Australian Flying Disc Association

2013 Annual Report

CONTENTS

SECRETARY’S REPORT

PRESIDENTS REPORT

TREASURERS REPORT

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2013 (High Performance)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2013

MARKETING

MAJOR EVENTS

DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN RESOURCES

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2013

AFDA AWARDS 2013

TASMANIA

QUEENSLAND

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA

NEW SOUTH WALES

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

DISC GOLF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS AND COORDINATORS

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Welcome to the 2013 Annual Report of the Australian Flying Disc Association

As my first year on the board, I have spent some time finding my feet and getting to understand the

various functions of the AFDA. I would like to first and foremost thank my fellow board members

and Simon Wood for their tireless efforts, most of who have been working in administrative capacity

for a long time. Their experience is a real asset to our organisation, and I hope to be able to continue

working with such a great group in years to come.

Australia had some significant achievements on the field in 2013. The successful campaigns of the

World Games and Open U23 squads brought home Silver and Bronze medals respectively. These are

amazing efforts by those players representing their county, and I would also like to congratulate all

the coaches, team managers and other support staff who worked with these teams.

Off the field, the AFDA appointed its first CEO in Simon Wood. Simon was the easy choice when

looking to fill this newly created position, having worked full time for the AFDA since 2009. This

represents another significant step in the growth of our sport, and empowers Simon to continue his

fantastic work.

This year the Administrators’ Conference was taken to Tasmania with great success. The conference

gave a fantastic opportunity for administrators to share skills, strategies and vision for where the

sport is going. The Tasmanian Ultimate Association were accommodating hosts and conference

attendees had the opportunity to attend their fun-filled awards night.

As our sport continues to grow, so to do our requirements for interacting with members. This is an

area of particular interest to me, and I look forward to further working with the board in continuing

to improve the way we engage with our player base and support them.

I hope you enjoy reading the 2013 annual report, and take the opportunity to reflect on some of the

achievements of communities all around Australia. I wish everyone success in their Flying Disc

pursuits for the forthcoming year.

Chris Mulcahy – AFDA Secretary

Chris starting playing Ultimate in 2005 with Melbourne University, later

switching to Monash University. Having played a number of years with

Melbourne open club Chilly, Chris has recently commenced playing with

Heads of State.

When not playing Ultimate, Chris works as a Business Analyst in the energy

sector and is an avid AFL follower of the mighty Hawks

PRESIDENTS REPORT

President’s Report

This past year, the Australian Flying Disc Association continued to grow and develop in a number of

ways. There have been a number of big news items that have come through the AFDA on an

administration level such as the appointment of a CEO, IOC recognition, the inaugural women’s

conference, the administration conference and play.afda. We’ve also had some great success on the

field at World Games, the Australian U23’s, the Rise Up Ultimate tour and the resurgence of Youth

Nationals.

In June 2013, after a lot of work put together by the World Flying Disc Federation, the International

Olympic Committee voted to grant the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) provisional IOC

recognition. This does not mean that you will see any flying disc sports at the next Olympics, but it

starts us down the road to see flying disc disciplines being contested at future Olympic events.

June 2013 also saw the AFDA Administrators Conference being held in Hobart, Tasmania. This was a

great event hosted by the Tasmanian Ultimate Association that saw most of the Ultimate State

Sporting Associations in Australia presenting a state of the nation as well as participating in some

great discussions over the weekend. We were joined by Andrew Ivory who was representing New

Zealand Ultimate who spoke very passionately about Ultimate in New Zealand and potential ideas

for the future. The conference is a great opportunity for all flying disc sports to come together to

discuss ideas going forward and for the AFDA to outline their vision and for the SSA’s to give

feedback on this.

From July 23rd to July 28th 2013, Australia had three teams competing in the Under23 World

Ultimate Championships in Canada; the Goanna’s coached by Dan Rule, the Stingray’s coached by

Anna Haynes and the Blue Bottles coached by John Damiani. All teams played hard and represented

with pride. Final results saw the Goanna’s winning Bronze Medal match against Germany, the

Stingray’s finished in 7th place and the Blue Bottles finished in 8th. Well done to all of the players who

worked hard, the coaching staff who put in countless volunteer hours, the families of coaches and

players who helped get them all there and the Ultimate community for getting on board and helping

raise funds to get all participants there.

From July 27th to July 30th 2013, the Australian Crocs competed in The World Games in Cali,

Colombia. The World Games occur every four years and in the Flying Disc (Ultimate) discipline, the 5

best nations and the host nation compete in a single round robin tournament with finals. The

competing nations were Australia, The United States of America, Canada, Japan, Great Britain and

Colombia. The Crocs worked hard throughout the competition and recorded wins against all nations

except for the USA, who went on to win Gold. A massive congratulations to all of the Australian

Crocs: Lisi Moore, Cat Phillips, Dani Alexander, Gavin Moore, Joel Pillar, Jono Holmes, Michelle

Phillips, Peter Blakely, Sarah Wentworth, Sebastian Barr, Stephanie Malcher, Tim Lavis and Tom

Rogacki. A massive congratulation to Head Coach Anna Rogacki who did an amazing job and a big

thank you to all of the support staff that included Kerry Justus and Mike Nield.

September 2013, saw the first ever AFDA Women’s Conference held in Brisbane. Nicky Smith

approached the AFDA early in 2013 with the idea of getting as many of Australia’s Ultimate minds

together to discuss the future of Ultimate for women. This was a great conference with 43

participants from all over Australia. The full report from the conference can be found online at

(http://www.afda.com.au/resources/REPORT%20ON%20THE%202013%20AFDA%20WOMEN'S%20C

ONFERENCE.pdf ). A big thank you to Nicky Smith for all of her work getting the conference together.

October 2013, saw the resurgence of Youth Nationals after a big effort from Matt Hill, Anna Haynes

and the AFDA Youth Subcommittee to get it up and running. AYUC saw representation in the boys

division from 6 of the 7 States, as well as a team representing New Zealand. New Zealand took the

honours on the weekend. A big congratulation to Victoria who were able to enter a full team into

the girls’ competition and well done to the other states for sending girl participants to compete

against the Victorians. AYUC will be held this year in June 2014 and I’m looking forward to seeing as

many states represented in both divisions. A full wrap-up can be found at

(http://youthultimate.com.au/8-news/20-ayuc-2013-what-a-weekend )

January 2014, saw the AFDA host the RISEUP coaching tour. The Rise Up Ultimate tour was designed

to assist the further development of our Women's National Teams. Two of Rise Up Ultimate (and

USA's) elite Coaches Mario O'Brien (Seattle Sockeye) and Alex Snyder (Fury, USA World Games 2013)

will be visiting our shores for a series of Team and Individual Coaching Sessions. The tour covered 6

of the 8 States over a period of 3 weeks. A number of Elite Women’s teams participated in some

great sessions with Alex Snyder. Mario an Alex also ran a coaching workshop for our National and

Elite level Coaches in Melbourne at the beginning of February. This was a great initiative and was

extremely successful. A big thank you to Matt Hill for all of his work in getting the program together!

The big news from the previous year was that at the beginning of February 2014, Simon Wood was

appointed as the full time Chief Executive Officer of the AFDA. This was a change from his previous

roles as the National Events Officer, Administration Officer and everything else in between. Simon

worked in these other roles for six years before his appointment to the CEO position and all

members of the AFDA community have worked with Simon in some way shape or form. The

appointment of Simon has given the AFDA community a chance to continue to grow and develop.

Throughout February 2014, the AFDA ran a competition to encourage members to update their

personal details as we get ready for play.afda to begin operation. It is important that all members

keep the personal details in the AFDA database up to date. This is a requirement to be covered by

insurance. It was a successful campaign and the AFDA gave away a record number of prizes

throughout the month. 35 Ultimate Australia Discs, 5 sets of League Fees up to $50 and 5 Rise-Up

subscriptions. A massive thank you to all members who checked and updated their details and a big

congratulation to all of those who won prizes. If you haven’t checked and updated your details, you

can always log in to the AFDA website to do this. With play.afda on its way, it is important to have

your email address up to date as this will be how you log in.

As you can see it has been a busy year of the AFDA with both Ultimate and Disc Golf growing. I

suspect that we’re going to have an even bigger 2014 – 2015 as we continue to grow in numbers of

participants, coverage in the wider media and professionalism in our approach to delivering our

products.

I need to thank every member of the AFDA community for getting behind participants at all levels in

flying disc endeavours. Without the volunteers on the ground to run things, the participants

competing and stakeholders from investing in our endeavours, we wouldn’t be in the positive

position that we are in.

I would also like to thank my fellow AFDA board members Ash, Mandy, John, Emma, Anna, Chris and

Minh for all of your hard work throughout the year.

A big thanks to Simon Wood for all of your hard work promoting and working for flying disc sports in

Australia. Congratulations on your appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of the AFDA, I look

forward to continuing working with your to grow and promote flying disc sports.

Lastly a big thank you to my wife Heather. You continue to support me as I chase my passion for

sports administration and I appreciate all of the support and encouragement that you give me to

continue to put in the hours.

Jamie Bozza

President – Australian Flying Disc Association

Jamie has been playing Ultimate since 2005 and was the first Charles

Sturt University Bathurst player to catch a Callahan in competition and

has seen his number at Bathurst be ‘retired’ from active competition.

Jamie currently spends all of his free time continuing to volunteer in

Ultimate related endeavours and trying to teach Lynk not to bite him.

TREASURERS REPORT

Finance Report 2013

The year of 2013 has been one of the most financially successful years so far for the Australian Flying

Disc Association Inc. The on-flow effects from increased membership and participation have resulted

in a net position of $18,440.74, not including interest earned from financial institutions of $4,004.67.

It reflects an increased capacity to direct funds towards better uses, with the ultimate goal of

increased participation in the sport of ultimate.

Profit & Loss Statement Summary

Income Expenditure

Event-Based Fees $190,906.29

Coaching Courses $1,850.00

AFDA Employee Hours (charged out) $22,589.90

Other $148.64

Total Income $215, 494.83

Governance $61,932.05

Finance $4,467.50

High Performance $$8,650.00

Human Resources $86,392.17

Events $3,052.05

Development $14,959.94

Marketing $5,061.03

Communications $12,539.35

Total Expenses $197,054.09

Nett Position 18,440.74

Income

Event Based Fees (EBFs) accounted for 88.6% of income for the AFDA in 2013, a decrease of

approximately 7% from 2013. The remainder is derived from interest and coaching fees and courses

run throughout the year.

The recent appointment of Simon Wood to the position of Chief Executive Officer is a large step

towards the securing of grants and diversification of income streams for the AFDA and Ultimate

Australia. To have a dedicated employee focused on this task through the development of

relationships is a worth-while long-term investment to ensure the future financial stability of

Ultimate Australia and the services that it provides to the Ultimate community.

Despite the large increase in income received in 2013, as Ultimate Australia uses a cash-basis of

accounting, the large increase in income from 2012 is partially due from the receipt of EBFs for

events run in 2012.

Expenditure

One of the largest expenditure items for 2013 is Public Liability Insurance of $30,761. The Sports

Insurance Scheme, underwritten by Sport Underwriting Australia Pty Ltd insures the Australian

Flying Disc Association and all affiliated Associations, clubs and registered members based on a

membership of 5,500 and includes Ultimate Frisbee, Australian Disc Golf and other sanctioned Flying

Disc Sports. We are insured for up to $20,000,000 for general liability and $2,000,000 for

professional liability as part of the Platinum Liability package. There are also other personal accident

policy provisions included.

In 2013, $3,637.99 worth of claims paid was from the Members Compassionate Fund (MCF). The

MCF is funded by the AFDA to alleviate financial hardship caused to its members by injury during

AFDA Events. It is distinct from the general insurance

AFDA has for its members and is discretionary. Up to

$10,000 is available for eligible members each year.

AFDA members, especially those from State Sporting

Organisations without a dedicated Development

Officer, are encouraged to make further use of the

Expenditure 2013

Governance

Finance

High Performance

Human Resources

Events

Development

Marketing

Communications

Grants program. $10,000 is allocated towards the Grants Program each year. In 2013, $2,785 was

awarded, most of which was allocated in the first round of grants. Those persons organizing regional,

female-focused, youth and general growth and development projects are encouraged to apply for

future rounds. The Grants program is open to accepting applications twice per year, during March

and July. The successful grant applicants are announced at the Australian Ultimate Championships

and the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships each year.

Comparison

At the January 2014 AFDA Board Meeting, a brief financial analysis of the AFDA’s financial position

from 2011 to 2013 was presented to the Board.

Item 2011 2012 2013

League EBFs 84,542 94,335 110,000

Tournament EBFs 21,499 31,573 44,443.47

Nationals 24,163.2 21,137 19, 600

Total Income 142,118.24 166,217.53 215,494.83

Governance 57,942.53 66,500.65 61,932

Finance 83.61 35.75 4,467

Marketing 1,182.50 7,200 5,061

HR 62,166.41 60, 651.25 86, 392

Development 36,434.10 15,252.95 14,959

HP 6,723 5,861.82 8,650

Events 71.76 6, 331.83 3,052

Communications 10,438.09 11,680 12,539

Total Expense 175,042 173,514.34 197,054.09

Net Position (25,953.11) (5400) 18,440.74

The large increase in income over the past two years has been a direct result of increased EBFs and

the increasing numbers of events being run through Australia. Despite the large increase in income,

the expenditure of the AFDA has largely been consistent throughout this time.

As a not for profit organisation, the AFDA is driven towards getting the best and most value out of

the use of the funds it receives through Event-Based Fees. Investments have been made in the

online accessibility of the sport through development of the play.afda.com and www.afda.com and

in the human resources of the AFDA. In particular, the intended use of the net income for 2013 is to

support the introduction of the CEO position in 2014.

