AFDA 2006 Annual Report

Australian Flying Disc Association I nc.

PO Box 269 phone 0405 188 599 St Leonards NSW 1590 web www.afda.com Australia email [email protected]

R e c o g n i s e d b y t h e A u s t r a l i a n S p o r t s C o m m i s s i o n

Australian Flying Disc Association Inc.

Annual Report 2006

President’s Report 2006 was a good year! As predicted by Matt Boevink, WUCC2006 has proven to be a disruption to our calendar and a sap on our energies, but the damage done has been tolerable, and as you’ll hear from Mel, the positives to come from hosting WUCC have been substantial. The AFDA Board was heavily involved in WUCC2006 management and coped well with the additional responsibilities imposed by the tournament. Regarding WUCC2006, a big thanks to the Perth Tournament Organising Committee, the volunteers, Mel Gangemi and Jonathan Potts. Congratulations to medallists Thong, Chilly and Eastern Greys, and the Spirit Winners in all four divisions. Congratulations to our teams who attended the World Junior Ultimate Championships. Well done and big thanks to Bruce, Piers, Nikki, Matt, Abra, Lisi and Claire for providing so much support on behalf of the Association. Policy development and refinement remains an ongoing piece of work for the Association. The Association recently saw a fruitful test of its Appeals Policy. Also of note is the introduction of the Member Agreement at Nationals 2007. The Board proposes introducing a new Board position – Director of High Performance – to replace the Director of WUCC2006. During the last year, John Hempel took on the role of Treasurer, and former-Treasurer Tom Brennan has been tireless in ensuring a smooth transition. Matt Boevink and Tom Walcott are not seeking re-election. Thanks to all. As noted in recent email, I'm resigning – thanks for everything and I intend to serve another year on the Board in another (slightly less busy) position. Leon Smith AFDA President

Australian Flying Disc Association I nc


CEO Report 2006 2006 was another great year for the AFDA, highlighted by our successful hosting of the WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) 2006 in Perth. In addition, we sent teams to the World Junior Ultimate Championships 2006 in Boston, USA, and we continued to host a number of national-level tournaments. WUCC2006 was significant for a number of reasons:

1. With almost 100 teams from around the world, it was by far the largest ultimate tournament ever held in Australia.

2. The greatest ever participation of Australian teams (and players) at an international tournament, with 20 teams representing us across four divisions.

3. Silver (Thong) and Bronze (Chilly) medals in the Open competition, Bronze (Eastern Greys) in the Masters competition - a best ever performance for World Clubs.

4. Spirit of the game award in all 4 divisions! 5. Significant financial proceeds to the AFDA, yet to be finalised.

In August, we sent U19 Men’s and U19 Women’s teams to the WFDF World Junior Ultimate Championships in Boston, USA. Their achievements include:

1. Only USA, Canada and Finland sent teams in both divisions. 2. Bronze medal for the girls, narrow defeat in the Bronze medal playoff for the boys. We

were really only eclipsed by USA and Canada who had the home (or near-home) soil advantage.

3. Travelled further than any other teams. 4. Spirit of the game award in both divisions! 5. Fantastic support staff with 2 coaches for each team and a number of chaperones and

supporting parents. Of note, on the domestic scene:

1. Second year of Regionals for men/women, with some teams missing out on Nationals for the first time ever.

2. A record 16 teams in the women's division. 3. A record 23 teams competing in men's regionals and nationals. 4. NUFL continues its second year, with a "normal" season and a "WUCC" season. 5. Second year of Youth Nationals. This is an event that will continue to provide the best

competition for our juniors, and something for all our young players to aspire to. 6. Mixed Nationals continues to be strong and well-supported, even amongst the build-up

to WUCC. Supporting all of these on-field successes are ever-improving administration processes and athlete development pathways. Our youth program is already starting to underpin our university and senior development, and will continue to expand. In 2007, we look forward to building a greater support network for people embarking on youth development. At the heart of the AFDA is the AFDA Board, a group of 8 volunteers responsible for setting the strategic direction of the AFDA and overseeing its operations. The Board works tirelessly mulling over policy and voting in online polls, with those decisions filtering down to every player's experience of playing Ultimate in Australia.



