. “Stable”generally refers to discs which are stable

at a wide range of speeds for a givenspin. Most discs can be thrown“understably” or “overstably” by decreas-ing or increasing the amount of spin puton the disc.

SpeedThe speed of a disc is a major (but notthe only) factor in determining how far adisc goes and how quickly it gets there.Unlike spin, it is possible to put too muchspeed on a disc. The stability of a discchanges as it gets faster, and the stablerange of the disc is determined both bythe shape of the disc and its spin rate.Most discs used for throwing to otherpeople are stable, that is, they fly flat at arange of speeds. Golf discs on the otherhand are usually not very stable - theytend to fly flat only for brief periods duringtheir flight. The rest of the time they arebanked either one way or the other.

A generally stable disc thrown with toomuch speed in relation to the spin will actunderstably. That is, it will turn over. Forthis reason, hucking the disc requiresplenty of spin and speed. Not enoughspeed results in the throw landing short,while not enough spin results in the throwdiving into the ground. Most inexperi-enced players find it easier to get morespin on their backhand, and as a resultmost inexperienced players will huck ontheir backhand side.

Rotation AngleThe title does a poor job of explainingwhat this section is about. Apart fromamount of spin, the other major factor inlack of accuracy and distance is thedifference between the angle of spin ofthe disc and the angle of the plane of thedisc. The disc often wobbles at the startof its flight, and this is the problem.Ideally, the disc should be spinning flatand wobble-free. If the thrower puts spinon the disc at an angle to the flat plane ofthe disc, it will wobble and lack control.This is usually most obvious whenteaching beginners the air bounce. For anair bounce, the disc is being throwndownwards, and at release the thumb isdragged across the trailing edge of thedisc. This results in a slow upward flight.The thrower’s wrist is at a sharp angle totheir arm, and beginners often find thatgetting the arm to move one way whilespinning the disc with their wrist inanother direction entirely is very difficult.

Continued page 8disKapital TD Leon Smith shows how to determine rotation angle and wind speed withhis tongue

Page 8

Disc Physics

“...and it’s Greenfield bowling to Warris...” (If you can’t get you’re disk to fly, you can alwaysuse it as a cricket bat) “...oh and he’s clean bowled him...” (albeit a very ineffective one.)

The end result is a wobbly throw thatlacks spin in the right direction, and hencelacks both stability and the ability to getmuch distance. Similar problems usuallyresult when teaching the high releasebackhand.

An important point to re-member is that regardless ofhow much wind there ap-pears to be, there is practi-cally no wind at ground level,so there is less wind the

closer to the ground you are.

There is often no easy solution. In thecase of air bounces and high releasebackhand the cure is generally practice.The wrist needs time to learn that it canimpart spin at a different angle to that ofthe arm. In the case of normal throws, thethrower may be swinging the disc in aloop instead of straight back and thenstraight through. The trick may be just toget them moving the disc straight back onthe backswing and straight through on thefollow through. This is often harder to dothan it sounds. Also, it may not be theproblem. Plenty of good players use aslightly loopy backswing, but they are ableto get their wrist and arm in the right linejust before release, usually just throughpractice.

Attitude (Pitch)Here we are borrowing a term fromaviation to describe one of the angles ofrelease. Pitch refers to how steeply anaircraft is pointed, rotating about an axisthrough the wings. For a disc, it refers tothe angle of release where the front edgeof the disc is pointed up or down. Basi-cally the pitch helps determine how farthe disc travels, and more importantly,along which path. By keeping the frontedge well up the disc will travel well intothe air, but will probably stall and floatdown at the end of the flight. Keeping thefront edge down results in a low trajec-tory, relatively fast flight.Roll (Bank)

Roll, or bank, refers to the angle of thedisc rotated about the direction of travel.This means whether the outside edge ofthe disc is held up or down. The amountof bank on the disc mainly determines theflight path, and can be used to goodeffect to throw around players who are

between thrower and target. The disc willcurve in the direction of the lowest edgeof the disc.