Thank you to Simon Wood, an invaluable employee and integral personality of the AFDA.

About Me

Amanda was first introduced to Ultimate in 2007. From

there, she embraced club and university ultimate and

currently represents Monash University at Australian

University Games and Sporting Team Box Athletico

United (STBAU) at the Australian Ultimate

Championships. Amanda also competed in 2010 at the

Junior World Ultimate Championships in Germany and

U23 World Ultimate Championships as a member of

the Women’s team. Her involvement with Ultimate

has developed to include administrative

responsibilities such as President of Monash Ultimate

Frisbee 2012 - 2013 and her appointment as a director

to the 2011 Australian Flying Disc Association Board.

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2013 (High Performance)

Welcome to the High Performance report for 2013. It was a busy year for Australian teams. I took

over this portfolio in May 2013 from Thomas Watson and Andrew Jackson, and I would like to thank

them, as well as Simon Wood, for helping me get settled in. As I started the position the campaigns

for 2013 were well under way, thanks to their hard work.

The World Under-23 Ultimate Championships were held in Toronto, Canada, over 22 – 28 July 2013.

Australia sent 3 teams: the Goannas (Open), the Stingrays (Women’s) and the Bluebottles (Mixed).

The Stingrays were unfortunately hit with a spate of injuries after starting off strong in the

tournament, eventually finishing 7th. The Bluebottles took 8th with a close loss to Great Britain in the

playoff. The Goannas couldn’t quite make it past the powerhouse of the United States in their semi-

final, but took the Bronze medal over Germany by one point in an intensely fought medal match.

Congrats to all involved. Thanks to all the coaching and support staff: Anna Haynes (Stingrays Head

Coach), Brett Latham (Stingrays Assistant Coach), Crystal Cheung (Stingrays Manager), Dan Rule

(Goannas Head Coach), Andrew Moroney (Goannas Assistant Coach), Anson Chun (Goannas

Manager), John Damiani (Bluebottles Head Coach), Stefan Rapazzo (Bluebottles Assistant Coach),

and Alexander Semfel (Bluebottles Manager).

The marquee event of 2013 was of course World Games in Cali,

Columbia, 25 – 31 July 2013. Australia secured a spot with our

top 5 overall ranking at WUGC in Japan in 2012. The World

Games occurs every four years and is sometimes seen as second only to the Olympics in terms of

prestige. The Australian team, the Crocs, were up against the United States, Canada, Great Britain,

Japan and Colombia. The Crocs played strongly in the round robin, succumbing only to the United

States. This earned them a rematch against the United States in the Gold medal match. Many home-

side fans watched online as the Crocs faced the United States in the Gold medal match, but they

could not match the skill and class of the USA. The Crocs came away with a well-deserved, and not to

be ashamed of, Silver. Many thanks to the staff: Anna Rogacki (Head Coach), Mike Neild (Assistant

Coach) and Kerry Justus (Manager).

Preparation is well underway for the World Junior Ultimate Championships (U19s, WJUC) and World

Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) in Lecco, Italy, this July and August. Selection camps were

held in January and February for the U19 teams, and the Open and Women’s Junior squads have

been announced. Further training camps will be held in the lead up to WJUC, and the Australian

Junior Ultimate Championships in June will also provide valuable experience for our junior athletes.

And for the first time ever, the AFDA is contributing a significant amount of cash to support the

Juniors High Performance Program. Club teams submitted expressions of interest for WUCC late last

year. Australia will be sending 3 teams in the Open division, 2 in the Women’s, 3 in the Mixed, 2 in

the Open Masters, and 1 in the Women’s Masters.

Looking ahead, the World Championships of Beach Ultimate (WCBU) will be held in Dubai, United

Arab Emirates, from 8 – 13 March 2015. Expressions of interest to play for Australia in that

tournament will open in the next few months and teams expected to be selected before November

2014. The Asia-Oceanic Ultimate Championships will also be held in 2015 but WFDF are yet to

announce dates and location.

Further into the horizon is WUGC 2016. That may seem far away but it really isn’t! I expect

discussions on the campaign format to take place over the next few months and the coaches,

selectors and support staff in place by the end of the year.

2014 is the AFDA Year of Women’s Ultimate. An important initiative run in September 2013 was a

Women’s Development Conference, led by Nicky Smith with full support of the AFDA. Feedback

from this conference has been overwhelmingly positive, with many attendees motivated and

informed about developing women’s ultimate in their region. This is especially crucial as Australian

University Games format moves to single gender Ultimate in 2015. My own personal opinion (forged

by my experience in the USA) is that this has amazing long term potential to develop the skills and

grow the numbers of women playing Ultimate in Australia. In the short term there will be pain as

universities struggle for numbers, but if we embrace the change then I feel like elite ultimate in

Australia will make the next giant leap and bound.

Thanks to everyone with whom have I collaborated with over the past year, and all who have

volunteered their precious time. I hope to continue to guide and facilitate AFDA’s network of elite

Ultimate volunteers. Your valuable contributions ensure the success of the Australian teams.

Australian Results at WFDF events:

World Games - Silver (Mixed)

U23s - Silver (Open)

U23s - 7th (Women’s)

U23s - 8th (Mixed)

Minh Huynh

About the Director of High Performance

Minh started playing Ultimate in Canberra in 2000 as a PhD student at ANU and has also competed

at the Nationals level since 2001. In 2005 she moved to Los Angeles where she was a key player for

her clubs teams in the US. Over her five years in LA she played at the highest level in both the US and

Europe. She moved back to her hometown of Perth in late 2010 and currently plays for Honey at the

Australian National Championships. She represented Australia at the 2011 Asia-Oceanic Ultimate

Championships (mixed) in Taiwan and 2012 World Ultimate and Guts Championship (women's

masters) in Japan.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2013

Wildcard and Colony Pillage Win Gold at Nationals

Final Placings - Women's

1. Wildcard (Sydney) 2. Sporting Team Box Athletico United (Melbourne) 3. Honey (Melbourne) 4. Factory (Canberra) 5. Sand Dunes (Sydney) 6. KAOS (Perth) 7. Rabble (Sydney) 8. Vixenz (NZ) 9. Black Betty (Brisbane) 10. Phoenix (Sydney) 11. Safire (Adelaide) 12. Squadron (Victoria) 13. Cherry Bomb (Brisbane) 14. Bush (Tasmania

Spirit Prize: Honey (Melbourne)

Most Valuable Player: Dom Simpson (Cherry Bomb) and Luisa Fearnside (Rabble)

Final Placings - Men's

1. Colony Pillage(Sydney) 2. Colony Plunder (Sydney) 3. Hot Chilly(Melbourne) 4. Magon (NZ) 5. Firestorm (Brisbane) 6. Sublime A (Perth) 7. Heads of State (Melbourne) 8. Fyshwick United (Canberra) 9. IBeam (Newcastle) 10. Magnum (Sydney) 11. Slamtown Flatball Club (QLD) 12. Dench (Sydney) 13. Gfuc (Geelong) 14. Karma (Adelaide) 15. Sweet Chilly (Melbourne) 16. Sublime O (Perth)

Spirit Winners: Magnum (Sydney)

Most Valuable Player: Gavin Moore (Colony Pillage)

Supernova win AMUC 2013

Final Placings

1st Supernova VIC

2nd Friskee NSW

3rd Wheres Woodley NSW

4th Canele NSW

5th Quarantine NSW

6th Monstars QLD

7th Racquet and Disc Club VIC

8th Hippo VIC

9th Black Sheep NZ

10th Big Blizzard Thing VIC

11th Krank NSW

12th Jungle Speed NSW

13th Cabs Are Here WA

14th Townsvillains NQLD

15th Pirate <3 Ninjas VIC

16th Sasquatch NSW

17th Burley Griffins ACT

18th Ultimate Evolution SA

19th Silver Bullet NSW

20th UNSW NSW

21st Annunaki ACT

22nd FEAR WA

23rd Happy Pig WA

24th Map TAS

Spirit Winners: Canelé (NSW)

Most Valuable Player: Libby Beauchamp (Sasquatch) and Steve Wright (T)

MARKETING

2013 was my first year as the Marketing Director for Ultimate Australia. Having spent two years as

the Secretary, I decided to take the opportunity to move across to the Marketing Portfolio.

Following on from Paul Keighley who did a great job in the role, it took me a while to determine how

I could best serve the portfolio.

In 2013 Ultimate Australia’s biggest focus was on the branding of the sport of Ultimate. This task

encompassed a wide range of activities – from continued development of the online media presence

to reviewing Ultimate Australia policies and guidelines.

With a lot of help from the CEO, Ultimate Australia was pleased to release the first edition of the

online Ultimate Australia newsletter. It has been a number of years since Ultimate Australia last

issued a newsletter to its members. In February 2014 the newsletter was mailed out to all Ultimate

Australia members and contained brief articles which prompted readers to go to the website for

more information. This newsletter will be distributed on a quarterly basis and will improve the

communication channels between the Board and the members, as they will be getting regular

information from us, into their Inbox!

As Jamie mentioned previously, Jamie and Andrew Ollenick spent a lot of time re-developing the

Ultimate Australia website. This new website will have greater functionality. It is really important

for the branding of the sport to have a useful website as it is not only a tool for communicating with

members, but the gateway for newcomers to the sport. If you see Jamie or Andrew, make sure to

thank them for all their hard work in developing the new website. It will be going live in mid-2014!

One of the final tasks in 2013 Board year was the competition to design the new National Team

Uniform. The Board is looking to lock in a Uniform Supplier and Uniform design which will be worn

by the National teams for the next 5 years in World’s Campaigns. The board asked for different

designs for the Junior, Under 23 and Senior Team Uniforms, as well as a design for the travel kit.

There have been a number of great designs submitted – thank you to all those people who gave up

their time to develop these.

The Ultimate Australia President – Jamie Bozza, our new CEO Simon Wood and our Development

Officer Anna Haynes have done a great job of continuing to communicate with the Ultimate

community through frequent Social Media updates. This has been a very effective way of

communicating messages from Ultimate Australia (from World Games’ updates to policy reforms)

and cementing the Ultimate Australia brand.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my fellow board members for another great year. I intend to

stand again for the Director of Marketing, and should I be elected, I look forward to continuing the

work started in 2013 and cementing the Ultimate Australia Brand.

About me:

Having been on the board for 2 years now, I am not sure what new

information I can convey! Although I usually play Nationals with Sporting

Team Box Athletico United (like Mandy, our Treasurer), I have taken a year

off to train for the Coast to Coast walk in England. Taking a year off from

Ultimate Training has encouraged me to find alternative ways to keep fit,

including boxing. And I love it! (Not as much as Ultimate of course)

MAJOR EVENTS

2013 saw another year of strong AFDA major events. The success of these events was built on the back of incredible volunteer contributions, as well as a pool of knowledge earned by previous tournament directors and organising committees signing up to run a national championships again.

Nationals Nationals 2013 were in Bendigo, Victoria and hosted by Funny Duck Ultimate Club. 16 Open and 14

Women’s teams made the journey to rural Victoria. A big Thanks to the Funny Duck crew.

Colony Pillage beat Colony Plunder in a reversal of the 2012 final. In the Women’s Division Wildcard won beating Melbourne rivals Sporting Team Box Athletico United.

DivisionII Nationals 2013 saw the second DivisionII Nationals take place in Melbourne. A massive Thanks again to the Chilly Club for hosting the event. 10 teams participated and in a hard fought final Nova (NZ) defeated karma (SA)

AMUC2013

Canberra has been celebrating its Centenary throughout 2013 and the addition of the Australian

Mixed Ultimate Championships to the celebrations helped our Nations’ Capital continue to celebrate

in style. On the 25th of October, 23 teams from Australia and 1 team from New Zealand descended

upon Canberra to find out who was the best mixed Ultimate team of 2013.

Jamie Bozza, the tournament director has stated that he arrived at 8am on Friday morning on the

frost touched Dickson Playing Fields in anticipation for what was going to happen over the coming

three days. His wife Heather arrived not long after and the two quickly got to work in getting things

prepared for the arrival of the 450+ competitors.

The first day started with a Captains meeting at 10.30, which was followed by the opening ceremony

at 11am. Aunty Janette welcomed the participants to the lands of the Ngunnawal people with a

stirring Welcome to Country that gave a great insight to the traditional custodians of the land. After

Aunty’s welcome, Jamie declared the competition open as participants headed towards their fields

for their first game. The hooter sounded at the strike of midday and the 15th annual Australian Mixed

Ultimate Championships was on.

There were some tight first round matches and our first upset on the tournament occurred when the

tenacious TownsVillians put away Canberra’s Burley Griffins on universe point. The first pool round

match defeat would be the end of the Burley’s chances of making it to the pre-quarters as the

dreaded tie-breaker did not go their way.

Round two saw more games with larger point differences. A number of teams reached points cap

within the 70 minutes and find themselves some extra time off before the lunch break. Although

both Sasquatch/Racquet and Disc Club and Monstars/Krank had close matches that saw both RandD

and Monstars getting up.

The third round of the day saw closer games across the board. Although Hippo, Quarantine, R and D

and Supernova put their opponents away by hitting 15, Jungle Speed and Pirate<3Ninja played out

the second Universe point game of the tournament. The pre-showcase game saw both UNSW and

Anunnaki change sites for their pre-showcase match. The only two university teams in the

competition brought their rivalry from AUG’s to the field and we saw a reversal of the result with

UNSW putting ANU away 13 to 8.

During these matches, Zierholz and Franco’s Mobile Wood-Fired Pizzeria arrived at the fields. DJ

Mark Bradley also arrived and the three combined worked hard to create a great atmosphere for the

showcase game between Canberra’s Burley Griffins and New Zealand’s Black Sheep.