We seem to maintain a healthy rate of turnover each year of around 2-3 new board members, which means that we retain a lot of knowledge while bringing in fresh ideas and energy. They are diligent and dedicated to the task of guiding the AFDA and they are a pleasure to work with. This year, we faced the challenge of losing our longest-serving board member, Tom Brennan, who has been Treasurer since 1999. Such a key position looked to be very difficult to replace, but we snapped up John Hempel from Victoria, before the VFDA could properly get their fangs into him. The Board held a planning session in July, during which we covered the full gamut of AFDA activities and began the difficult task of building living strategic plans for each portfolio. Our finances are getting in better order, and we are moving from an Excel-based accounting system to an accounting software package, that should make monthly reporting a lot easier. We have also caught up on auditing for a couple of years. We have had a paid administrator for almost two years, primarily looking after the day to day finances of the AFDA (you should all be thankful that I no longer am the AFDA’s debt collector). Amy Wadwell left us early in the year, but the transition to Emily Shuter was almost seamless. Welcome Emily. What about the future? The biggest paradigm change on the horizon for the AFDA is an increasing focus on youth development. Throughout the country we are already starting to see efforts increasing in this area, and the AFDA will put more of its resources towards providing the frameworks in which youth development can prosper. Behind the scenes, I’m keen to see our IT infrastructure improve, and support our administrators and volunteers at all levels. To have accurate and timely information at our fingertips and build upon the knowledge base of everything that’s gone on before us will make everyone’s job easier. I’d like to thank everyone who contributed so much to the successes of the AFDA in the past year, and I won’t try to be exhaustive , but would like to single out the following people:

• Brian Vanallen – our WUCC2006 TD, whose fruits were the successes of that tournament

• Piers Truter and Nikki Shires – for driving the coaching and development of the U19 teams in a year when most people's focus was distracted by WUCC

• Bruce McNaughton – who again managed the youth teams with aplomb belying the vagaries of the task

• All of our National Event TDs – directing a national event usually means putting the rest of your life on hold for a month or two, all of our events have been exceptionally delivered in 2006.

I derive great satisfaction from being a part of the achievements of the AFDA and working with a bunch of wonderful and dedicated people, most of them volunteers. I look forward to the next 12 months as we strive to be better (and consequentially bigger). And I hope to see you out there on the field, because I also loving playing this great sport! Jonathan Potts Chief Executive Officer.



Finance Report The Member Compassionate Fund (MCF) (replacing the Association’s old personal injury insurance policy) has begun functioning. Approximately $4,000 has been dispensed to date, however there is around $18,000 in claims currently being considered by the MCF Committee. The budget for this financial year for the MCF is $24,000. The AFDA Administrator has made great gains in catching up on past tournament fees. With a total amount of $13,400.00 being paid to the AFDA for Tournaments held in 2004 and 2005. The AFDA has introduced a new accounting system, and has started to move to internet banking for all its transactions. With many signatories on the AFDA account living in different states internet banking will allow faster and more efficient payment of accounts. The AFDA is currently providing an account service to Australian Disc Golf (ADG) until such time that they are established enough to open a separate account. It is believed that this year (2007) the AFDA will reach a turnover of $100,000.00 which will require it to start collecting GST. It is estimated that had this step been taken last year it would have cost the Association around $3,000.00. The Board will need to consider how to manage this cost. In the last year the Association generated $88,911.53 in income (mostly from event fees) and expended around $80,444.38. Leaving it with a Net Profit for the 2006 financial year of $8,656.36 John Hempel, AFDA Treasurer.

Administration Report My role over the last year has been to chase event organisers for event based fees. An estimated < 5% of organisers follow the procedure set out at www.afda.com. This means I am left to hunt through state websites, University clubs and group email lists to find information about events. Once an event has been identified, a request for information email is sent to the organiser(s), fees are estimated, discussed, agreed upon and finally an invoice is prepared. Most organisers are good at paying fees on time but some require chasing. I have worked an average of four hours per week over the last year taking into account a three month overseas holiday and a month spent in Perth for WUCC. This time has not been spread evenly over the year and work has been done in bursts. I currently have another full-time position so am not looking at taking on too many more hours at this stage. The accounting software, Quickbooks®, was purchased at the end of September in order to simplify the invoicing and accounting process. I have spent part of my time over the last six months becoming familiar with the software with the assistance of John Hempel, the treasurer. We aim to have the new system fully implemented before June 2007. Once the new system is in place I may be able to take on additional tasks. Emily Shuter AFDA Administrator