WindWind can have a marked effect on all ofthe five factors mentioned above, depend-ing mostly on which direction it is comingfrom. An important point to remember isthat regardless of how much wind thereappears to be, there is no wind at groundlevel, so there is less wind the closer to theground you are. This means that to avoidthe effects of the wind as much as possibleit is a good idea to release and keepthrows as close to the ground as practi-cable.A headwind increases the apparent airspeed of the disc. This means that theamount of spin necessary to keep it stablebecomes greater. A headwind also reducesthe distance possible, and lifts under discsthat are pitched with the leading edge up,sending them into the air.

A tailwind conversely decreases the airspeed of the disc, but can increase groundspeed. While distance may increase thereis a drop in lift, which means that the discneeds to be thrown at a higher angle ofattack to counteract the wind that tends topush the disc into the ground.

Crosswinds have the most effect onbanked discs, either by pushing the raisededge up and lifting the disc, or by pushing

down on a lowered edge and possiblymaking the disc dive into the ground.Crosswinds also make it difficult to keepthe disc flat on release, and even experi-enced players may find it difficult to keepthe angle of spin in the plane of the disc.

There you have it! Now all you gotta do ischuck it!

Pennoes’ Pronouncements

This year promises to be a big year forNewcastle Ultimate with the hosting of theAustralian University Games in Sept/Oct.Last year, Newcastle very nearly took thebronze medal, going down to Wollongong,to continue the steel city rivalry.

On another note, the Newcastle Uni club(NUdiscs) along with the trusted help ofSimon Farrow will be resurrecting theTerrigal Towel this year. Did you enjoy theLongest Day last year? Itching for morebeach ultimate?? Wel, then the TerrigalTowel is th\e tourney for you. The Towel willbe held on the 15th and 16th of March, andwill be a mixed beach hat, similar toprevious towels. More details to follow - staytuned to your usual ulti-channels, or contactme, Andrew Pennington [email protected](0413 76 4499 or Simon Farrow [email protected] or 0408 116711.


Mighty Matt on QLDWith Mighty Matthew Boevink, QUFA Chief PropogandistPresident 2002

During 2002, Queensland began to see the results of the hardwork undertaken throughout the two previous years by the manypeople who have helped develop Ultimate. This success has nothappened by chance. Rather it has been a result of the commit-ment and intelligent application of the strategies charted in ourStrategic and Operational Plans. Congratulations to all those whohave contributed – you can deservedly feel proud of what youhave helped achieve.

How Many More Can We Take?

In early 2000 Queensland had a small base of just 30 members alllocated in Brisbane. Our membership has grown substantiallysuch that we now have over 210 financial players, and many morewho “pick up” in casual games.

In addition to playing in Brisbane (160 players), regular games arenow held at the Gold Coast (30 players) and Townsville (20players). Gladstone is the latest location to develop and we aregoing to spend considerable time helping it grow throughout 2003.

Six schools now have Ultimate in their curriculum and QUDA hascoached university student teachers Ultimate as part of the PEteaching programme. Our school coaching manual is now on theshelves of QUT (we will get a web version together for 2003).

Dollars? Yeah, we got some

QUDA is now in the best financial position in its history. This hasoccurred as a result of responsible expenditure, commitment tofee collection and the securing of multiple grants including $6,600for organisational development from Sport and RecreationQueensland and $9,500 for shade marquees and water contain-ers. As a result we can keep the cost of the Halibut down andoffer an excellent experience (more of that later).

Got Leagues?

The increase in player numbers has enabled QUDA to develop anintegrated model offering players of all standards the chance toparticipate in a challenging yet enjoyable setting.

Beginner / intermediate - Brisbane Ultimate League (BUL)A social weeknight competition in which a team of 20 people areallocated to teams in a draft. This team is required to split into an“A” and a “Fun” game. The combined result of the both gamesprovides the overall champion. In BUL every player gets given ashirt to use during the league.

Intermediate/advanced - Teams League Competition (TLC)A weekend Saturday morning mini-tournament style with 5 mixedteams involved provides a higher standard of play than BUL. Twogames are played each Saturday morning at different venues inSE Qld including the Gold Coast.

Advanced / elite - “Open Cup” and “Chicks” LeaguePlayed over summer months these new leagues have proven verypopular.

Our Winning Website

QUDA has committed substantial efforts to the development ofresources that can be used to grow Ultimate. These resourcesinclude the QUDA webpage and a manual on how to “IntroduceUltimate and Organise a Competition”.

Halibutmunchen is the Strongest One There Is!