The Burley’s were coming off two loses in a row, with Black Sheep coming off two big wins. The

Burley’s back was definitely up against the wall with Black Sheep coming out hard and fast by putting

points on the board. The Burley’s were willed on by the home crowd and fought back into the match

eventually taking the half 8 – 7. Black Sheep scored after half to make it 8 – 8 and it looked like the

Sheep were going to take the match until Mikey Hatfield caught a big Callahan to lift the Burley’s

who continued their roll until the hooter. A big ‘not in’ call stopped Big Tom Walcott taking the

match for the Burley’s, but he dumped it back and then layed out to take the match winner, 11 – 9

to the home team. It should also be noted that there was a big crowd of local spectators around for

this match with 550 – 600 people crowding around the field to watch the spectacle!

The next day started even earlier for the tournament organisers and the volunteers, but the frost

was on the grass. Any local knows that if there is frost on the grass in the morning, it is going to be a

great day!

Pat from Sly Fox Coffee arrived at Dickson early to caffeinate everyone. This saw the fields being set

up in a record time!

The hooter sounded at 9am and the 4th round of pool matches was on. This round saw a mix of

blow-outs and close matches. Happy Pig pushed TownsVillians, while Black Sheep pushed the

unbeaten Quarantine. In pool A, Cabs are Here worked through Jungle Speed, while Canelé were

able to take UNSW.

The last round of pool matches commenced at 10.40am and it was going to be crucial for some

teams to record wins. Minor places in all pools were up for grabs, but the top 4 had already been

confirmed with Canelé, Where’s Woodley, Supernova and Quarantine all being undefeated.

Everyone else had to work their way into the pre-quarters with places being decided. Both

Friskee/Racquet and Disc and Big Blizzard Thing/Monstars were fighting for second place in their

pools. These matches went to Monstars and RandD. The loss for Friskee meant that they had to play

defending champions Cabs are Here and then Quarantine to make the Semi-Finals. The win for

Racquet and Disc meant that they had Jungle Speed and Supernova to make the Semi’s.

Discussion took place at lunch time about the three way tie between Burley Griffins, TownsVillians

and Black Sheep. The top placed team had a shot at the pre-quarters, the next two teams had to

fight it out for a place in the 9 – 16 bracket. All teams had beaten each other, Black Sheep had the

better for and against amongst the three and went through. The tie-breaker was reset and as

TownsVillians beat Burley Griffins in the first round of the tournament, the result carried and they

became D4.

With the final rounds being played out, the pre-quarters saw Hippo/Big Blizzard Thing for a chance at

Canelé, Cabs are Here/Friskee for a shot at Quarantine, Monstars/Black Sheep with the winner to

play Where’s Woodley and finally Racquet and Disc/Jungle Speed with the winner playing

Supernova.

The second set of pre-quarters for the 9-16 bracket was also going to be tough with the losers of

TownsVillians/Ultimate Evolution, Pirate<3Ninja/Map, Sasquatch/UNSW and Krank/Burley Griffins

being sent to Lyneham Fields to close out their tournament in the 17 – 24 slots against Silver Bullet,

Anunnaki, Happy Pig and Fear.

After lunch, the pre-quarters were underway with some great matches. Hippo beat Big Blizzard

Thing, Friskee got revenge on Cabs for beating them in the final last year, Monstars were too strong

for Black Sheep and Racquet and Disc Club put Jungle Speed away by 15 – 4.

TownsVillians beat Ultimate Evolution in a back and forth match with Krank, Pirates and Sasquatch

being too good for their opponents and earning a place in the 9 to 16 bracket with Cabs, Jungle

Speed, Black Sheep and Big Blizzard Thing.

The final matches of the day saw all teams back on the paddock again. In the quarter finals, Canelé

worked hard to beat Hippo who were exhausted after their previous battle. Friskee out ran

Quarantine, Where’s Woodley were too good for Monstars and Supernova doubled the score of

RandD. This meant that it would be Where’s Woodley/Supernova in one semi-final and Canelé

/Friskee in the other. Three undefeated teams left in the competition.

In the 9 -16, Jungle Speed beat TownsVillians, Black Sheep were too good for Pirates, Big Blizzard out

lasted Sasquatch (who have great shirts by the way) and Krank showed their credentials by beating

Cabs 14 to 4.

In the 17 – 24 bracket, UNSW took Happy Pig apart, Silver Bullet worked hard to beat Map, the

Burley Griffins smashed their local rivals Anunnaki 11 – 4, while Ultimate Evolution took down Fear

in the battle of the green shirts in Universe Point!

With a change in direction for the social activity for AFDA events, Meche on Northbourne was the

site of the social activity for the evening. There was no theme for the social event and players were

encouraged to come and enjoy the party like atmosphere of the social event responsibly. No more

can be written about the social event, because what happens on tour...

Day three started like the first two, with a slight covering of frost on the playing fields and a radio

interview with a local AM radio station for the tournament director.

Games started at 10am with the Where’s Woodley/Supernova semi-final being moved to the

Showcase field to be recorded by Ulti.tv. The match was a fast-paced Ultimate clinic that saw

Supernova beating Where’s Woodley 14 – 11. The other semi-final saw what could be described as

experience versus youth and enthusiasm with Canelé against Friskee. Friskee held on to this match

and booked a place in their second successive AMUC final.

Other matches in this round saw Quarantine over Hippo, Monstars over RandD in Universe Point,

Black Sheep over Jungle Speed, Big Blizzard Thing over Krank, Cabs over Sasquatch and TownsVillians

over Pirates in Universe points, Burley Griffins over UNSW, Ultimate Evolution over Silver Bullet in

you guessed it, Universal point. Anunaki over Happy Pig and Fear were too good for Map.

While Friskee and Supernova was getting ready for their date with destiny, the final placing matches

took place. On the showcase field, Where’s Woodley won the bronze medal over a gallant Canelé.

Quarantine took 5th place over Monstars on Universe point. R and D over Hippo, Black Sheep over

Big Blizzard Thing, Krank over Jungle Speed, Cabs over TownsVillians, Pirates over Sasquatch,

Burley’s defeated Ultimate Evolution, Silver Bullet over UNSW, Anunaki over Fear and Happy Pig

with their first win of the tournament over Map.

The hooter for the final sounded at 1.30pm and both Friskee and Supernova came out of the blocks

wanting to win the gold medal. The Final was a test of Youth v Experience. Friskee have played

together for many years but they still have age on their side. Supernova is littered with Worlds

Players and wiley Masters. There were battles in the air Gak v The Ice Dragon and on the ground Kelli

v Hammer. The game was tight in the first quarter but with scores at 5-5 Supernova got the decisive

turnovers and pulled away for an 8-5 lead at half. Friskee battled valiantly in the second half but

couldnt close the gap. A victory for experience BUT in TownsVillians next year Friskee will be another

year experienced and Supernova will be another year older!!

At half-time, AFDA President Jamie Bozza hit the field to present some of the 2013 AFDA Awards.

Tournament of the Year was awarded to the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships for 2012,

Anson Chun was awarded Photo of the Year for his great shot of Steph Malcher laying out for Honey,

Monash University were the Club of the Year and Chris Folkes was recognised as the Administrator

of the Year.

After the match, Jamie hit the field again to finish giving out the AFDA Awards. The Crocs were

recognised as the Team of the Year and Anna Rogacki was named the AFDA Coach of the Year. The

final two awards presented were for male and female players of the year. These awards were voted

on by the AFDA board, as well as the AFDA membership. The Male Player of the Year was awarded

to Tom Tullet and the Female Player of the Year was awarded to Sarah Wentworth.

These were followed up by the presentation of the final round of AFDA Grants for 2013. Successful

grants were awarded to WAFDA for the WA High School Championships, Ultimate Evolution for

training equipment, the Indigenous Ultimate Association for IUA discs and a State Team Training

Grant for TUA.

The Most Valuable Players of the tournament each received a glass trophy. These were won by Libby

Beauchamp (Sasquatch) and Steve Wright (MAP).

The MVP’s of the final were awarded a gift pack thanks to sponsors; OnTheGo Sports. These were

awarded to Pete Allen and Kelli Browne both of Supernova.

The presentation of the event concluded with the presentation of Spirit Medals to winner Canelé.

Bronze medals to Where’s Woodley, Silver Medals to Friskee and your winners and Australian Mixed

Ultimate Champions for 2013, Supernova!

Overall, it was a great three days in the Nation’s Capital and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I

was moved by the gift of the signed discs and can’t wait to get them up on the wall and out of Lynk’s

reach. This weekend would not have been possible without the following people in no particular

order. Heather Bozza for all of her help catering/ordering and organising and keeping me sane as

well as Simon Ratcliffe for keeping the Lyneham fields running. James O’Rielly, Hayley Burke,

Matthew Svatos, Tony Bishop, Heather Gill, Larissa Arney, Meagan McIvor, Katie Riseborough,

Nicholas Studdert, Chris McFarlane, Petra Fornasiero, Chrissy Schwarz, Warrick Shepherd, Zac Haine,

Anthony Perry, Scott George, Robert Bozza, Erik Jan Lindeboom, Vickie Saye, Anson Chun, Thomas

Walcott, BJ Millar, Ben Matthews-Hunter, Emma Berresford and Alison Stone. A special mention to

Matthew Walkington who was super keen to volunteer but was called out on deployment due to the

bush fires in the Blue Mountains. Jamie Bozza – AMUC2013 TD

John Hempel

AFDA Director of Events

DEVELOPMENT

The aim of the Development portfolio to assist State Associations and Clubs across the country with

their sport development needs. Currently, the main areas of focus for the Director of Development

lie across four key areas; Coaching, University, Women’s and Youth. The expected outcomes are to

continually grow and improve flying disc sports; we strive to do this by strengthening external and

internal relationships and ensuring we are always moving forward in regards to people

development. It is vital that we lay strong foundations via education and resource development to

support those who contribute to growth from grassroots through to the elite level.

Coaching

Progress with the development of course material for the Level 2 recognised coaching accreditation

for Ultimate as per the Australian Sports Commission’s (ASC) National Coach Accreditation Scheme

(NCAS) has been made. The framework for the next course is now ready to submit to the ASC for

review and comment, thanks to the amazing efforts of Daniel Rule and Piers Truter on this project

we are now at the stage where this course is a reality as we strengthen out coaching pathway to

align with national coaching standards. The coaching pathway is vital to personnel development and

providing the best to support to our current and future athletes. Five Level 1 courses were run

across the country in the last year taking out national total of accredited Coaches to 188. The Level

One NCAS course license has been renewed with ASC and is reaccredited officially until January

2018.

Youth

For the 2013/14 election year a Youth Sub Committee was re-instated and they have worked on a

firm action plan to ensure a quality, professional event returns to the youth program. This

committee has engaged in discussion and planning for matters relating to developing and growing

youth Ultimate in Australia. The sub-committee reviewed and updated the policy and job

descriptions relating to conducting the Australian Youth Ultimate Championships and in October last

year the event was successfully bought back to the annual playing calendar.

The purpose of the AFDA Youth Sub-Committee is to provide and all rounded view in the area of youth development in Australia. In direct consultation with the Director of Development provide guidance and advice on the youth portfolio in particular AFDA sanctioned Youth events.

Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the AFDA Youth Sub-Committee are to:

to advise the AFDA Board of Directors on Youth issues in relation to the sport of Ultimate

to co-ordinate efforts to increase youth participation in Ultimate

to develop ideas and initiatives to promote and develop Ultimate for youth across Australia

to review and enact the Youth Championships Policy

to oversee event management procedures and standards of the Australian Youth Ultimate Championships

The AFDA Youth Sub-Committee for 2013/14 included:

Steve Wright (TAS)

Kyal Oh (WA)

Annie Jessop (WA)

Megan Barnes (QLD)

Timocles Copland (QLD)

Declan Brady (SA)

Benjamin Mathews-Hunter (ACT)

Greta Hunt (VIC)

Matthew Hill (VIC)

Sarah Rice (NZ)

Geoa Geer (NSW)

Six boys teams (including our friends from New Zealand) and 2 girls teams took part in the first ever state based 'Australian Youth Ultimate Championships' in Melbourne on October 5th and 6th 2013. Thanks go to the sub-committee a for getting this tournament back on the calendar and a MASSIVE THANKS to Matthew Hill for organising everything on behalf of Ultimate Victoria.

We look forward to this tournament growing in future years and strengthening the pathways for

youth Ultimate here in Australia.

Women

The biggest achievement in this area was the inaugural Women's Ultimate Conference. With the amazing organisational and planning skills of Nicky Smith this event became a reality in September. Key points to support the goal of supporting growth in women's competitive ultimate came through:

1. Directly supporting developing teams with skills, support, and ideas 2. Enabling regions to cooperatively negotiate a tournament/event/development plan for their

area 3. Proving the opportunity for interested parties to discuss the structure of the women's

Nationals structure

With valuable support from the Queensland Ultimate Disc Association and enthusiastic and knowledgeable presenters, 43 women from across the country gathered to share and learn from each other with the common goal in mind to build and strengthen women’s Ultimate here in Australia.

Following this conference an AFDA Women’s Sub-Committee was established to provide an all rounded view in the area of women’s development in Australia. In direct consultation with the Director of Development provide guidance and advice on the women’s portfolio in particular AFDA sanctioned Women’s events including National event structures current or proposed player and coaching pathways and participation initiatives.

Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the AFDA Women’s Sub-Committee are to:

to advise the AFDA Board of Directors on Women’s issues in relation to the sport of Ultimate

to co-ordinate research and encourage discussion and planning in relation to women’s participation in Ultimate

to develop ideas and initiatives to promote and increase female participation in Ultimate across Australia

The AFDA Women’s Sub-Committee for 2013/14 included:

Kylie O'Brien (NSW) Laura Manescu (NSW) Rebecca Lorraine (WA - Regional) Heather Bridgman (TAS) Sarah Brereton (WA) Sandra Poon (QLD) Madeleine Young (VIC) Ailsa Mess Enting-Hawke (SA) Hannah Empen (SA)

Universities Report by Jamie Bozza

2013 was a great year of Ultimate Frisbee at the University level. It started off with some great

Regional events with Eastern University Games in Wollongong and Southern University Games in

Ballarat; and culminated with the Australian University Games on the Gold Coast.

The final placing for the both EUG’s and SUG’s can be seen below.

Eastern University Games Southern University Games

1 Macquarie University University of Ballarat 1

2 University of Sydney Melbourne University

3 Newcastle University Monash University

4 University of Technology Sydney University of Tasmania

5 Australian National University Swinbourne University of Technology

6 University of Canberra Deakin University

7 University of New South Wales Flinders University

8 Australian Catholic University Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

9 Charles Sturt University La Trobe University

10 University of Wollongong 2 University of Ballarat 2

11 Australian College of Physical Education

12 University of Wollongong 1

13 Sydney University Cumberland Campus

With AUG’s being held on the Gold Coast, the QUDA President, John McNaughton stepped in to act

as competition manager for the event.

Ultimate continued to be contested in the two divisions with the top 6 teams from 2012 staying in

Division 1 and they were joined by the top 2 teams from Division 2 from 2012. However with some

teams realising that they may not have the strength to compete in Division 1, they choose to

relegate to Division 2. Division 2 was a big division that consisted of 22 teams. Overall this meant

that there were 28 teams competing in Ultimate at the 2013 Australian University Games.

GREEN & GOLD

Thanks to Owen Shepherd, my co-selector, for driving the process of making some difficult selection

calls.

Males: Seb Barr (MON), Tom Tulett (MQU), Konrad Wallace (ANU), Chris Stoddard (NCLE), Chris Hill

(NCLE), Huy Vu (MELB), Lochie Wise (MELB), Jimmy Tod-Hill (MQU), Louis Masarei (UWA), Monte

Masarei (UWA)

Females: Dani Alexander (ANU), Cat Phillips (MELB), Mandy Fung (MON), Sarah Brereton (UWA), Nat

Rae (MON), Jess Colwell (NCLE), Geri Viros (UWA)

SPIRIT

Congrats to UBAL for Division 1 Spirit and QUT for Division 2.

THANKS from John McNaughton

Massive thanks to my volunteers for the week - they made a huge difference.

Full timers: James Hwang, Brenton Mottershead, Josh Kane

Part timers of various duration: Brendan Butler, Joris Papegaaij, Reece Stewart, Monika

Maciejewska, Matt Beevers, Hamish McDonald, Luke Bayne, Laura Manescu, Ryan Garrah

2013 Australian University Games final results

Division 1

1 Monash University 5 University of Ballarat

2 Melbourne University 6 University of Newcastle

3 Australian National University 7 University of New South Wales

4 University of Western Australia 8 Macquarie University

Division 2

1 University of Queensland 12 Charles Sturt University

2 Australian Catholic University 13 Deakin University

3 University of Sydney 14 University of Technology Sydney

4 James Cook University 15 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

5 Murdock University 16 Adelaide University

6 Queensland University of Technology 17 Latrobe University

7 Swinburne University 18 Edith Cowan University

8 University of Wollongong 19 Australian College of Physical Education

9 Victoria University 20 University of Canberra

10 Curtin University 21 Griffith University

11 Flinders University 22 University of Western Sydney

Australian University Ultimate Awards – The Martin Laird Awards

The Martin Laird (Encouragement) and The Martin Laird (Achievement) Awards are awarded each

year at the medal presentation at Australian University Games.

The encouragement awards are given to one male and one female; while the achievement award is

given to one person, who work tirelessly for their University Club all year. They drive hard to recruit

new members, they attend every session the club runs, they are interested in the University

Ultimate community and they wear their team's colours with pride. The difference between the

encouragement and achievement award is to be eligible for the encouragement award; the recipient

must not have played at an AFDA National Championship event (including AUC, AMUC and ABUC) or

a WFDF event.

Encouragement Award winners – Eunice Cheung from Sydney University and Rex Johnson from

Flinders University

Achievement Award winner – Will Norton from University of New South Wales.

2014 will be the last year that Mixed Ultimate will be played at the Australian University Games.

From 2015, the divisions will be Men’s and Women’s. This is a change from not only mixed, but also

a change from the Australian Ultimate Championships where females can participate in the opens

division. The divisions will be strictly men’s and women’s. There will also be the opportunity for

smaller universities to combine to participate at events; however these will be assessed on a case by

case basis.

Anna Haynes

Director of Development

Anna started playing Ultimate in 2003 and has been a board member

since 2012. She currently lives in Perth and works for WA Ultimate.

Anna plays with PRIMAL Ultimate Club and the Sand Dunes.

HUMAN RESOURCES

AFDA Annual Report – Human Resources

The last 12 months have been an exciting time for the AFDA, and particularly in the area of the

Director of Humans Resources’ Portfolio. Following many years of service to the Ultimate

community, both through his employment with the AFDA as well as his contribution as an active

member, Simon Wood was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the AFDA.

Simon commenced his new role in February 2014, and the Board are anticipating a busy year ahead

for our CEO as he finds his feet and starts undertaking some of the more onerous tasks required by

such a position. The Board is confident that Simon Wood will commit to this new position with as

much loyalty and dedication as he has shown us over the last 6 years as Administration Officer and

National Events Officer.

The AFDA Grants for this year were again highly sought by some dedicated and motivated volunteers

clubs and players. Each year the Board holds two rounds of nominations from an annual pool of

$10,000. Once again, there was a lot of interest from the Ultimate community and the Board was

very impressed with the number and quality of applications. For those unsuccessful proposals (we

can’t select all of them unfortunately), I encourage the clubs/volunteers to continue to approach

their local or State Ultimate body to see if they may be able to provide support.

Awards

The annual AFDA Awards were presented at the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships held in

Canberra in October 2013. Congratulations to the following deserving recipients:

Team of the Year – The Crocs (World Games’ Team)

Coach of the Year – Anna Rogacki

Male Player of the Year – Tom Tullet

Female Player of the Year – Sarah Wentworth

Administrator of the Year – Chris Folkes

Club of the Year – Monash Ultimate

Tournament of the Year – AMUC 2012

Photo of the Year – Anson Chun

The Rob Hancock Award (RHA) was presented at the 2013 National Championships in Bendigo. The

RHA is our most prestigious award and is a means of recognition of some of our most respected

members of the Ultimate community. The RHA commends its recipient for their dedication to the

growth and success of Ultimate and their outstanding contribution both on and off field. This year’s

recipient was Owen Shepherd, a veteran of Ultimate in Australia and a valued player, coach and

volunteer in our community.

Emma has been a Director of the AFDA since April 2012.

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2013

Owen Shepherd has been a key part of the Australian Ultimate community since he started playing Ultimate many years ago as a high school student. He says that he initially started to play archery, but he didn’t really like it - it had too many drawbacks. Thankfully the same wasn’t true of Ultimate.

As a player he has played at the highest level possible, having been selected as 1 of only 6 men for the Australian World Games Team in 2005, which proudly bought home the silver medal. His other international playing achievements include representing Australia as part of the Australian Mens Team at WUGC in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, and playing at WUCC in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2010. As well as being involved in international competitions, he has played extensively in the Australian domestic scene, competing for many years at the Australian Ultimate Championships, Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships and Australian University Games (where he was selected for the Green & Gold Teams from 1999 to 2001). On the field Owen is known as a ferocious competitor who never gives up and is always striving to improve and he inspires team mates with his desperation on defence. He has played a leadership role on nearly all the teams he has played on and is one of the key captains and founders of Melbourne based Men’s team Heads of State.

Owen has made just as much of a contribution to Ultimate off the field as he has on it as a player. He was one of the first players to move across to the role of non-playing coach and he filled that role at several Australian University Games: University of Sydney (2002, 2003, 2005) and Monash (2011). He has coached beginner and elite clinics, assisted with Australian Junior Team camps, and coached at the TEP Medellin coaching program in Colombia (2009). As a coach he strives to help players increase their ownership of the sport and their confidence, and he enjoys developing and trying new drills and tactics with players. He was also instrumental in arranging for Tim Morrill to come out to Australia to deliver his Explosive Ultimate clinics in 2012

He was the AFDA National Coaching Coordinator for several years and was the AFDA Coach of the Year on 2005. He has developed polices regarding national team selections and helped to develop the Ultimate Frisbee Companion Book, a resource for coaches of primary school-aged children. Owen was also a selector for the Australian Men’s Team in 2008.

Along with Piers Truter he assisted in the development and implementation of the coaching accreditation program which is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission and together they have trained and accredited over 100 coaches to Level 1 (entry-level) standard.

In late 2005 he was one of the first Ultimate players in Australia to start his own blog, http://thinkulti.blogspot.com.au, from which he has been dispensing invaluable Ultimate advice on a regular basis.

His enthusiasm and passion for sharing his love of the game of Ultimate was recently on display at the Selection Camp for the 2013 Crocs when during a lunch break after an exhausting morning session, he took the time to show the visiting Beach Handball team how to throw a forehand.

In summary Owen Shepherd has made, and continues to make, a significant contribution to Ultimate in Australia, and the World, and he represents all that is great about this sport: honesty, integrity, and passion. And bad puns.

AFDA AWARDS 2013

Team of the Year – The Crocs (World Games’ Team)

The Crocs results alone would be enough to give them this award; 2nd in the highest level tournament in our sport. However, I’d also like to highlight what a great team the Crocs were overall. The Crocs are the strongest bunch of players in Australia. Despite this, the team atmosphere was one of mutual respect. This respect went wider than just the team as well. The Crocs were always thankful and appreciative and well spirited towards all that came and watched them play or played against them or trained with them to help them be the best they could be. Good examples of this were when the New Zealand team came over to play. While the Crocs beat NZ comfortably, captain Tim Lavis, expressed the sentiment (which the team held) that it was such a great gesture from NZ to come over to help the Crocs train against different competition, and how in their debt the Crocs were. Another example is the inclusiveness of the Crocs. Despite developing a really strong team identity, and sharing a lot of in-jokes, the team was always willing to include those we played against, and the reserves that were at all the camps. During lunches, players from the punching bags would feel part of the group, and again the Crocs always valued their time and commitment to come and play against them. As a reserve myself, the experience was a highly positive one, and the reserves felt completely a part of the team. Simone Ryan, who was added as a reserve, part way through, was immediately embraced by the team and made one of the ‘Crocs’. As well as the team atmosphere, the Crocs were a slick, well-drilled team that performed under pressure at the highest level. And they did it in still representing Australia with good spirit and with the best uniforms (thanks Matt Oswald)! They also promoted Ultimate to Australia on the Today show. With Sarah Wentworth, showing grace and poise (not to mention style), despite the co-host constantly nagging her to throw the disc to him!

Coach of the Year – Anna Rogacki

Anna is an amazing coach. Even more impressive is that she was also able to juggle working at her own business Walker Coaching, being mother of two young boys, and keeping Tom Rogacki in his place on the team. No insubstantial feat!

The commitment Anna showed to the team was incredible. She was always available by email for feedback, and regularly on skype to discuss the mental side of the game and how you were travelling. During camps she would always get around and have a chat with every player and know where everyone was with the campaign.

Her enthusiasm (and sense of humour) was particularly appreciated by the Crocs. She was always able to provide players with motivation to be the best they could be and to make the campaign a super enjoyable experience. This was probably best demonstrated through how the reserves felt about the campaign. They felt included and part of the whole team, where everyone become a super tight group.

Anna had a simple game plan and communicated it effectively. The success of which was demonstrated by a silver medal at The World Games, and by only losing to eventual winners the US. This was an exceptional achievement and is testament to Anna’s coaching skills in bringing a team together and preparing them both physically and mentally for whatever they might encounter.

The respect that Anna earned from the Crocs during the campaign was enormous. She created a great team vibe both on and off the field, where everyone respected each other as well as their opponents.

Overall the Crocs experience was one of not just high-quality ultimate, but one of great friendships and lots of fun!

Male Player of the Year – Tom Tullet

Tom has been a key player in multiple highly successful teams in the past year. He played on the winning team Cabs at AMUC2012, and then followed this up with an outstanding Nationals season with Colony. Tom played a large role in Colony's AUC Silver Medal, and has continued to be a leader within the Club through the start of their WUCC2014 campaign.

Tom then went on to lead the Goannas to a Bronze medal at the Under23 World Championships, a very significant achievement. He then flew to Singapore to compete with Ellipsis at the Asia Oceania Ultimate Club Championships, again helping to lead his team to yet another Gold Medal. Finally, Tom worked tirelessly to develop the relatively inexperienced Macquarie University AUG team, narrowly missing out on a semi-final berth.

Tom has had a fantastic year, with amazing results at every tournament he has competed in. He is so dedicated to improving and being the best player he can be, and is a huge personality and leader on every team he plays for. Tom is highly deserving of the AFDA Male Player of the Year Award.

Female Player of the Year – Sarah Wentworth

Sarah began her Ultimate career in 1998 and her amazing speed, agility and aggression saw her go on to represent Australia at World Games (2005, 2013), World Championships (2000 & 2004) and World Club Championships (1999, 2002, 2006). While many of her peers have long hung up their representative boots, after a 7 year hiatus from the highest level to raise her kids, in 2013 Sarah has proved herself to be one of the greatest athletes of our sport by not only returning to the World stage at the age of 39 but dominating it.