WUCC 2006 Report From 11 to 18 November 2006, 1750 players from 17 countries converged on Perth for the 2006 WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships, the first time the championships were held in the Southern Hemisphere. During 8 days of intense competition, 474 games were played across four divisions. Of particular note was the number of Australian teams in attendance – a record of 20. Particular congratulations should go out to silver medallists in the open division, Thong, bronze medallists in the open division, Chilly, and bronze medallists in the masters division, Eastern Greys. A large part of the event’s success can be traced back to the financial and other support of WUCC 2006 from its corporate partners. In particular, the AFDA would like to thank the events branch of Tourism Western Australia who originally proposed the idea of hosting WUCC 2006. Their support and generous sponsorship was no small part of the event’s success. The AFDA would also like to thank its other sponsors including Discover West, Healthways, Gaia, Discraft, Little Creatures, Zest Catering, Worldwide Online Printing and Nova. An event of this magnitude would not have happened with out the help of a large number of people whom the AFDA would like to thank, including: • tournament director Brian Vanallen for running an incredibly successful and enjoyable event; • the tournament Organising Committee (Mick Canci, Steve Baker and Colin Wagstaff) who,

as volunteers, showed exceptional commitment working up to18 hour days during the event; • assistant tournament director John Damiani, in particular for his efforts in making the

Healthways project such a success; • Jonathan Potts, who has worked on the event from the outset and was instrumental in

securing the hosting rights from the WFDF in 2004; • the WUCC 2006 Board (Jonathan Potts, Brenda Moore, Leon Smith, Pip Slaughter, Brian

Vanallen), who have been involved now for over two years; and • all of the other wonderful volunteers (which space prohibits naming) who came to Perth and

gave up their time during the event. It was the work of these people that lead to WUCC 2006 having a 96% satisfaction level and the event being widely acclaimed as the best worlds ever. Hosting WUCC 2006 was an enormous risk for the AFDA. Luckily the risk has paid off and the legacy the tournament has left for Australian Ultimate should not be underestimated. Hundreds of Australian Ultimate players have now experienced elite ultimate and international competition. Our corporate knowledge regarding event management and tournament hosting has significantly increased. Furthermore, the profits from WUCC 2006, expected to be above $100,000, will for the first time provide financial security to the AFDA and provide the funds for further development and promotion of our sport within the wider community. Melissa Gangemi WUCC 2006 Director and Chair A few points from the research conducted by EventsCorp(Tourism WA) to add to Mel's report: • Overall the event received a 96% satisfaction level. • The return on investment was 21.8%, far exceeding Eventscorp’s expectations, and placing

the event 7th in terms of ROI of the 17 EventsCorp backed events over the past 6 years. • Economic impact to WA = $4.4m, far exceeding the expected impact of $2.8m!! • The main negative was the transport, not running to schedule.



• The top 3 improvements suggested by player feedback were: 1. better/closer food, 2. better/more frequent transport and 3. free drinks like in the US!

• Only 7% of respondents were concerned about the cost to participants (only the 6th most suggested improvement)

• And 3.2% of respondents wanted cheap or free water! go figure!! • Player feedback listed the top 3 positive aspects of the event as: 1. excellent fields, 2.

excellent field tents for players, 3. well organised – ran to schedule! Brian Vanallan WUCC 2006 Tournament Director