It is generally acknowledged the “Halibut” is the best value tournieexperience in Australia. For just $50 you get fully catered luxury –no pizza meals here. In addition to the standard tournie experi-ences some of the whistles and bells in 2002 included:

- Hot breakfast of bacon and eggs- Fully catered tournie sit down dinner- Showers at the tournie fields- Long sleeve tournie shirt- Video presentation of World Clubs- Marquees and shade for every field- FREE BEER !!!!!! – great stuff and all free. Worth the trip alone.

Thanks to those interstaters who came for the experience.

Continued page 10

Nice Layout! Photo courtesy of QUDA website

I come for the disc, but I stay for the food

Page 10

Frisbee UQLD 2002- From Page 9

Savin’ A Buck or Two

After much work we produced a QUDAmembers card. This card is important as itrecognises member’s pay their money toQUDA (and then AFDA). In addition to thediscount with Rebel Sports available to allAFDA members, we have also successfullynegotiated a discount to all QUDA mem-bers with Mountain

Design’s. As a thank you to all theinterstaters who came to the Halibut wegave each one a discount card as well!

Perfect the Next

The growth we’ve had will lead to futurechallenges. Maintaining our commitmentto the pathway charted in our StrategicPlan will always be an issue as we managechanging expectations in the playingcommunity. Growth by definition will alsobring our sport more into the mainstreamthat means we must balance how wemaintain the distinct culture of Ultimate inthis environment.

Not Pretty, But Pretty Effective

Although many people have helped overthe last three the support of the followingQUDA Executive members has beencritical.

Tim FergusonTreasurer, (2000,2001, 2002)Kirstin MillardSecretary, (2001,2002)Mat RyanCompetition Manager, (2000,2001, 2002)Emma SpranklinVice President, (2000,2001, 2002)Sandra PoonWomen’s Development, (2001,2002)

Thank you for your support, intelligence,commitment and motivation.

Although things have sometimes beenunpredictable,In the end we did all right,I hope you’ve all had the time of your lives.

Best of luck to Roger Church as 2003QUDA President and Jason Ray asTreasurer.

Both Tim and I have done the maximumtime and look forward to helping out in less

pressured roles.

How to organise an O-WeekWith Titanic Tamara Davis and AmblingAndrew Olennick

O-Week is the #1 recruitment time forUniversity frisbee clubs. With thousandsof new university students all on-campusfor the first (and possibly last) time, it isthe ideal opportunity to spread the wordof the disc and convert some of them tothe ultimate sport.

Here is a quick guide to organising yourO-Week recruitment campaign. Formore, check out afda.com.

1. Organise an O-Week Stall.Most unis have a day, or even a week ofdisplays and stalls. They are usually alllocated in a central area, and this is agreat way for a sporting club to advertisethemselves.

You should check with your student unionor sports association as to how to obtaina stall location.

Things to consider for your stall:

o Book a locationo Ensure you have access to a table, anda couple of chairs (you don’t want tostand all day!)o If your club has a large banner, get it! Ifyou don’t, why not make one. Ensure youhave somewhere to hang it (a wall, oreven the table), and something to stick itup with.o Most people think frisbee is a sportrequiring a dog. To change their minds,why not show them a video of the sportbeing played.

There are a number of people aroundwith copies that would be happy to loanthem out. Just ask around!

Things you will need:* TV & Video (test the connectivitybetween the two beforehand)* Tapes to show (duh!)* Access to power points (not much goodwithout power)

continued page 11

Unis Ultimate 2002 Review

With Rampaging Ross McKerracher

When judged in terms of public exposure,success of major events and participationof all states and territories, 2002 hasbeen a successful year for universityultimate in Australia.

While the top seven spots at the Austra-lian University Games were still occupiedteams from the NSW/ACT, the number ofuniversity students involved is probably atits highest level ever in Australia, andthere are now university teams in everystate and territory.

Furthermore, uni students are givingplenty back to the sport by running manylevels of tournaments, from intervarsities(or IVs) to Mixed Nationals.

Australian University Games

The biggest public step for uni ultimatethis year has been recognition as a fullsport in the eyes of Australian UniversitySport - the peak governing body ofuniversity sport.