As a mother of 3 children, it was no small feat for Sarah to be able to find the time to play Ultimate at all - let alone dedicate the huge amount of hours she did in preparation for both her national’s campaign with Wildcard and her World games campaign with the Crocs. And yet she managed to achieve great success with both campaigns. As a new player to wildcard, Sarah slotted into the team culture and dynamics seamlessly. Her competitive nature and never say die attitude on the field coupled with her fun loving nature off the field quickly made her a firm favourite with her teammates. Wildcard took a strong focus on Spirit of the Game into the 2013 season which Sarah embodied on the field, managing to keep that balance of competitive drive and positivity to both her own and opposition teammates. Her work horse attitude to all aspects of the game, including learning and applying new rule changes, was an inspiration to her teammates and she was an important role model to many of the younger players in the 2013 Wildcard team, Sarah had an outstanding Nationals season, winning the coveted Players' Player award and playing a significant part in Wildcard's 2013 Nationals win. Her ability to read the game, continuously generate cuts and throw her body all over the field on offence and defence meant that she was a dominant player throughout every tournament in the season. She attracted the best defensive players from other teams (and was always given the toughest defensive job on her own team) and she still managed to shine.

Sarah then moved onwards and upwards to play at the highest level of competition available for Australian Ultimate players - World Games - and again her class showed through. She effortlessly made the often difficult adjustment to the mixed game and became a frequent target for some of the long bombs sent up field by the Crocs handlers (topping the score sheet for the Aussie Women with 8 goals). Her workhorse-like ability in the middle of the filed also gave the team plenty of options to keep the disc moving. Sarah was miserly with her turnovers which is a critical trait to have at this level. She also proved a challenging opponent on defence, despite matching up against players significantly younger than her. Her reward was to take home a Silver Medal to add to the same colour bling she received back in 2005.

What a Champion!

Administrator of the Year – Chris Folkes

For every ultimate league that happens around the place, there is someone behind it all driving it in their spare time. And in one of the biggest and longest running leagues around – Albert Park League in Melbourne – the strong position it is in today can be attributed to the efforts of Chris Folkes.

Previously, Chris served as League Coordinator on Monday nights for a number of years, but stepped up into a board position for Ultimate Victoria. While involved in other projects, Chris still had a heavy influence in the league as it grew in popularity. However in the last twelve months, several big changes were made to the administration of the league, and managing it all was seen by many to be too daunting to attempt.

Chris stepped up to be the founding chair of the Albert Park League Committee, which was established to relieve the UV board of control of the league. Throughout the course of the year, Chris was able to effectively structure the committee to manage both Monday and Wednesday competitions, wrote procedure documents for league personnel and developed policies surrounding registration and player eligibility. He also oversaw a major restructure of the league format which facilitated growth of just over 50% in two seasons, and maintain those increased numbers today. While they were unpopular changes at first, Chris was able to sell his vision to the participants to the point where no teams dropped out during the transition period. The UV board was very appreciative of Chris’s efforts and his constant communication with the board and staff.

Outside of his role as APLC chair, Chris wears many other hats. He is heavily involved in Chilly Ultimate Club’s off field operations, keeping the club’s “office” running smoothly. He was the

tournament director of AFDA Division II National Championships for the second year in a row in 2013, and put on one of the highest quality events in the state, as evidenced by feedback from the participating teams. He also contributed significantly to the organisation of the 24th Melbourne Hat without public acknowledgement, and helped establish the Darebin “Racquet & Disc” Club, who are planning to attend the 2014 World Ultimate Club Championships.

While his efforts over the years have been acknowledged in small amounts, the UV board feels that Chris’s extraordinary efforts in the last twelve months have been above and beyond what we had come to expect from him, and we feel he deserves to be acknowledged at the national level for his services to the sport.

Club of the Year – Monash Ultimate

Monash Ultimate is an incorporated club and affiliated with Ultimate Victoria and Monash University Sport.

The club currently has 80 + full-members who are university students. The club also consists of non-university students who are in the area as well as lecturers and alumni.

The aims of the club include:

o lncreasing the number of ultimate players throughout Monash University and by default, Victoria and Australia;

o Fielding competitive teams at Southern and Australian University Games each year;

. Providing social events to foster the club environment and community;

o Running other club events including tournaments;

o Providing opportunities for members to play and develop ultimate.

Our committee consists of a dedicated League Co-Ordinator and Events Co-Ordinator that recognizes the fundamental distinction of a club from a team that includes not only on-field and playing opportunities but also development and the social community. Development at Monash Ultimate

Monash Ultimate promotes ultimate events throughout Australia and encourages all players to participate in single-gender clubs. We see ourselves as being the conduit between university students and more elite levels of ultimate and other ultimate-related opportunities.

One of the main activities of Monash Ultimate is the running of a weekly social league catered towards beginner and intermediate-level players. Between 40 - 60 players participate each week at this social league. These weekly sessions are run by a coach provided for by the club who goes through a variety of skill sets.

The last 3 weeks of Semester 2, 2013 currently consist of a Monash Ultimate League, round- robin tournament to continue to engage students.

The time and effort put into such a development program has paid off in recent years given that players who have been developed through this program have gone on to represent Monash University at University Games. Most notably, Monash Ultimate achieved a Bronze at Southern University Game by a team of largely 1st and 2nd year ultimate players. These players have gone on to represent Monash Ultimate at University Games winning GOLD in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and SILVER in 2012. The majority of the university games team are players developed through Monash Ultimate.

What the club is most proud of is its retention of alumni. We engage former university students and those affiliated with Monash University to return to the club as a coach. As before, Monash Ultimate employs a coach to run a social league each week. We also pay the league fees of an advanced player to captain the lower division Albert Park Monday Night

League teams to develop lower-level players and are intending to extend this program to Sunday University League.

ln anticipation of the proposed change to the AUG structure, Monash Ultimate will be changing the format of social league to a split-gender social league and establishing a Monash University League Other Achievements

We are a highly functioning organization that has expanded rapidly in the past few years due to the efforts of previous committees and an avid interest in development.

As a result, we have been able to expand our activities to include development and proliferation of ultimate beyond Monash.

ln March 2013, Monash ultimate ran an Invitational intervarsity Tournament which hosted 8 university teams at the one day event. Those involved included Ballarat Ultimate, Melbourne University, Deakin, LaTrobe, RMIT and Swinburne .This event attracted 100+ university students. The reason for the timing of this tournament is to engage with beginner- level ultimate players and to attract university students from, O-week promotions and itprovides an opportunity for other universities to promote their club.

Each year in May we run a King & Queen Hat tournament open to all players. This event is held at Albert Park, Melbourne and typically attracts 100+ ultimate players.

The club prides itself on its widespread involvement in competitions throughout Melbourne. Typically, Monash Ultimate enters 3 teams into the Albert Park Monday Night League and has 1 team in the University Sunday league run each week. Social lnclusion Events

We run an annual 'Kaliviotis' End of Year Awards and celebration evening that recognizes achievements at all levels of ultimate at the club from most committed beginner players to the MVPs of University Games.

We host several club events throughout the year including dumplings, board games and monthly BBQs free for members.

We produce our own merchandise including hats, discs and uniforms.

Moreover, we were able to secure sponsorship from the Lucky coq for 2013 as a result of our club events and membership base.

Monash Ultimate was also the Monash Sport Club of the year in 2011.

Tournament of the Year – AMUC 2012

Host: WA Flying Disc Association

Location: UWA Sports Park, Mt Claremont, WA

Tournament Director: Anna Haynes

Last October Perth hosted the 2012 Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships. 322 participants descended upon the lush green fields at UWA Sports Park for three days of fierce Ultimate competition that this peak mixed gender event has to offer. 20 teams from across Australian and New Zealand headed to Perth to take part in the peak mixed tournament this country has to offer. 78 games over 3 days were hosted UWA Sports Park (aka the best fields in the country). UWA Sports

Park is an ideal location for large national events as it provides premium fields and facilities to accommodate large volumes of participants and spectators. Without a hardworking group of volunteers this amazing event would not have been possible. The tournament organising committee (TOC) worked for 12 months to put on a great show, sweet fields, great party and amazing food were definite highlights.

Corporate sponsorship was obtained in the area of catering and we were fortunate to receive many food items for little or no cost which assisted with keeping this budget area at a minimum. Feedback received from participants was positive and our catering team put on an excellent assortment of meals over the 3 day event.

Event website and social media promotion was consistent and up to date at all times. Promoting not only the event but ensuring each team attending the event was also included in all promotional aspects.

Murdoch Chiropractic Unit provided care in addition to Sports Medicine Australia to ensure all athletes had access to top quality care throughout the event.

The main tournament party was held in central location in the heart of the city. Awesome turn out by all and a fantastic array of costumes were on display. There was even a customised party trophy awarded to the State of Origin team from SA to reward their costume efforts.

A tournament logo design competition was held and run by local Perth resident; Kyal Oh. The clean, professional design (pictured left) was used on all promotion and merchandise related to the event. Merchandising was handled by VC Ultimate. Custom made specific to the event, each jersey on sale included the names of ALL teams competing at the event making them unique items for purchase. Online ordering and payment ensured a smooth pick up transaction at the event for players and volunteers.

The members of the TOC for AMUC 2012 were: Anna Haynes -TD

John Hempel - Assistant TD

Tournament Organising Committee: Ellen Shackles, Geri Viros, Julie Hardt, Lauren Hoskins, Andrew Jennings, Kyal Oh, John Damiani, Hugh Osborn, Corrine Fournier, Chris Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Amy Robinson and Gurteaj Singh

A very special mention to John Hempel (AFDA National Events Director) without John’s help this event would not have been the success it was. John volunteered his time to director the actual event so that the WA members of the TOC could all play in the event. The WA Flying Disc Association is extremely grateful for this support. It was vital there was a trustworthy, experienced Ultimate events specialist taking care of the overall management and timing of the event.

Photo of the Year – Anson Chun

The AFDA is proud to announce Anson Chun's photo of Steph Malchers layout at AUC2013 is the

AFDA Photo of the Year

TASMANIA

http://www.tasultimate.com/

2013 was a great year for the Tasmanian ultimate community. We continued our trend of steady growth in leagues and tournaments, and our coaching events in school groups ramped up significantly. Our administration did a lot of reflecting in 2013, and the review of our previous strategic plan delivered a lot of insight into ways we can improve our operations and streamline processes. On the field, the TUA ran our usual four social leagues, three advanced leagues, the halfWIT tournament, and the biggest Tasmanian Two-Hat tournament ever. Some leagues became a little smaller in 2013 but given the increased frequency of events we still report a greater number of event registrations overall, with 605 total registrations across all 2013 events. Leagues Sandown Park was home to the two seasonal outdoor leagues again in 2013, with Summer League and Spring League both running two divisions. Summer league started incredibly strong, with 96 total registrations across two divisions. Spring League in October reported reduced numbers, and fewer beginners than in the previous few years, demonstrating that the large success of 2012 needs lots of follow up support to retain players into subsequent seasons. Autumn League and Winter League were the two seasonal indoor leagues again in 2013, both run at Aurora Sports Stadium. We continued to manage 2 divisions in both leagues and this was very successful with 4 teams in beginner and 6 teams in intermediate. These numbers remained high for Winter League during August and September, despite only being able to offer a short 6 week league due to venue restrictions. 2013 saw a restructuring of our traditional Advanced League, with several different formats tried throughout the year. A traditional four team league ran concurrently with Summer Social League, and this allowed for a greater separation of skill levels across the three total divisions. The Autumn Advanced league is only for the bravest men and women of Tasmanian ultimate, dealing with cold and windy conditions. To make it more interesting, this league was run as a draft league, with the traditional clubs being broken up and new alliances forming. It was pleasing to see players accept this and the league recorded similar numbers to other advanced Leagues. It also allowed a new club to form, resulting in our third advanced league of 2013 being a 5 team league (the first time our top level league has been this big). This provided a challenge to the elite community in Hobart, forcing it to deal with byes and a lower standard of competition than previously, but it’s an important step for future growth of Ultimate in Hobart. Our League Directors did a fantastic job in 2013, managing last minute venue changes, late subscriptions, team withdrawals and all manner of other complications. These tireless workers never get enough admiration for their effort and they simply cannot be thanked enough. Dale Baldwin, Masni Bennett, Eliza Burke-Polden, Tim Johnson, Felix Kennedy, Liz Knox, Matt Lyons, Nick Oldfield, Pat Neasey, Michelle Rogers and Chris Willis all did a wonderful job of managing the leagues that keep our association going. Tournaments There were two tournaments run by the TUA. The HalfWIT (half-yearly Winter Indoor tournament) maintained its previously record-breaking number from 2012 of 30 people. Four teams battled it out over the course of a day at the Aurora Sports Stadium for the coveted silver-spoons and an enjoyable day was had by all. Shaun Thurstans did a wonderful job of directing the tournament, and

thanks also go to Stew Wilde for his work behind the scenes. The biggest event on the TUA calendar is, of course, the Tasmanian Two Hat. In 2013 the fifteenth Two Hat tournament was the biggest in the tournament’s history with 70 players battling it out over two days. This tournament continues to have a large interstate contingent. It was also great to welcome some of Tasmania’s regional players to their first tournament as well. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2014. The tournament organising committee of Andrew Cole, Felix Kennedy, Charlie Prevost and Carly Ward did a great job of running a successful tournament, and special thanks go to Ken Suber and Arthur Edwards for their assistance behind the scenes.

