Over the last few months, the
UPA have been undergoing a massive strategic review that they have dubbed "
Ultimate Revolution" (not to be confused with South Australia's
Ultimate Evolution). I've been following whole shebang, given that the UPA is a major player in world ultimate, to see what outcomes they are developing. Last week they released a summary of the key outcomes that they will look to implement over time. Have a look
here if you want a read through (only a couple of pages). But I thought I'd bring up some of the interesting ones that we could look to adopt in Australia.
- Implement spirit rating system based on Observer, coach, spectator input
- Promote use of UPA established Spirit rating systems and awards at non-UPA events.
I never knew that the US didn't have a 'spirit score' system in place, and it is interesting that they are now looking to adopt one. The problem is that the definition of good spirit/bad spirit is so subjective that it is difficult to measure across different leagues, states and countries. I don't think anyone has ever got a perfect spirit score structure in place, but
BULA have gone pretty close.
- Produce and maintain online rules resources including abbreviated rules, annotated rules, rules quizzes, video enactments, cheat sheet of outcomes
- Implement rules quiz requirements for a) coaching certification, b) UPA Championship Series
The rules of ultimate are freely available online just about anywhere, but they are a damn complicated read. Most players go by the rules they learned in their first game (no contact, how to score, don't drop it, don't run with it) for a long time. I know people who have played for over 2 years and still don't "get" the pick rule. I'd estimate that, on average, less than one player per team knows the rules. Myself, I'm probably about 90% confident I know them. We could certainly use something like this, even if it's a simple rules quiz on afda.com.
- Stimulate a pilot for local Ultimate programs for underserved youth
Potentially, ultimate can be a great sport for underprivledged teens. As long as you have a disc and a location, a weekly pickup game would cost the participants nothing.
- Create online community for league organizers; develop biannual electronic communication for league organizers.
- Develop relationships with College Club Sports Administrators and team faculty advisors in order to build on-campus support for Ultimate
I've put these two together because this is something I've been getting going lately for uni clubs. As big as the push into youth ultimate is, university ultimate is still our bread and butter (remember that AUG07 had over 100 players that don't play club ultimate). BUUF has a fantastic relationship with their student union (admittedly helped by the fact it's a small campus, and the staff being quite familar with the sport from day 1), and this is something I want to see replicated at all other unis, some of which still suffer TNARS syndrome (That's Not A Real Sport).
Further to this, every year there are people who step up to run uni clubs that haven't had leadership roles before and may not know how to 'run' their club. There has been some sharing of ideas for this year on
Ultitalk, but something more formal (a wiki page, perhaps?) would be great.
- Design and conduct a regional leadership training program for women interested in teaching and organizing Ultimate on the local level.
Anecdotal evidence only: Outside of women's ultimate, I haven't seen many on-field leadership roles filled by women. Not to say that we really lack this in Australia (or do we? I don't really know enough about other states to make that call), but we could at least have some sort of opportunity for women's leadership training.
- Implement “Friends of Ultimate’ membership for parents, alumni, etc; explore additional membership levels and services (including opportunities for play)
- Organize parents group to increase understanding of the sport and encourage attendance at Ultimate events
I would have never thought of an idea like this. As soon as I read it, all sorts of thoughts and ideas started flowing. I think I'll save them for another entry.
- Form partnerships to develop UPA College Pre-Series (Regular Season) competition program
- Plan and implement UPA Club Pre-Series (Regular Season) Competition program with goal to create showcase events and an environment where high level Ultimate is made more accessible to fans
This is pretty much what Walkabout is going to achieve. I really would like to see more regular, team-based annual events outside Nationals. Halibut has been going strong for years, and it seems events like Stampede and Shenanigans are aiming to become regular fixtures. There probably should be more regular open/women's events (revival of Border Classic?) too. Regular tournaments allow teams to better plan their season.
I'll be keeping up with Ultimate Revolution as it further unfolds. Soon I'll be comissioning a similar survey to what they did to get a better understanding of where the Australian ultimate community sees their sport going in the near and distant future.
4 comments:
One of us needs to ask Pottsy to create an aus-ultimate-league-director@yahoogroups.com discussion list.
It might not get used much, but I suspect most League organisers around the country would be interested in comparing experiences of running leagues - managing teams, draws, spirit scores, getting fields, growing, using paid staff, etc.
For example, I was telling some Brisbane folk the other day that I think in Melbourne someone is paid (a small amount, but it adds up over the season) to set up the fields each week. This guarantees consistency in field setup, ensures its all ready to go when players arrive, makes sure the cones and scoreboards are always there, and so forth. The Brisbane folk were geniunely surprised.
On the other hand, people might be surprised to hear that Brisbane has taken the first step to become an independent annual leaseholder for fields in Brisbane - as opposed to the more common hiring of fields from another sports club.
So yeah, maybe there's stuff for League organiser types to share. Its not just the elite folks who want to talk.
Hmm. I'm surprised to hear other leagues don't pay their LCs. I did it for a season a couple of years back to pay for petrol when I was the only B-Towner playing.
I don't know about email lists - I imagine LCs would be signed up to numerous email lists and some good stuff would get lost in the shuffle. I'd like to see more folk using Ultitalk for sharing ideas, and maybe even Facebook groups.
I think its fairly common around the country for LDs to play League for free. This was the case in Canberra and in Brisbane. In Brisbane they've gone a step further (in BPL at least) of allowing ex-LDs play for free for as long as they want.
The BPL also offers a 80% discount to anyone who has to drive more than 50km to the League (this is for the half a dozen people who drive from the Gold Coast and Byron).
I'm surprised Ballarat aren't let into the Melbourne leagues for free ...
Also, you might remember I had a go at a League thread at Ulti-talk, but it died quickly ...
ps Hi Tiger
I think the move to getting your own fields is a brillant idea, one that some of us have pondered about here in the ACT but have ultimately been boned by the reality of no such option being available.
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