Our inaugural inclusion in the AustralianUniversity Games exposed thousands ofuniversity students, sports administratorsand the general public of Adelaide toUltimate Frisbee. The months of toil

invested by Piers Truter (TD) and hisfaithful band of volunteers ensured thesuccess of Ultimate at AUG 2002, andguaranteed ourselves a spot at AUG 2003in Newcastle.

Media coverage of Ultimate at AUGs washuge.

continued page 11

“And then you liiift...”


Frisbee U

From page 10

* If you are outside, the TV screen can behard to see if it is in direct sunlight - youmay need to erect some type of shade forthe TV.

* Cover the TV in a big box and advertiseit as the “ ‘Ultimate’ peep show - comeand see men and women going at it”

o You will need to arrange some people tohelp set-up, dismantle, and man the stalleach day. Club members who a friendlywith great people skills (i.e. would makegreat used-car salesmen) are ideal. IFyou have a club t-shirt - wear it!o If you are outside, you should make wetweather contingency plans.

o Since there are a lot of new studentswith Christmas pocket money ready tospend, why not sell them some stuff!* Club T-Shirts* Discs - contact your state uni rep if youneed some discs to sell* Club Memberships

* Combo packs have been successful forsome clubs, e.g. buy both a membershipand a disc and save $5.Ensure that you have the following* Cash for change* Receipt book* Membership registration booko You don’t want to spend two minutestalking to someone about the virtues ofultimate frisbee, only for them to walkaway and forget all about the sport. Makesure you give them something to remem-ber you!* A recent copy of the AFDA Newsletter* A printout of “The 10 rules of Ultimate”* A short “How to throw” guide* A pamphlet with club information,including:* Game / training times* Upcoming events (BBQ, clinics)* Contact details (how to subscribe to theclub mailing list)

* Put them all in a show bag - preferablywith your club name/website prominentlydisplayed on it. People always need bagsat O-Days

2. Arrange for a demonstration game.There is nothing better to indoctrinatepeople to the ways of the disc them toshow them how it is played. Ideally, getthe newbies to touch some plastic andthrow it around.o Ensure the demo is in a prominentplaceo Try to get a mention in any O-Weekmaterial. Some universities publish atimetable of events for the week.o Space can be hard to find during O-Week, especially if you want to be visible.Some options for demos include:* Game of ultimate frisbee, for a largegrassed area* Game of indoor ultimate, in a basketballstadium* Game of hotbox, on a smaller grassedarea* Longest or most accurate throwcompetition. This is the easiest way to getnew people involved, and requires only asmall amount of space.

continued page 12

From page 10

Martin Laird’s and Owen Shepherd’sinterview on the Triple J morning showwas replayed multiple times, Marty wasalso interviewed by 5UV and articles (withphotos) appeared in at least 2 print mediapublications, including the Australian.

Anecdotal evidence of our exposure fromthis coverage is encouraging - to quotePiers, “I had the experience of getting intoa taxi and when I told the driver what Iwas here for, he nodded and said he hadread the article in the Australian.”

AUGs themselves saw a record 13 teamsparticipate - 6 from NSW, 3 from Victoria,and one each from Queensland, WA,ACT and SA. One of the more interestingthings to come out of AUGs was that 7teams - at various experience levels -took coaches with them to the games:UNSW, USyd, Melbourne Uni, La Trobe,Wollongong, Bond and Adelaide.

Around the Campuses

Uni ultimate in NSW continued stronglythis year, with NSW unis taking the top 6spots at AUGs. UNSW took the honoursover Sydney in hotly contested finals atboth EUGs and AUGs and new teamsfrom Charles Sturt Uni (Bathurst) and Uniof Western Sydney (Nepean) competedat EUGs.

Uni of Sydney hosted an IV atNaremburn; Newcastle Uni, under theleadership of Sturt Wilson, hosted ahighly successful EUGs; 8 NSW teamscompeted at EUGs; UNSW hosted an IVat Centennial Park; and Sydney Unihosted Mixed nationals at Meadowbank.

ACT uni ultimate has once again beenstrong. ANU beat Sydney in the roundgames at AUGs, only to be avenged inthe semi-finals. Uni of Canberra com-peted strongly at EUGs in Newcastle.

continued page 12

Coming down from this height may well hurt

Page 12

Frisbee U

From page 11

3. Ensure you put a lot of effort intoadvertising. After a couple of weeks, thenew students will learn to ignore all of theposters that are displayed around unievery week.