Tasmania - TUA 2006 has seen some consolidation in ultimate in Hobart, with social leagues continuing each season, repeating the formats for outdoor Autumn and indoor Winter leagues from 2005, and the evolution of the Tasmanian Ultimate Championships (TUC) into a 3 team A-League. This year also saw a whole range of new league organisers running leagues. Thanks to league organisers Matt Smith, Aaron Pinkus, Dave Cooke, Sarah Robinson, Basil van Riet, John Kristensen and Tim Johnson for running TUA leagues in 2006, with ever present support from Jeff Dunn. Thanks also to all the new players for coming along to TUA social leagues and to the old players for coming back for more! Thanks also to Matt Smith for stepping up to take over the job of Two-Hat Tournament Director. Two-Hat VIII was held at North Hobart Oval in October, with record equalling numbers (48 players and 5 teams) and once again with good support from interstate players. Thanks also to the following people for helping Matt to run the tournament: Alysia Cullen; Shavawn Donoghue; Masni Bennet; Helena Bilton; Joe Boyer; Felix Kennedy; Ash Martens; Mike Baker; Aaron Pinkus; Sam Waugh; John Kristensen and James Bowe. Shavawn Donoghue's record in being a member of the spirit winning team 5 times is particularly notable - especially given that this award has only been made for the last 6 Two-Hats! The Tassie Tiggers again ventured across Bass Strait twice in 2006, first to qualify for the Australian Ultimate Championship at the Southern Australian Ultimate Championships, held in Melbourne in March 2006. This team had 12 players, including 6 first time Tiggers. Despite lacking some match practice, the Tiggers finished in 6th place and thanks to wildcards and another team giving up their place, the Tiggers secured a place at Nationals. The Tiggers finished in 15th place out of 18 teams in the Open Division at Nationals. This final placing was three places above their seeding and ahead of two teams that had beaten them at the qualifying tournament. This was a sensational result for the Tiggers, especially given the small team size - 13 players, including 5 who hadn't played Nationals for a Tasmanian team previously. Mike Dunne also received a special TUA youth development grant which provided financial assistance for him to play for the Tiggers in Melbourne at the qualifying tournament, and to give him some exposure to elite level ultimate early in his ultimate playing career. Unfortunately Mike Dunne couldn't make it to Sydney for Nationals. Congratulations to captain Mike Baker for winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award at Nationals for the second year running. Thanks also to Mike for captaining the team, coaching the team and for general team management, and for ensuring that the Tiggers played Nationals in 2004 and qualified for Nationals in 2005 and 2006. Mike's efforts on behalf of the Tiggers



have been much appreciated over the last three years and we wish him well with his move to Darwin. Shavawn Donoghue and Ash Martens once again played in the Women’s Division at Nationals playing for Southside, a strong Sydney based team which finished in 4th place out of 16 teams. Matt Petrie played for the Moreton Bay Buggers in the National Ultimate Frisbee League (NUFL) in 2006. In addition, 5 Tasmanian players played at the World Ultimate Club Championships held in Perth in November 2006. Kate Godber and Jemery Day played for the Restless Flycatchers in the Mixed Division and finished in 26th place (seeded 30th), Shavawn Donoghue and Ash Martens played for Southside in the Women’s division and finished in 10th place (seeded 6th) and Mike Baker played for Thong and finished 2nd in the Open division (seeded 10th). While these are not strictly national teams, having a Tasmanian player come home with a silver medal from an ultimate world championships is a significant achievement! A mixed Tasmanian team reformed in 2006 and went to Ballarat for Mixed Nationals, after a one year absence from these championships, thanks to the efforts of captains Shavawn Donoghue and Matt Petrie. With very limited numbers of players, Zing managed to finish in a creditable 14th place out of 20 teams, improving on their seed of 16th. The University of Tasmania Ultimate Frisbee Club had mixed fortunes with a decline in the attendance at the weekly lunchtime pickup games. On the positive side, the club managed to put together their first ever mixed team to attend an interstate tournament. This team travelled to Ballarat for the Southern University games where they finished 7th out of 12 teams (with 4 wins and 4 losses for the tournament) and qualified for the Australian University Games. After playing their first ever tournament as a team, the team improved even further. The University of Tasmania Ultimate Frisbee Club team finished the Australian University Games played in Adelaide in September in 8th place out of 17 teams, having been seeded 14th, and finishing as the third ranked team in the southern region. Congratulations to Ash Martens for her selection on the 2006 Green and Gold Merit Team which is selected at the Australian University Games every year. Ash is the first Tasmanian to be selected for this "team". Thanks also to Ash Martens for driving the formation of the first University of Tasmania ultimate team too. Ashley Button was selected to represent Australia at the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Boston in August 2006. Ashley is the first Tasmanian to represent Australia at an international ultimate tournament - and the Australian Junior Boys team finished in a very creditable 4th place, narrowly missing out on a medal and the team won the spirit of the game award. The TUA was pleased to be able support Ashley by awarding him a junior development grant to help him play for his country. Ash’s selection to the Australian team also resulted in 4 minutes of coverage on the ABC’s Stateline, which provided some good publicity for ultimate in Tasmania. For 2006, it has been fantastic to see the return of a Tasmanian team at Mixed Nationals, a University of Tasmania team forming, Ashley Button playing for Australia, five Tasmanians playing at World Clubs, and an increase in the number of women playing ultimate. Goals for 2007 and beyond include aiming to get a first Tasmanian Women’s team to Nationals, developing more youth players, and possibly a youth team in one of our leagues and moving towards a weeknight league which includes more than one division and continuing to recruit new player at the grass roots level. The TUA has strengthened its sound financial position thanks to the work of Shavawn Donoghue as treasurer and due to the number of well run TUA events throughout the year. This