Australian Ultimate Championships Tasmania was represented by a women’s team (Bush) and a men’s team (Quoll) at the Southern Regional Championships. Bush qualified for, and subsequently travelled to, the Australian Ultimate Championships. Although Quoll beat their seed at the regional championships, they did not qualify for Nationals. Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships Tasmania was represented at the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships by a newly formed team, MAP. Although they managed to win a game, MAP underperformed and finished 24th (out of 24). Still, a great time was had by all, especially the captain and coach Steve Wright, who also managed to bring home MVP of the tournament.

University The UTAS Ultimate Club had a successful year in 2013, by running a lunchtime pickup game twice a week that caters for more than just the university community. They did a wonderful job of recruiting in 2013, bringing many new and talented to our small community and giving many their first tournament experience of Southern University Games. The UTAS team finished 4th and SUGs, and were incredibly unlucky in both their finals. Regional Ultimate in Launceston continued to grow, with regular leagues run throughout the year. Links between the Hobart and Launceston ultimate communities were also strengthened with the hosting of two inter-city mini-tournaments with teams from Hobart and Launceston travelling to play with each other. A great time was had by all. Also, seven players from Launceston and four from Devonport travelled to Hobart for the Tasmanian Two-Hat. The experience gained by these players is invaluable as they return to their communities to continue to spread the love of our sport. Youth Steve Wright worked incredibly hard as the TUA Youth Development Officer in 2013, instigating a new development program for schools that provided a clear pathway catering for raw beginners through coaching sessions to get to the inaugural Australian Youth Ultimate Championships. It is a wonderful achievement to get a team to AYUC, and the TUA is incredibly proud of all the boys. Thanks to Steve Wright and Terry Bryan for coaching and managing the team. Player of the Year For his continual dedication to play in local leagues and events as well as travel and play at the highest level interstate, Mike Baker won the TUA “Player of the Year” award. In 2013, Mike recovered from a nasty shoulder injury and, through a dedicated recuperation plan, managed to be tournament ready for AMUC in October. He played for a little team called Supernova who may have won a game or two, I’m not sure. Administration As mentioned in the intro, the TUA undertook a substantial review of our previous strategic plan. The results of this review will be published soon, but already some changes are being implemented, with several key positions of responsibility being created and documented towards the end of the year. Throughout the year, the TUA also went through some major accounting changes, substantially increasing the fidelity of our financial processes. This was a significant challenge for Dale Baldwin, our wonderful treasurer, but the results are very pleasing. This will allow us much greater control over our budgeting and financial planning of events in the future. It was also great to welcome administrators from around Australia to the AFDA Admin Conference that the TUA hosted in June. Look forward to seeing everyone again soon! Volunteers Many volunteers were acknowledged at the TUA Annual Dinner in June. The Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Dale Baldwin for his efforts to restructure and streamline our financial system. In addition to all the work behind the scenes of the organisation, Dale was the event director for two TUA leagues and was instrumental in the formation of Hobart’s newest Ultimate club, HUUC (Hobart Ultimate Ultimate Club). The Black-and-Blue award was presented to Stew Wilde for his wonderful efforts as secretary of the association 2011-2013 and for his dedication to the policies and procedures (the real nitty gritty) of the committee. I’m incredibly proud of all the volunteers that make our TUA events possible. Some people run

leagues and tournaments, others join the committee to contribute ideas and experience and others who help out behind the scenes in a myriad of ways. The Tasmanian ultimate community would not be what it is without these wonderful people, and I’d like to thank them all.

Joe Boyer President Tasmanian Ultimate Association

QUEENSLAND

http://quda.org/

It’s been an intense year for disc sports in Queensland. The proof of our sport’s growth, both in

numbers and in organisation, is most evident in April’s appointment of Mathew Ryan as QUDA’s first

paid Development Officer. This was a significant milestone, and will allow us to continue building

and servicing the community of disc sport players in Queensland.

ORGANISATIONAL

QUDA has been well supported for a decade through the Queensland State Government’s industry

funding programs. 2013 saw the end of one funding period, which was appropriately acquitted, and

we successfully applied for 2014-2016 funding. In the current tight financial climate, we are pleased

to have retained our level of funding at $27k per annum, which will continue going towards

development of Ultimate throughout the state.

Supporting this funding, QUDA has developed a Strategic Plan for 2013-2015, under the target areas

of Organisation, Products/Services, Participation and Communications. Key strategies include

development of incorporated clubs in Queensland, supporting AFDA’s target populations of women,

regional and indigenous Ultimate, and improving the business and governance operations of QUDA

to succeed in an increasingly regulated sports sector. This Strategic Plan is supported by a 2014

Operational Plan. This is the first time the Association has developed a costed annual operational

plan, another step in improving our vision and accountability.

Through months of work, the management committee has significantly cleaned up our operations

this year. The implementation of some IT infrastructure helped here, with a move to cloud-based

document filing and sharing, adoption of a project/task management tool and setup of hosted

executive email accounts. We have spent considerable time reviewing the QUDA and

UltimateCentral websites, in preparation for major updates in the coming year. Finally, we have

updated our communications methods and embraced social media, establishing presences on

Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn (joining our existing Facebook), and setting up a MailChimp-

powered mailing list system.

In 2013, QUDA also joined the Sports Federation of Queensland (QSport), peak body for Queensland

SSOs. This has proven a valuable source of connections and information. We have registered for the

Queensland Government’s Get In The Game funding program, and actively sought other funding

opportunities.

REGIONAL REPORTING

As ever, Queensland faces unique challenges in developing the sport across our vast state. In

responding to this, we have a regional level of governance underneath QUDA. These regional

associations take much of the responsibility for core local operations.

Townsville Ultimate Disc had an excellent year. In addition to running their social league of 10-12

teams, the Townsville Super Villain League was introduced to create a higher level of local

competition, and a new off-campus playing centre. The second North Queensland Hat was run in

Townsville in June, with great success, and also incorporated a coaching clinic for players from

around North Queensland. Townsville has also been awarded the 2014 Australian Mixed Ultimate

Championships, to be held from 18-20 October.

To the north and south, Cairns and Mackay have seen Ultimate growth. Cairns runs a regular 4 team

league, with another playing group on the JCU Cairns campus, and were able to send a team to

Halibut. They will be holding the 3rd North Queensland Hat in 2014. Mackay Ultimate has seen a

significant growth year, attempting to develop a local league, sending players to tournaments

around the state, and holding a coaching course locally. They are also in the process of incorporating

as an association.

We’re also seeing a resurgence on the Gold Coast, linked strongly to the universities. With steady

development of Bond Ultimate, and the appearance of Griffith University Gold Coast, the availability

of Ultimate has expanded from one night of pickup to three nights per week, including the return of

Gold Coast league.

This regional development is a huge credit to the work of leaders in those local communities, such as

Chris Ende, Steph Updike and Sam Nyakeya, and also a tribute to those individuals constantly

volunteering their time and effort to support and grow the sport. Thank you all.

UNIVERSITIES AND CLUBS

The 2013 Australian University Games was held on the Gold Coast. 30 teams attended in total, with

4 of those from Queensland, including a JCU contingent and eventual Division 2 Champions, UQ.

University clubs saw a boom in 2013, thanks to the work of many people. JCU Cairns became

recognised as an official club, as did QUT Ultimate, and connections were formed with an isolated

group at Griffith Gold Coast. All three of these universities are now running their own playing

opportunities, with the latter two establishing social leagues. Through the growth of these groups,

as well as continued development of established clubs such as UQ and Griffith, Ultimate will be

appearing at the Northern University Games, in 2014, for only the second time.

On the club Ultimate scene, 2013 saw the emergence of a second women’s club, Cherry Bomb, to

challenge the established Black Betty girls. This bodes well for the local women’s Ultimate scene,

allowing more women the chance to compete at a high level. It also saw a new Open Regionals

champion for the first time since 2007, with Slamtown comfortably defeating Firestorm in the final.

However, they will not be returning in 2014 due to player losses. Firestorm is now in its 8th season,

and after Nationals, will become the first Open club in Queensland to incorporate. The Townsvillains

attended Division 2 Nationals, and fought hard to take 3rd place in a solid field.

In the mixed season, the Monstars performed strongly at the Australian Mixed Ultimate

Championships (AMUC) in Canberra, taking 6th place with a young team. The Townsvillains’ foray to

AMUC capped an excellent 2013, where they were awarded QUDA Club of the Year.

RESULTS

Northern Regionals (Women)

Black Betty

Cherry Bomb

Blackberries

Purple Llamas

Northern Regionals (Open)

Slamtown

Firestorm

Townsvillains

BPL Retirement Village

Griffith A-Team

UQ Lovers

Australian Ultimate Championships

Women: Black Betty 9th, Cherry Bomb 13th

Open: Firestorm 5th, Slamtown 11th

Australian Ultimate Championships (Division 2)

Open: Townsvillains 3rd

Australian University Games

UQ 9th (Division 2 Champions), JCU 12th, QUT 14th, GU 26th

Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships

Monstars 6th, Townsvillains 14th

OTHER EVENTS

The major success of our 2013 events calendar was the Queensland Ultimate Championships, better

known as Halibut. Under the directorship of Samantha Peters and Myall Hingee, Halibut 2013 was

25% bigger than any of its predecessors, with over 260 players coming to Brisbane. It was an

outstanding event, and deserving winner of QUDA Event of the Year.

In preparation for AFDA’s Year of Women’s Ultimate (2014), Brisbane hosted a women’s

development conference in September. Huge thanks to Nicky Smith for making the conference

happen, and to all her helpers on the ground, who helped facilitate this chance to build the women’s

division of our sport.

SCHOOLS AND COACHING

QUDA’s school coaching programs were a clear winner from the appointment of a Development

Officer, receiving much of Mat’s time and effort in 2013. Over 900 students received coaching

directly through QUDA, in a mix of inter-school competitions (Met North-West and South districts)

and in-class coaching. These programs have been growing over the last few years, and we are seeing

the benefits in our university club recruitment, with many more first-year students having played

previously in school.

We had the excellent opportunity to connect with the Australian Council of Heath, Physical

Education and Recreation (ACHPER) in two ways. At their annual state conference in August, we

presented a session to 25 PE teachers, providing them with the basic tools to teach Ultimate in their

classes. Further, QUDA sponsored an activity in the 2013 HPE Week, which provided us with

exposure to thousands of students, teachers and parents around the state, and over 2000 student

participants in the Ultimate “Keep It Up” challenge.

Expanding our state’s coaching ranks is a constant need. 2013 saw our first course in Mackay,

supporting their growing playing group, as well as Brisbane courses held through the Get Active

Queensland Accreditation Program (GAQAP). Additionally, Mat Ryan and Chris Ende are going

through the process of becoming coaching course presenters, which will specifically help us to target

teacher and regional groups respectively.

DISC GOLF

There is an active disc golf community in Brisbane and surrounds, and QUDA has reconnected with

them in 2013. Centred around the Brisbane Disc Golf Club (BDGC), they successfully ran the

Australian Disc Golf Championships in November. In association with this, they brought the

Educational Disc Golf Experience team to Queensland, with some 2500 school students being

introduced to disc golf.

The BDGC is now looking to increase their own level of organisation, putting structures in place for

future incorporation, while running a number of events through 2014. Potential is also being

investigated for clubs and courses in other regions, such as Ipswich, and support of existing courses

such as those in Roma and Logan.

SUMMARY

I would like to thank two groups for QUDA’s achievements in 2013.

Firstly, as every administrator knows, nothing could be achieved in sport without the time and effort

contributed by a wide network of volunteers. In stating QUDA’s achievements, we are describing the

work done by hundreds of people around the state to grow the sport. Tremendous thanks to all of

you.

Secondly, behind any effective organisation is a fantastic committee, and the QUDA committee in

2013 has been outstanding. This year saw improvement of our core business, our internal operations

and our involvement with external groups; a huge amount of ground for a small volunteer group

leading a state organisation. Myall Hingee (Treasurer), Jo Ashdown (Secretary), Chris Ende (Regional

Director) and Emma Briggs (General Member), my hat goes off to you all.

Here’s to another big year in 2014.

John McNaughton

QUDA President 2013-2014

Queensland Ultimate Disc Association

2013 Member Survey: Collated Submissions and QUDA Response

WHAT IS QUDA?

Queensland Ultimate Disc Association (QUDA) is an incorporated association. This means it’s a legal

entity, formed by a group of people with a common purpose.

That purpose is defined in QUDA’s written rules of operation (our constitution). There are 9 points,

but they could be summarised as: “to encourage, grow, promote, develop and control flying disc

sports in Queensland”. We are recognised by the government and sports industry as the governing

body for Ultimate and disc golf in Queensland… and although they’re not currently played, also for

other disc sports/events, if this came up.

We are not-for-profit, meaning that income can only be used to further the activities of the

association (i.e. individuals may not receive profit from QUDA activities). This doesn’t mean that

people cannot be paid to run disc sports – this is a payment for work done – but rather that nobody

receives dividends or similar, as with a public company.

WHO IS QUDA?

QUDA is actually made up of its members, which means any AFDA member with a Qld (or far north

NSW) address. There were approximately 720 members as of early January 2014.

As it’s a little unwieldy to get discussions & decisions with that many people, a management

committee is elected by the members to run QUDA. This happens at the Annual General Meeting

each year, held at Regionals in March, though may change in between AGMs. When most people

think of “QUDA”, they think of the management committee.

We’re legally required to have a President, Secretary and Treasurer, and may choose to add extra

people to our committee, in whatever structure we wish. At present, there are 5 people on the

committee.

Committee positions are entirely voluntary. Expenses are reimbursed, but no payment is received

for time or effort. Most committee members take on the role as a chance to develop their sport, and

to give something back.