Some ideas include:

o Place an ad or article in the universitynewspaper/newsletter. The university, orperhaps the student union may publishthis. Sports associations often have theirown publication too.o Place an ad on the university radio (ifyou are lucky enough to have one)o Organise a “Poster Bomb”, where youflood the campus with ‘cool’ postersadvertising the ‘funky’ sport of ultimate.

Try and find as many notice boards aspossible. And don’t’ forget the universityhalls of residence (aka colleges) - theycan be a huge source of new suckers ... Imean, talent.

If your university permits, you can add tothe poster bomb with a chalking run.Come up with a catchy slogan, perhapsalong with the club’s web site address,and write it in chalk in as many locationsas possible.

4. Once you have advertised the sport,the best way to encourage new membersto try it out is with free food. Organise awelcome BBQ during the first two weeksof semester. Ensure that it is mentionedin all of your advertising.

Often the University or sports associationwill let you hire a BBQ for a cheap price,or even for free.

o If you make the BBQ itself free to clubmembers, that will encourage people tosign up.o Make sure you are prepared for on-the-spot sign-ups - have your spare changeand receipt book handy.o Hold the BBQ next to a game ofultimate, and encourage the new playersto join in.

5. All too often, new players are afraid toplay because they don’t know how. Anideal way to overcome this is to organisea Beginner’s Coaching Clinic.Invite all of your new players down to betaught the basics by some of yourexperienced players. Finish the sessionoff with a beginner’s game.

Don’t forget that there are oftenbeginner’s clinics and games organised inthe capital cities. Make sure to advertisethese too. If you are in a capital city thatdoesn’t have one, why not organise acombined clinic with the other localuniversity clubs.

6. New players don’t really get a taste ofultimate until they have attended their firsttournament. Pick a local tournamentwhich is being held around weeks 6-8 ofsemester 1, and organise a uni team toenter. If no such tournament exists,organise your own. Perhaps you canorganise an InterVarsity (inter-university)tournament, to help introduce all of thenew university players in your area.

From page 11

ANU were, as always, a force to bereckoned with at AUGs in October.

After 12 months with Andrew Olennick atthe helm, the number of Universityplayers in Victoria has almost tripled. Withthree enthusiastic and growing clubs, theyare expecting up to 100 new players tojoin the ultimate scene in the beginning of2003. Melbourne Uni were the top teamat AUGs, from outside of NSW/ACT. Andplans are underway to break the NSW/ACT stranglehold on the national univer-sity crown.

Ultimate at the top end has arrived with abang - there are around 20 players perweek at NTU practices. Matt Ward hasbeen the catalyst for things up there, andif current progress is anything to go by, itwon’t be long until we see a NTU team atAUGs!

Edith Cowan Uni in Western Australiahosted the first Western UniversitiesUltimate Championships, which saw 4clubs competing. Final placings wereCurtin, UWA, ECU and Murdoch. UWAstill holds its regular Monday night pick-upgames, albeit now at a different venue,where numbers are usually more thansufficient for 2 games. A small, largelyinexperienced, UWA team were ledstrongly by Jerome Bull and IanMcKerracher to take 9th spot at AUGs,and gave Uni of Sydney a good scare inthe round games.

Flinders and Adelaide unis hold pick-upgames on Monday and Wednesday nightsrespectively, with sufficient players tostimulate a resurgence in SA ultimate.Adelaide Uni sent a team to AUGs, andthese guys learnt a lot, and appeared tobe having fun doing it.

Bond Uni were the only Queensland teamto make the trek across to Adelaide forAUGs. JCU hosts pickup games inTownsville twice a week, and has anextremely funky website! Fortunately

AUGs is closer, in Newcastle, in 2003 sowe look forward to seeing some moreQueensland university teams in earlyoctober!

The University of Tasmania is goingstrong, but unfortunately suffers horriblyfrom the tyranny of distance when itcomes to getting teams to Southern/Australian Uni Games. They are heavilyinvolved in their local ultimate scene,being jointly responsible, with the TasFDA,for the Tassie Two-Hat tournament.


