Tickets selling fast

It was bound to happen as our sport grew, but teams are going to miss out on qualifying for the Australian Ultimate Championships this season. One or two might have missed out in 2008, and no one who could afford the trip missed out in 2009, but in 2010 I feel we're finally going to have teams in both divisions whose season will be over in mid-March.

The AFDA punched the numbers into the trusty old Amiga500 at their headquarters and released their regional allocations for this season during the week.

Open
North - 1
South - 5
East - 4
West - 2
NZ - 1

Women
North - 1
South - 4
East - 4
West - 2
NZ - 2


In addition to these allocations, both divisions will have the national junior teams competing by way of the AFDA allocated spot, plus there are two wildcards up for grabs based on how many players (not teams) take part at Regionals.

So, in my ever so humble opinion, I think the following teams are relatively safe...

Open
North - Firestorm
South - Chilly, Heads of State, Karma, Sweet Chilly
East - Sydney Elite, Fyshwick United, I-Beam
West - Sublime
NZ - Auckland Open?

Women
North - Black Betty
South - Sporting Team BAU, Honey, Bush, Indies
East - Sydney Womens, Sugar Mags, Factory Girls
West - Primal, Kaos
NZ - Raging Wahine


This all depends on a few things. Firstly, that the NZ choose to come. NZ teams are often found at Nationals in years ending with an even digit as part of their Worlds preparation. Auckland Open are attending the BC Invitational this year, so seeing them make a second trip over the Tasman seems unlikely. Nationals is a very happy hunting ground for Raging Wahine so it's really a matter of personal choice as to whether they come across. I don't think a 2nd NZ women's team is likely to come.

Also in consideration is the Perth teams. I think Sublime, Primal and Kaos will make the trip, but the 2nd West spot in Open is up in the air. A second Sublime team is not out of the question, and they will have to beat out Fear and Happy Pig for that spot, remembering that if a Regionals doesn't happen then they lose the second spot.

Now the cleverer folk among you will notice I have not quite filled all the spots in my "definitely should be there" list. And that's because the final spot in some of those regions is up for grabs between a few teams.

Open South - The last few years have seen the regular four teams from the South - Chilly, Sweet Chilly, Karma and Heads of State. However this year there is a 5th spot allocated because of last year's performance by the South teams. Sweet Chilly's last day win over Happy Pig in 2009 gave the South this spot. I think the usual four teams will be safe, but the 5th spot is going to be a pretty fierce battle between Heads of State B, Tassie Tiggers and Evolution. Karma B and a rumoured 3rd Chilly team may have a case but will probably fall short. GFUC will have most of their players taken by the Thunder team. Given the importance of the game now, I hope the organisers of Southern Regionals make the game-to-go the "final".

Women's East - There's all kinds of rumours coming out of this region. The Sydney Womens team listed for WUCC qualification is pretty much Wildcard plus friends so that team is a given. Sugar Magnolias and fACTory Girls should also be there. But the 4th team? If rumours are to be believed, there could be Wildcard, Southside and Manly teams all going for this spot. Plus there's Hills Angels to be considered. This is very much a "wait and see" spot.

Open East - Sydney Elite should be safe. Fyshwick United should be safe. I-Beam should be safe. In fact, these three teams should be in the top few at Nationals, let alone Regionals. But what of the 4th spot? Fakulti, although somewhat depleted, will be on the scene, but will they be one team or two? With most of their top players on the SE list, a X/X split would be very risky and may result in the first Fak-less Nationals since the clubs inception. Umlaut, Hills and some sort of Manly concoction will be snapping at Fakulti's heels for this spot.


What will certainly make things even more interesting are the wildcard spots. With only 1 allocation in each division, North are in prime position to take a wildcard in both divisions if they have more than 50-odd players at Regionals. East are also likely for a spot, given they have around the same number of Open players as the South, but one less allocated spot. The women will also pick up another spot, since they have always had the largest regionals.

So my early predictions say that in Open, North will get a wildcard and Slamtown will make their Nationals debut, and East will get the second with Hills also debuting. In the Women's, East will get one, but who actually goes is another story. I'll go out on a limb and say Hills Angels (a Southside/Manly conglomerate taking the original 4th spot. Hey, it could happen). South may catch a lucky break for the second wildcard, giving Honey Bee another chance.

Coming soon - 2009 Ballarat Ultimate Awards

So in the next few days I'll be weighing up nominations against non-existent criteria and determining the winners of the Ballarat Ultimate Awards, where the winners get the prestige of being mentioned on this blog. Categories carrying over from last year are...

Game Of The Year (2008 winner - Australia vs Colombia, WUGC Junior Women's Semi Final)
WTF Award (2008 winner - Barefoot at 2008 Nationals)
Tournament Of The Year (2008 winner - Australian Uni Games)
Heckle Of The Year (2008 winner - Frank Simmons)

And this year I'm ripping of some more AFDA Awards and adding to the list...

Catch Of The Year
Breakout Star Of The Year
Party Of The Year
Team Name Of The Year

Now accepting nominations/suggestions via the comments...