As such, “QUDA” has very limited ability to do much operationally through the committee alone. Our

volunteers are already working hard to provide support and direction. This is why we are constantly

seeking people to lead different events, roles or projects.

Since April, QUDA has had one part-time Development Officer, Mat Ryan. Mat has largely been

focused on tasks that are difficult for volunteers to take on effectively (e.g. school commitments), or

supporting key initiatives that require dedicated time or experience.

WHAT DOES QUDA ACTUALLY DO? Collated Survey Responses 2013 (major themes)

Runs events (tournaments/leagues)

Runs school development/coaching

Central organisational/administrative body in Qld

Acquires funding

Promotes Ultimate/disc sports in Qld

Supports volunteers, including competition directors

Provides support to players, organisations, events, projects

Runs development activities

Provides equipment

Gives out prizes

Plans for sport growth at a strategic level

Develops and oversees budgets

Outsources leagues

Passes on policies from AFDA

Represents Qld at national level

Organises fields

Organises insurance

Coordinates tournament schedule

Coach training

Works with the government

Collects fees

Talks a lot without getting much done ?

Focuses on South-East Qld ?

Focuses on Ultimate ?

QUDA is the body that governs disc sports in Queensland. It is mainly a strategic body; player

groups, ideally formed as local associations and clubs, perform most of the operational side. QUDA

provides oversight, coordination and support to these groups.

QUDA connects with the national body (AFDA), state and local governments, local associations

and clubs, and other groups in the sports industry. We seek to promote and build recognition of the

sport for outsiders, and seek to promote Queensland and its interests within the sport.

QUDA’s main operational focus is in sport development, especially in building disc sports where

they are weak. This may involve people, funding, equipment or advice. Recent examples of this are

the Brisbane schools programs and the development of Mackay Ultimate.

QUDA does not directly run any leagues. These are all run under the auspices of local

groups/associations (e.g. BUDA). QUDA provides oversight and seeks ways to support the growth

and development of the leagues. QUDA owns some tournaments (e.g. Regionals, Halibut), but

typically outsources these events under a hosting agreement.

Insurance (both player and public liability) is organised by the national body, AFDA.

? These are obviously about perception, to some degree. Yes, we talk a lot about the best ways to

grow the sport, and yes, we focus on our current members and opportunities to grow, much of

which means Ultimate in South-East Queensland. In this sense, we are guilty as charged.

FULL LIST OF SURVEY RESPONSES

WHAT DOES QUDA ACTUALLY DO?

no idea

Coach training. Organising coaches for schools etc. Coordinate tournaments schedule (not

the tournaments themselves)

Organise leagues and tournaments. Development and coaching in schools

Runs the whole Ultimate scene from a state perspective

Organise BUML and tournaments mostly

The managing body with disc sports.

Organises ultimate and focus on ultimate

Plan for the sport's growth at a strategic level, with some degree of implementation.

Support volunteers as they work to make ultimate happen. Promote ultimate

Runs events, secures funding, promotes the sport within Queensland, provides support to

players and player organisations

Organises fields, insurance, events, tournaments and leagues. Marketing

Central organisational body: Supports LDs and TDs, oversees schools program, runs regional

and national events

organising tournaments?

facilitate

Organise events, leagues, schools teaching program. Generate support and funding for the

community

Handles all administration for the sport in QLD. Handles budgets, outsources running of

leagues. Administers youth coaching clinics, passes on policies developed by AFDA.

Represents QLD in discussions about the future of the game at National level.

Promotes ultimate. Provides funds to events/projects where appropriate. Provides

assistance to people running events by way of equipment, advice etc.

Development of ultimate in Queensland. i.e working with schools, sporting events etc.

Working with the government to get grants, fields, and show the government we are

another sport that needs recognition. Assisting with tournaments.

moneys

Runs leagues, gets funding, gives prizes, sponsors people for events, runs schools programs

and development activities.

bring tents, collect fees

Organise/coordinate and facilitate disc sports in QLD. Get and use money from the state

government and try to help regional Qld get a bit of love but pretty much the main player

base of SEQLD gets the most action... due to number of players/closer to other state player

bases...etc

Runs/governs ultimate in QLD

QUDA is the governing body that over sees all ultimate disc related aspects of competition,

tournaments etc whilst helping promoted other disc sports.

Quda doesn’t do alot. Talks more about getting things done than actually doing. They have

good intentions but not much gets done.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT QUDA'S WORK?

Email communication is good - regular and informative

Good communications with members

BUML very smooth

Support for other disc sports besides ultimate.

You raise money really well

Employing a development officer

it's well run for the most part, fields are in good condition and gear like the trailer are easy

to access

POI wrt Communication, incorporation and legitimizing organisations.

facilitate

Good turn over with events and leagues

Don't know enough about the back-end. Seem to run a tight ship financially though.

Financial support has been offered if asked for.

assisting event organisers.

Working with the government, and making an effort to fit in with systems and build us in to

a more recognized sport.

All

Anything to grow the sport is great.

lots of shade

They try to help share the love of the funds and grow the sport.

Everything is going pretty smoothly as far as I can tell. I know QUDA is there but it's not

overbearing and ever present, meaning in my mind it's doing a good job.

QUDA has done a brilliant job this year!

keep disc sports in qld.

WHAT COULD QUDA BE DOING BETTER IN ITS CURRENT WORK?

Include dg

Not appear quite so superior

Get our own fields

Promote disc golf to its players, its not a competition, people can play both!

Encourage more involvement from players in developing the sport

I'm not sure if this is a QUDA issue but BUML is outrageously expensive. I know there are a

lot of fields to pay for but every player is paying at least $150 per season, which is a lot for

what you get.

Development pathways for youth, there's currently many plans to increase involvement in

schools but very little in the way of providing a way for youth to get involved beyond a

school level of participation.

making people more aware of what quda is and what they actually do?

Getting into more schools with the help of ex-students to help promote the sport at a grass

roots level, before students leave school and look for sporting clubs as an adult.

Find ways to encourage development in new areas (Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Rocky)

More widespread promotional material. Greater penetration into school programs.

Currently most high level training is done in high level clubs. Although this training is fine, It

could be beneficial to the community to have more quda organized training

sessions/workshops/skills clinics. This could be a little similar to elite squad, but far more

open. Currently very few lower level players get any coaching/training apart from advice

from senior players in their team. A skills clinic/ training session aimed at intermediate

players could be useful.

I am not great with Ideas, so take this with a grain of salt, but I would say advertising to the

public. I would think we would get a lot of interest in hosting showcase games and inviting

various bodies to watch. I am sure this is not new, but I feel there isn't much of it.

Free club stuff

More development effort, channelling players into nationals teams from leagues via

sponsoring development days / fun activities.

more avenues to play, youth development/involvement, video/multimedia

Continue to push Beach Ultimate in Qld ... we have some great beaches... Beach Worlds is in

2015 and it'd be great to have QLD well represented and leading the way with beach

experience through local tourneys/games.

Not sure. Growth at lower levels is happening so that's good. Maybe something to get QLD

teams making semi finals on the big stage.

More tournaments (pipeline dream)

Get things going. So many opportunities. Be proactive in getting people to acknowledge disc

sports. getting business's to try corporate days. either disc golf or ultimate. Make the

competitions run better. Give training to league directors on how to make their league

better.

There is no water or amenities at Salisbury - those fields would be much more useful if there

was water. It is unreasonable to expect everyone to bring enough water to the fields.

WHAT ARE YOUR DREAM IMPROVEMENTS FOR QUEENSLAND DISC SPORTS IN THE NEXT 1-2 YEARS?

Courses with baskets. Ultimate players to come try dg 4 a day

more younger players ie, 16-24

It would be nice to have more once-off games/training to invite beginners to - so they can

get a taste of what ultimate is like without having to join a league.

Getting more people involved

Get our own fields

More disc golf courses throughout Brisbane and suburban areas.

80 players at the Queensland disc golf championships, including a lot of ultimate players

Youth ultimate

Development of the salisbury fields as a venue for ultimate. Field care, running water,

toilets, lights. A second night of men's frisbee each week.

Ultimate as a competitive high school sport. More experienced younger players will increase

numbers of keen players. More separate open and women's tournaments. Would increase

enthusiasm and competition in women's ultimate

Split to North/South BUML. Continued elite squad. Weekly training sessions of a club.

Increasing the numbers, in order to afford our own club house and facilities, where the club

members can socialise and host events. INclude gym, showers, kitchen and drink facilities.

Purpose-built frisbee fields? Nah...seriously. Finding ways to encourage teams/clubs to

recruit/train and develop as clubs, ie. BPL, WUFL& BUML teams to have training (which can

bring in newbies), but also develop the skills of all players

getting ultimate into more schools. building skills of intermediate level players.

I would like to see a massive boom for Youth ultimate, and inter-school leagues, more

showcase games and more publicity. I would also like to see more higher level mixed

ultimate.

More funding

Inspired group of people competitive at nationals. More than one league in Brisbane.

have QUDA host the next beach worlds in the Gold Coast

Use those fields north of Brisbane... invest and increase beach ultimate play... especially with

Beach Worlds coming in 1.5 years. Continue in schools too...

Fields that are owned/leased/run by QUDA (Salisbury doesn't count cos they don't even

have water). Some nice fields with a clubhouse would be amazing.

Getting into more schools high schools. There is a huge list i believe of schools with a level 1

coaching cred. Has anything been done to follow up on that.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

http://saultimate.net/

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

http://www.waultimate.com/

2013 Snapshot 2013 was an exciting year for Ultimate in WA as it saw the election of new executive and general committee members which has led to a significant restructuring of the Associations Governance. The aim of which has been to streamline the ongoing operations of the organization whilst maintaining the focus on introducing new players to Ultimate and developing the talent we currently have. This has already had a noticeable impact with WAFDA membership reaching 780 players an increase of 14% on 2012. In addition to this there has been a continued focus on the development of the sport in regional areas of WA, with Esperance, Karratha and Broome offering regular playing opportunities and working towards becoming incorporated clubs. The Perth Ultimate League continued to expand at UWA Sports Park with additional leagues being held in Riverton, Yokine, UWA Campus and Bunbury. The Association also employed a Youth and Inclusion Officer on a part time contract in 2013 and have already reaped considerable benefit with regards to our reach into High School sports programs. Diversity remains a major topic in the Ultimate landscape and the Association has made significant progress in increasing women’s interest in the sport as well as progressing this talent through events such as women’s development days. International representation A special mention must also be made to the WA players and coaches who represented their country at the World U/23 Ultimate Championships held in Toronto. The state had 11 players and two coaches attend the tournament with the Open team bringing home a bronze medal.

Open Team Women's Team Mixed Team Coaching Staff

Kyle Atkins Annie Jessop Andrew Jennings John Damiani - Head Coach Mixed

Kyal Oh Tamsin Hearne Ashley Evans Anna Haynes - Head Coach Women's

Jeremy Nixon Rebecca Brereton

Louis Masarei Paige Oh

Ellie Murray-Yong

WAFDA Employees I would like to acknowledge all of the work done by our Development Officer, Anna Haynes and Youth and Inclusion Officer, Kyal Oh in 2013. Anna and Kyal have worked tirelessly to help raise the profile of Ultimate within the Department of Sport and Recreation, in schools and the wider community. Both Anna and Kyal have been on several trips to remote areas of WA to run Ultimate sessions for local young people. WAFDA Committee The AGM in 2013 saw many changes to the structure and personnel of the WAFDA committee. There was a complete change in the Executive Committee with Kendall Thorn (President), Lauren Hoskins (Treasurer) and M-J Rigby (Secretary) taking the reins. The Association would like to thanks the outgoing committee of Ellen Shackles, Geri Viros and Julie Hardt for their service over the years. The new executive spent much of their time restructuring the Association to better serve the needs of their clients (Ultimate Players in WA) and their employees. This restructure saw the creation of three new Sub-Executive Director Positions with focuses on Development, Events and High Performance. These three positions were filled by Sarah Brereton, Glen Fowles and Jason Carr respectively. With these three experienced Ultimate administrators onboard the Association believes that more focus can be placed on core projects, further enhancing the Associations deliverables. The Committee also welcomed an unprecedented number of new members with Jed Yu, Annie Jessop, Tamsin Hearne, Jenaya Shepherd, Eugene Liew, David Tran, Ashvin Nair and Rachel Deluca joining the team. Finally the Association would also like to thank the League Directors for 2013, Peter Rice, Glen Fowles, Piers Truter and Sarah Rice WAFDA Awards The 2013 Awards night was held in in conjunction with a Lawn Bowls event and was well received by all attendees. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners for WAFDA awards in 2013. Club of the Year:

PRIMAL Ultimate Club UWA Ultimate Club Murdoch Ultimate Club Happy Pig FEAR Ultimate Club

Coach of the Year:

Steve Baker John Damiani Kendall Thorn Kyal Oh Casey Meakins

Tournament of the Year:

Phoenix Has Risen Autum Swarm Cable Beach Hat Witch's Hat Bay of Pigs

Outstanding Service:

Jack Morris Steve Baker Eugene Liew Caitlin Barthomeaus

Female Rookie of the Year:

Maxin Qua Elaine Soh Caitlin Anderson Simone Hegge

Male Rookie of the Year:

Sam Dickson Jake Taylor Nikk Wright

Administrator of the Year:

Lauren Hoskins

Team of the Year:

That's My Fish! Fetch/Fetchasaurus Cabs Are Here Moon Doggies

Key Statistics 2013

(Source: WA Department of Sport and Recreation)

Female Player of the Year:

Rebecca Brereton Kierin Janes Lisa Finch

Male Player of the Year:

Louis Masarei Monte Masarei Kyal Oh

A big thank you to all our members, clubs, coaches, volunteers, league directors, employees and committee members and supporters for all of the work they did to make 2013 such a successful year for WAFDA. Kendall Thorn WAFDA President

VICTORIA

http://ultimatevictoria.com.au/

Ultimate Victoria went from strength to strength in 2013 as the board continued to push the

organisation to grow in terms of membership and governance.