Creativity CornerMany people think that shelling out $15 orso for a disc is a bit much. “All you canreally do with them is enjoy the completeecstacy of throwing them around with afew mates, or play a crunchy-wholesome-and-good game of Ultimate with one,”they may say in a rare lucid moment.

Well, AU is here to help!

Frisbees really have a wide range ofuses! Our team went out and about todiscover what other issues you can applyyour disc too!

COOKIN’ SOME BREAKFAST

Sure, its made of highly flammableplastic, but you can use your frisbee to fryup some eggs and make yourself (andpartner, if you’ve been lucky the nightbefore) a great meal of eggs and a rangeof side dishes such as bacon, mush-rooms or even pancakes!

SLED FOR“WORKING THE SLOPES”

Frisbees have a nice smooth surfacewhich make them perfect for sliding downthings that your rough trousers or bumcan’t handle. Alternatively you could headdown the skate ramp and work the pipewith your homies! A great way to meetnew friends.

PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTFOR THE ‘AMPLE’ MAN

Have you ever looked closely at a cricketbox? Pretty small eh? That’s becausecricket players have small ‘equipment’.Ultimate players, by contrast are usuallywell-endowed and masculine (why else isit a mixed sport?), and hence havetrouble guarding against undesiredimpacts when asked to fill in for a fewovers. The solution? A carefully placeddisc or two!

DIORAMA DISPLAY

Remember when you had to do projectsat school? Sure, you could’ve just done aposter or a report, but everyone knowsthe way to an A+ is with a DIORAMA!And what better base for a diorama thana frisbee! Its firm, its flat, and it has a lipto stop your piss-weak lego men fromfalling off. Excelsior!

SHIELDING YOUR BRAIN

Everyone knows that the Government isusing electronic satellites to read yourthoughts, but few know that a frisbee canbe used to shield your mind from theman. Line with foil for added protection.

KITTY LITTER TRAY

Sure, dogs have always been part ofUltimate, but you can get your felinefriends involved in our fine game throughacquainting them with a round-shapedlitter tray. And when you need to empty,just throw the disc and watch the poop fly!

Page 14

Pick Me! Pick Me!Picks and Continuation - ThinkingAbout the Rules

With Slippery Sam Waugh and Friends

We’ve all been there. Games where picksare called. There’s generally threeresults: people arguing how close theopposition should catch up and theassociated angst, people arguing whetherthe pick was called before or after thethrow and the associated angst, or peoplestanding around wondering what the helljust happened.

So in the spirit of promoting greater worldpeace and finally satisfying my curiosity, Itook a packed lunch and a ball of stringand dived into the wonderful worldof the WFDF rules, with a glance atthe UPA rules to spot the differ-ences.

Remember that in Australia we playusing the WFDF rules, so UPArules should only be used as aguide where there is no conflict.Here’s what I found:

Picks:No player may establish a position,or move in such a manner, so as toobstruct the movement of anyplayer on the opposing team. In theevent of a pick, the obstructedplayer shall immediately call “Pick,”loudly. Play shall then be stoppedand be resumed only after a check, withthe stall count resuming from the point ofinterruption or to five if the count is overfive.

Rather than trying to deter-mine whether the throw

happened after a call, play-ers should look at whathappened in the play and

evaluate that.That is it as far as picks are concerned.Looking at the UPA rules as well, there isthe clause “the obstructed player isallowed to recover the relative positionlost because of the pick”. Hence you cancatch up if you were stopped fromchasing your player.

However, if your player was a fair way in frontof you in the first place, you do not then get tostand on their shoulder. We play a gamebased on spirit. Just as it is not spirited to callstupid fouls, gaining advantage through a pickcall should not occur.

So what happened to all that stuff about “itwas before the throw” or “it after the throw”?Let’s proceed to the continuation rule:

Continuation Rule:If a foul, violation or pick is called whilethe disc is in the air, play continues untilpossession of the disc is gained.

If the team who would receive the benefitof the call gains possession as a result ofa pass committed prior or during the timethe call was made, play shall continueunhalted. It is the responsibility of theplayer who made the call to call out, “Playon,” to indicate that this rule has beeninvoked.

