Things have been pretty quiet around here at Ballarat Ultimate since the return from the Gold Coast. Given that I'm 5 weeks deep into a self-imposed two month off-season, I'm finding it quite difficult to write about something I'm not actually doing. However it has got me thinking - ultimate needs an off-season.
The physical benefits off my off season have been incredible. My left knee actually looks healthy and not all swollen and bruised. My back hasn't been in better shape for two years and I'm not spending every Monday lathering on the aloe vera. The exception is the glorious "leg warmer" tan lines that I've now accepted are a permanent addition to the landscape despite my best efforts to get some colour on the rest of my legs. But it's not so much the physical benefits as the motivation to get out there on the field, and also to lay some administrative smackdown. Which brings me to the key reason for the need for an off-season.
To give our administrators a break.
Although I'm sure northern states will see this differently, us Victorians still pretend ultimate is a year-round sport, and organise tournaments and leagues accordingly. Anyone who has filled some sort of volunteer role will gladly talk your ear off about "burnout" if you ask nicely. They might not want to admit it but every volunteer has at some point, ever so briefly, just wanted to pack it all in and take some time off. But they don't. Some volunteers work through it, and some just, sort of...fade out. A nation-wide off-season would be perfect to give these folk a well deserved rest in order to keep their enthusiasm and motivation for their roles up around a healthy level.
So there's my idea. And of course my ideas don't go without a proposed solution.
A while ago there was a proposal to shift Nationals to October to leave the summer free for newbie hunting and development. While considered by many to be a not-too-bad idea, it was considered too dramatic a change. Besides, we want to keep our premier season of ultimate in the summer months. So my suggestion is to shift Nationals forward to January, and the "mixed" season to February to May. Keeping "uni" season where it is because of AUG, and we create a two month window in June and July for our off-season. So this would leave the calendar something like this...
June - off season
July - off season, regional UGs
August - Uni IVs
September - AUG, club pre-season begins
October - club tournaments
November - club tournaments
December - club Regionals
January - club Nationals
February - mixed tournaments
March - mixed tournaments
April - mixed state championships
May - Mixed Nationals
Stick Nationals on the Australia Day weekend to minimise time-off-work disruption. Doesn't matter too much with Mixed Nats since that's never on a public holiday anyway. We're not competing with rugby or soccer for fields for Nationals. Worlds tournaments happen in the off-season. Early uni development ties in with mixed season. Off-season is in the height of shitty weather season so no one wants to play that much anyway.
It all seems so easy. Anyone care to support or shoot down this idea?
My competition...
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5 comments:
There is no major training in June or July currently, with the exceptions of 1) super keen unis and 2) Worlds teams. So isn't it already an offseason of sorts?
Or do you mean stopping all leagues too? I would think booking fields is easier how we have it currently (pretty much all year), instead of requesting a 2 month gap in the middle.
Folks can have offseasons whenever they like - just skip a league or a Mixed Nationals campaign one year.
Not sure I would enjoy playing a nationals level tournament in the middle of Summer. 3-4 days of ultimate in 30+ (or 40+) temperature every single day.
With current tournaments playing from Feb to April, it takes the bite out of the weather (usually).
Heya
I've given plenty of thought to offseasons for Ultimate.
Interestingly of course, most other sports are working to lengthen their seasons/reduce their offseason.
Indeed, the whole concept of sports matching up with certain seasons is going out the window, for a variety of reasons.
Therefore, for all sports now, I think its about player education (only that will overcome the greed to play).
Australia is also at a tipping point in terms of its national scene. At the moment, a (crazy) individual can play every National event each year ... and burn themselves out.
As the calendar (rightly) grows, people will have to start to make some decisions - if they can't play everything, then what can they play?
And what can they put off for another year?
The example at the moment I think is some (younger) folks playing AUGs, and knowing that once they leave Uni they'll go instead to Mixed Nats.
And hopefully in having to do some planning, they'll also think "When do I take some time off?"
Note that in Brisbane there's pretty much an off-season from early December to end of January for the 300 or so Ultimate players who aren't training for a Nationals team (about 60-80 people) - and even they take a few weeks off.
yay enforced off seasons. I treat the mixed season as a good resting time for my body as there is little interest in elite mixed teams coming out of brisbane.
From now until christmas i have the busiest period at work therefore can barely make league let alone train or anything else.
note that the off season in brisbane is because many players go away or think it is too hot too play (which after the phillipines i see it is not). I am sure pick-up will still be played.
Mac uni (back when we did things) used to host a nationals seeding tournie on the Aus day weekend... People would nearly die from heat stroke all day long... that is a very bad thing...
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