The biggest project embarked upon was the adoption of a new constitution and changing the

organisation’s legal name from Victorian Flying Disc Association to Ultimate Victoria. This involved a

thorough rewriting of an outdated constitution, redefinition of membership and restructure of the

board. After multiple submissions and rewrites, the new constitution was accepted and put in to

place. Shortly following, the name changed was formalised. This has set the organisation up to be

able to handle significant growth in the next few years.

As membership grew, UV placed an increased focus on communication with its members. Through

the use of social media and a subscription-based email newsletter, we were able to keep our

members informed of news and events. We also established regular club forums, allowing for

discussion and planning sessions between representatives of affiliated clubs. Through these sessions,

we were able to develop plans for growth of university and women’s competition.

The other big off field project was the creation of a new paid role – the Administrative Officer.

Following the resignation of previous Development Officer Greta Hunt, the board took the

opportunity to review the DO role, and decided to divide the tasks into two roles to allow the DO to

spend more time on club and youth development. After an extensive search, UV employed Jo Bowen

into the role.

In 2013 UV continued to lead the way in event hosting, taking on six major tournaments among

many other events run by our clubs. Southern Region Ultimate Championships and Australian

Ultimate Championships took place in Point Cook and Bendigo respectively, helping seed new

markets of players in those areas. The return of Australian Youth Ultimate Championships was a

highlight on the calendar, with UV striking a deal to host it in Melbourne for the next couple of years.

Victorian Mixed Ultimate Championships continued to grow into a hallmark event, and the

introduction of the Victorian Indoor Ultimate Championships proved to be very popular. UV also

marked the 25th anniversary of the Melbourne Hat by increasing it to 450 participants.

As at the end of 2013, Ultimate Victoria had over 20 clubs around the state formally affiliated with

us across open, women’s, mixed and university divisions. The clubs drove grassroots recruitment and

development with beginner coaching, league participation and coordination, and tournament

hosting. Clubs were also able to secure funding and grants, and seasonal field allocations, which

fuelled further playing opportunities and organisation revenue.

Further revenue generation also came from the expansion of participation in UV’s flagship

competition – Albert Park League. Management of the league passed from the UV board to a

dedicated sub-committee, who were able to find ways to fit in more teams in existing field

allocations, thus increasing participation and recurring membership.

One of the major sources of pride for Ultimate Victoria is its network of volunteers. After the

establishment of a Volunteer Management Plan, UV continued to recognise the efforts of volunteers

throughout 2013 with their Volunteer of the Month awards.

January: Liz Blink (Funny Duck)

February: Jack Daley (Ballarat)

March: Chris Mulcahy (Chilly)

April: Shayne Curry (Funny Duck)

May: Raphael Buelens (Funny Duck)

June: Stefan van Boxtel (Deakin Uni)

July: Kerry Justus (Aussie Crocs)

August: Chris Folkes (Ultimate Victoria)

September: Lyn Gibbs, Fiona Pereira & Sally O’Hagan (AYUC)

October: Tipman Wong (Yarra)

November: Aaron Stewart (Ballarat)

December: Al Don (Groundhog Day)

With a committed board, outstanding staff, established clubs and dedicated volunteers, Ultimate

Victoria is working on various avenues for promoting the sport in Victoria, leading to growth of the

profile of Ultimate nation-wide.

Simon Talbot

President

Ultimate Victoria

NEW SOUTH WALES

http://ufnsw.com.au/

President’s Report 2012/13 Frisbee in NSW has continued to be one of the leading states in Australia in terms of development from beginner to elite. 2012/13 was an extremely busy and fruitful year with achievements across many areas. I would like to start by thanking the many volunteers who have contributed to their local Frisbee communities’ success. Without the contributions of these important people, we would not be able to be as strong and successful each and every year. We have maintained the importance of the paid development officer role and it has continued, despite the overall financial loss, to be a worthwhile investment. The development officer’s role continues to encompass many areas including: 1) Coaching and liaising with junior players 2) Running the regional and state gala days 3) Starting up and maintain junior leagues 4) Hosting tournaments 5) Applying for grants 6) Building relationships with schools and other key stakeholders across NSW 7) Acting as the main administrator for our organisation. Gala days and junior state championships in its third year were successful again in bringing more juniors into our sport. The junior leagues fostered their interest in the sport and paid dividends as we had a large percentage of the players from the Australian Junior teams coming from NSW, many learning of the sport from the gala day system. Due to the recommencement of the Australian Youth Ultimate Championships (AYUC) another development pathway for future junior participants has been opened up. A continued area of focus in the role of development officer will be creating more money to maintain the role as a viable position for our organisation to invest in into the future. Investing more time in grant applications and running events to generate income are some areas that have served as partial avenues of success. This role has made it possible for our other volunteers to focus on the goals for their particular area which has in turn has made this a very productive year. This year has marked Geoa Geer’s first year in the role, and she has done an outstanding job in developing relationships outside of the Frisbee community enabling us to increase exposure to our sport. In addition, Geoa has overseen the reintroduction of AYUC in relation to NSW junior development, and increased both the number of coaches and schools offering ultimate. It is a credit to her boundless enthusiasm and phenomenal work ethic that NSW is where we are now in the community. 2012 saw NSW teams back on top of Australian ultimate at the elite club level, and this was also reflected in many NSW players being selected for squads at WUGC, World Games and Under 23s level. Tournaments throughout NSW have also continued their growth, including the Bathurst Stampede (now in its seventh year), and the Gong Classic. At the university level, it is pleasing to see the Universities working together to run university level tournaments.

Our leagues continue to be the bread and butter of the local regions in terms of financial viability and player development. It is great to so many leagues sustaining growth across NSW, including increased activity in Mudgee, Dubbo and a new lunchtime league in the Sydney CBD. As an organisation we would like to assist any areas that would like to start up a league but need assistance because we see it as an important step to building a region’s Frisbee success. Along with success, we have faced many challenges this year. One real problem that Sydney, where a majority of our player base is, has faced issues securing fields for tournaments, leagues, trainings and pick up. Simon Farrow, leagues officer, has worked closely with councils, players and other sporting associations alike to create a long term solution. This is why it is great to have regions like Newcastle and Bathurst who have a strong player/volunteer bases to be able to host National tournaments for NSW. Some potential solutions we are looking at are investing in lights on existing fields to secure a permanent booking and using artificial grass fields. Other challenges we have faced have been meeting the needs of regional areas. The real challenge is human resources in the regional areas and we will continue to help where we can. We are also facing financial challenges which we are addressing but we always knew employing a full time development officer would drain

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

http://canberraultimate.com

Presidents Report

Canberra Ultimate’s focus in 2013 has been to continue the great

developments from 2012, which set us on course to grow player

numbers, continue ACT representation at elite levels, and host the

2013 Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships.

Volunteers and Growth

Following on from having an employee in 2012, CU has established a paid/gifted project policy

where we engage in volunteers to complete substantial projects of their particular interest. A

particularly successful project has been the Active After School Community, led by Dan Mathews-

Hunter.

Thanks also to our League organisers over 2013: at Dickson Summer season James Feltrin, Autumn

and Spring seasons Karina Harding, Darren Molineux, James Miller, and Martin Nguyen; at SCUL and

Indoor Simon Ratcliffe, Jason de Rooy, and Anthony Perry; and Lunchtime League Rocco Weglarz.

Ultimate continues to grow in player base numbers. This is best seen with the Spring 2013 season

with both Dickson leagues two timeslots at full capacity (32 teams) and SCUL at capacity (8 teams).

We also re- introduced an indoor league over the winter at the mPowerdome.

Storage and Website

Canberra Ultimate has established a small storage home at Dickson fields. It has been great getting

all the equipment into the one place and having it easily accessible. CU now has everything a

tournament or league director needs to put on a great event.

Our Canberra Ultimate webpage and social media continue to support registration to all CU events

along with information and member discussion through social media.

National and International Reps

ACT has been represented at all elite levels with Fyshwick United representing ACT at Opens

National Championship, Factory at Women’s National Championship, Burley Griffins and Anunnaki at

Mixed Nationals, ANU’s Anunnaki and University of Canberra’s Buckets at EUGs and AUGs, and new

to the nationals elite circuit is the ACT Junior teams, the boys team Gang- Gang representing at the

inaugural u18s National Championship and the girls team the Bluebells.

I mustn’t forget to acknowledge those players who represented ACT and Australia at u23s

Championship and World Games. Way to represent the ACT everyone! Canberra is looking forward

to hearing great results at Australian Championships and World Championships in 2014!

Canberra Centenary and Mixed Nats

CU also participated in Canberra Centenary celebrations hosting Australian Mixed Ultimate

Championship and a gripping North vs South Showcase game, both as part of the Spin-tenary. AMUC

was a great success with 23 of the top mixed teams from all over Australia and top team from New

Zealand; my highlight from the weekend was the amazing showcase game on Friday night with food

and drinks by the field watching a win by Burley Griffins. Canberra hosting would not have been

made possible without the vision, time, and skills of one particular individual Jamie Bozza; so thanks

Jamie and also to the Greyhounds and friends for helping out over the weekend.

Thanks and the Year Ahead

To all Canberra Ultimate players, volunteers and supporters thanks for a great 2013. As I step down

from the president role I will continue to be volunteering to help and as Ultimate continues to grow I

encourage everyone to help support our ultimate community by spreading the word of ultimate,

captaining a team, or perhaps giving time to the community whole. If you have a great idea and the

will to see it through please contact anyone on the Board about it so you can make your idea a

reality.

2014 will bring some changes with a new President stepping in. Leagues will continue and with all

Leagues at capacity, keep your eyes to the website to see how we will continue to grow. ACT will

continue to represent at Nationals and at World Clubs. The ACT youth program will develop and

hopefully ACT will be able to send both Gang-Gang (boys) and Bluebell (girls) to Junior Nationals in

2014. Tournaments will continue to be played in Canberra with ACT/NSW Open and Women’s

Championships in March 2014 and a local tournament for all playing levels.

Well done to all and thanks everybody for your assistance. I look forward to seeing you on the field

in 2014.

Heather Bozza President 2013

ACT Representatives 2013 - Australian Representatives

World Games – Cali, Columbia: Dani Alexander Johnno Holmes Andrew Jackson (Reserve)

Under 23s – Toronto, Canada: Tom MacCallum Dan Mathews-Hunter Konrad Wallace (Germany)

NOTE: The FULL ACT Annual Report can be found at

http://canberraultimate.com/planning-and-reporting

DISC GOLF

The Australian Disc Golf Tour had another fantastic year with continued growth in 2013 and early 2014. There were a combined total of 18 A, B, and C tier events in Australia this year. Very big thanks go out to everyone who helped out with a tournament at any level. It's very encouraging to see more and more enthusiastic people around the nation volunteering their efforts to put on more competition disc golf for everyone. In total, 172 disc golfers played in ADG tour events around the country. ADG Membership is now over 330, an increase of around 130 in the last 12 months. ADG has been working hard on solving Tour issues, PDGA membership requirements and building a new website. The major achievements for the year were obtaining insurance for league events and the establishment of the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to inaugural inductees Ian Whitehead, Leigh Bird and Greg Sparksman. This year, the active PDGA memberships within the Australian Disc golf Community have grown to over 60, up from 40 the previous year. This is largely thanks to the Tour requirements. PDGA has been instrumental in supporting this growth by waiving fees for PDGA events, and also by providing grants for grass roots activities such as the Edge program taking place at the ADGC 2013. The increased participation saw the 2013 ADGC reach a full house for the second year in a row. This growth has also pushed the quality of these tournaments to a higher level. Thus ensuring player enjoyment and creating the feel of the bigger tournaments that are played around the world. In more recent news Disc Golf has 2 new parks installed, one in Geelong with a great beginner friendly 9 hole park, that can also provide a challenge for everyone. Secondly Mundaring Disc Golf is turning out to be one of the premier Disc Golf courses in the country. Situated on a ball golf course where Disc Golf club members can utilise the club house and bar, even with amenities like hot showers, it really takes things to a new level! There are other exciting course prospects with new courses going in the ground in both NSW and QLD. Along with support from the AFDA the ADG feels that Disc Golf is really started to build on its membership base and expanding the sport to a wider audience than ever before. Thanks Neil Roberts ADG President

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At the end of 2013, the current Board of Directors (along with their year of first election) was:

President – Jamie Bozza (2011)

Secretary – Chris Mulcahy (2013)

Treasurer – Amanda Fung (2011)

Director of Events – John Hempel (2006 )

Director of High Performance – Minh Huynh (2013)

Director of Development – Anna Haynes (2012)

Director of Marketing – Ashleigh Thornton (2011)

Director if Human Resources – Emma Briggs (2012)

COORDINATORS AND OFFICERS

In addition to the Board, a number of people take on positions of national significance as AFDA

Officers and Coordinators.

Finance and Administration Officer – Simon Wood

National Volunteers Officer – Anna Haynes

National Universities Coordinator – Jamie Bozza

Coaching Administration – Simon Wood

National Events Officer – Simon Wood

National Appointment Panel –

Anti-Doping Officer – Emma Taylor

Rules Officer – Caroline Tamas

Member Protection Officers – Simon Wood and Mel Gangemi

Webmaster – Andrew Olennick

WFDF Committee Members

Rueben Berg – Rules Committee

Richard Moore – SOTG Committee

Piers Truter – Ultimate Committee

Anna Haynes – Athletes Commission