If the pass is completed and the foul,violation or pick was called against theoffence, the pass does not count andpossession reverts back to the thrower,except as provided in the case of anuncontested catching foul. However, if theviolation did not affect the defensive efforton the pass (e.g. a pick unrelated to theplay), the defence should acknowledgethis and play is resumed with a checkwhere the pass was caught.

There are difficulties with picks and thecontinuation rule.

Firstly, fouls are usually called by theoffensive team and more often than notthe thrower. The thrower has a goodopportunity to call “play on” to use thecontinuation. Picks and other violationsare usually called by the defensive team,and the “play on” call is harder to make.

Secondly, picks mostly occur away fromthe disc so it is also hard to tell whether“the disc is in the air”. It is from thisclause that we get people asking whether

the call was before or after the throw,which is not really the same as the discbeing in the air.

Thirdly, a pick call may not be loudenough for everyone to here. Noteveryone has to voice to do that.

Problems occur when not everyoneknows what is happening, but when doeseveryone know what is happening? Thatis not even guaranteed on the line.

Interestingly UPA have the extra stipula-tion on continuation that “play continuesuntil the thrower in possession acknowl-edges the call”.

The reason for this is to gauge thethrower’s intent, as the thrower maynot have heard a call and islegitimately continuing to play, hasheard the call but after committingto the throw, or is deliberatelyignoring the call.

Although WFDF rules do notcontain a similar clause, I wouldcontend that whether a call wasmade before the throw should notresult in the disc automaticallyreturning to the thrower, because itignores the intent of the peopleplaying the game. There is noexplicit mention in the rules thatthe disc must be returned to thethrower, only interpretation.

Although the rules could be strictlyinterpreted that any throw after the callshould go back, that process removes theoption for spirited play.

For example, in one game I played I candistinctly remember a thrower beingcalled for travelling while throwing thedisc, a defensive player making a layoutblock, and then the thrower claiming thedisc back because the throw was after thecall. Strictly correct, but very poor form.

Continuation is supposed to benefit theinfringed team, and allow play to flow ifthere is no need to stop it. Rather thantrying to determine whether the throwhappened after a call, players should lookat what happened in the play andevaluate that.

Each situation needs to be judged on it’sown merits. So call those picks loud tohelp everyone on the field, play with goodspirit, and do not forget: karma is welltrained, and has big, pointy teeth.

When cars get caught in pick situations

What do you mean it was before the throw??


NSW IncrediBULNews of New South Wales

With Racey Rach

NSW remains the Premier State (as ournumberplates remind us) and there’sbeen plenty going on over the past while.Here are a few highlights!

Worlds RepresentationNew South Wales players were on allseven Australian teams that went toWorld Club Champs in Hawaii. Feral,Freya and Seven Green Bottles allpredominantly Sydney based and cameaway 14th, 7th and 10th in their respectivedivisions. Kick ass!

LeaguesSydney now has leagues running in 4different locations: Northern Suburbs,Eastern Suburbs, Manly and BalkhamHills. Northern Suburbs continues toflourish with 4 divisions. Manly leaguestarted only a few months ago and haseight teams playing in it. Such is thesuccess of Manly that they will be sendingat least one team in each division tonationals.

As well as the four co-ed leagues therehave also been men’s and women’sleagues. Beginner leagues have alsobeen running, bringing in a large numberof new players, and Ultimate continues toforge forwards in Wollongong andNewcastle!

TournamentsMixed Nationals was run by SydneyUniversity in October 02, which was agreat success with 26 teams attending.The Sydney all-star team Dog House wonthe tournament over NZ team, Tribute.The NSW women successfully defendedtheir State of Origin title at MelbourneHat, and the Junior’s Gala Day mentionedin the last newsletter went superbly. A fullreport can be read on the AFDA website.

Pottsy & Tom ran Longest Weekend,which provided much entertainment fromtrivia, to schtick, to beach ultimate.Pottsy’s Stacked Team returned to itswinning ways after faltering last year,beating The Lone Budgie Smuggler in thefinal.

Macquarie University will have hosted ahighly successful Seeds of Doom tourna-ment by the time this article is published.No predictions on winners but given thetrend of the above tournaments we couldbe looking at another Sydney win…

Brisbane Ultimate League 2002

With Handy Andy McLeanVice-President BUDA

You all have heard, and no doubt many ofyou been, to the fantastic tournamentshosted in Queensland. But, let meenlighten you to the weekly leaguecompletion in Brisbane.

It is called the Brisbane Ultimate League(BUL) and has been running since 2000.Over the last few years it has evolved intoa uniquely formatted competition,comprising 6 mixed teams spilt into 2divisions, The A Division and The FUNDivision.

Each team splits itself into the A and FUNteams, with the more experienced playersin A and beginners or those just wantingto hone their skills in FUN.

It’s a great concept in that experiencedplayers get a competitive game, whilealso mixing it up with beginners, who arebetter off for the experience.

It’s a fantastic way to get new talentplaying ultimate and gaining the confi-dence to step up to a tournament andshow the rest of Australia what greatplayers can be bread from north of theboarder.

In the 1st semester of 2002 the leagueculminated in the finals day. The A

Division and combined scores were takenout by Hel’s Angels - who defeated theBad Seeds - and FUN Division byBeetroot, who defeated Hel’s Angels.

Captains of Hel’s Angles Helen Spurlingand Matt McDonald deservedly acceptedthe trophies and thanked their team whoput in a sterling effort.

These feats where only matched in the2nd semester by The Sexy Crusaders whotook out the A division and combinedscores, only to be defeated in the FUNfinal by Axis of Evil.

Yours truly, who captained The SexyCrusaders, accepted the trophies andcan’t wait for 2003 to kick into action.

All in all a wonderful year, enjoyed byaround 160 members throughout the yearfrom all over South-East Queensland.

This league is just the starting point toattract new members and lever thoserising stars into the more competitive DogCup, Teams League Competition,Women’s League and tournaments.

We can’t wait to see the BUL blossominto one of the best competitions inAustralia, which will be due largely to thefirst-rate efforts of Brisbane Ultimate DiscAssociation members Emma Tickle, MelSmith and Paul Dutton, and with QUDA’ssupport.

BUL winners the Sexy Crusaders looking good and sweaty in the Queensland heat.Maybe they should have been called the Sweaty Crusaders...

Adios Amigos

Australian Flying Disc Association IncPO Box A1086Sydney South NSW 1235

turned up in Canberra with a big grin andan even bigger game. He claimed to behere on some sort of contract work, but inreality his main objective was to playUltimate and carry around regular, run ofthe mill, choc-chip cookies in a little zip-lock bag. They were popular and tastybut seemed to leave people wonderingwhy they still weren’t high after 4 of them!

Such a top bloke was Ryan that he threw hisown going away party. Claiming that heneeded help to drink all the beer that hadmysteriously accrued in his fridge (possiblybecause he drank too much at O’Neal’s),Ryan had many of the ACT crew over to hisfab serviced apartment. (Obviously thiscontact work is something worth getting into.)Such was the quantity of beer though, thatthe gang could not consume it all. Somethingto do with tequila arriving I guess.

Adios Ryan, we will not forget you!

place stamphere y’all

Canberra has unfortunately lost (or is in theprocess of losing) some fine Ultimateplayers at this turn of the year. Let uspause, consider their deeds, and say“Adios, amigos!”

gmanPossibly best known for wearing two kidsfloaties on his forearm in a vain attempt toemulate Tom Regacky, a maneuver whichwent strangely unnoticed by Tom himself...Oh yeah, and he dragged, cajoled, strokedand lead the Easy Js to victory in theAutumn 2001 Competitive League.

The years have been great g, and you’ll begreatly missed (especially when there’spartying to be done, or fur to be shed).

Ryan FehrenbacherHailing from Chicago in the US of A, Ryan

Kirsty McPhee and John GreenfieldA short but sweet visit from the man whonever subs and the woman who isimpossible to mark. Like Ryan, this pairhave made a huge impact on theCanberra scene (playing every tourieknown to man since their arrival) and willbe sticking with ACT for Nationals in April(yay!).Guys, come back soon and often!

Jess LyeWe patiently await this fabulous woman’sreturn. ‘nuff said.

Have you got some people in yourneck of the woods who are leaving forother pastures? Let us know at

[email protected] and we’ll wishthem a fond adue.

Documents

AU Australian Ultimate - TopScore...Universities Co-ordinator - Martin Laird [email protected] Insurance Officer - Colin Wagstaff [email protected] Anti-Doping Officer - John French [email protected]