puts the TUA in a strong position to continue development of the sport, by supporting junior players, women’s development, elite development and increasing the ultimate playing opportunities in Hobart, ranging from social to competitive. Finally, I would like to thank all the members of the TUA committee, and others who attended TUA committee meetings, for helping to make things happen. In particular I wish to thank Mike Baker who is stepping down after three years as secretary of the TUA, and Tim Phillips who is stepping down as vice-president after two years in the job. Mike and Tim have both contributed significantly to the TUA during their time on the executive. Without people volunteering their time and energy, there would be no ultimate in Hobart! I look forward to seeing more people stepping up to help run ultimate in Tasmania in 2007. Jemery Day TUA President

Queensland - QUDA 2006 was a very jam packed year with several concurrent leagues running in Brisbane, new interest in Ultimate in Townsville, coaching opportunities in partnership with local councils, attendance at Schoolies and over 30 people going to World Clubs in Perth! QUDA has been working to further develop Ultimate and disc sports in QLD for QLD based players. There are lots of new and exciting things happening in Ultimate in Queensland. Have you checked out the latest QUDA website with our new look and new logo? We now have lots of new sections and much more update control. QUDA is looking to fund or assist with funding any initiative that falls into one or several of the above categories. If you want to start a club or league or any initiative to grow ultimate or disc sports in QLD, QUDA would love you to put forward a case for this funding and maybe we can help you out. Attached is a template to assist you in putting together a plan for the initiative. Finally, this will be my last year at QUDA President – thanks everyone! Sandra Poon QUDA President

Victoria - VFDA The past 12 months have seen Victoria rise the top of the National Rankings in many divisions. Our clubs have been leading the way in the Open and Women’s championships with Chilly winning the title for the second consecutive year and Ishtar achieving the highest result of any Australian women’s club at the 2006 championships, losing to NZ in the final. At the World Ultimate Club Championships in Perth, Chilly achieved the best result of any ongoing Australian club with a bronze medal in the Open division while Ishtar and Honey Badgers represented Victoria with pride. Our club system is very strong in its organisation, coaching development, competitiveness and longevity. 2007 will see the introduction of a new club in both Open and Women’s divisions. Heads of State is a new elite club that caters for junior players in Victoria. It has great leadership and experience and will most definitely achieve successful results in the near future. Similarly, ‘The Box’ is new to the women’s scene and also encourages beginner



and intermediate level players with the goal to compete at the National level. It has a very strong core of international players and early results suggest immediate success for this club. Clearly, Victoria is building a wide array of opportunities for players to join a club most suited to their needs and desires and our results indicate a very competitive, yet social, atmosphere. The VFDA has been involved in a number of highly successful tournaments. The 2006 Mixed National Championships was successfully held in Ballarat and the annual ‘Melbourne Hat’ continues to reap the rewards of a renewed committee presence with new ideas and enthusiasm. This has resulted in ‘The Hat’ cementing itself as the premier social tournament in Australia. Other smaller tournaments that are held throughout Victoria on an annual basis continue to be participated in and build on solid foundations of growth. Leagues continue to develop in player numbers and although the current drought is causing considerable damage to the fields, our growth is steady. Our leagues consist of Albert Park (Div1, Div2, Social Div and Coaching Sessions) and Box Hill (Social Div and Coaching Sessions). The VFDA continues to examine the possibility of expansion to the North of Melbourne, as well as, expansion in the University Campuses throughout the state. The VFDA continues to apply and receive annual funding upwards of $10,000.00 from the state sports department and we have implemented new strategies to best utilise these funds. One of these has been the introduction of the ‘Affiliated Club Funding Policy’, whereby clubs must fulfil specific requirements (coaching, volunteering, etc.) to be able to receive annual funding from the VFDA. This new policy ensures that clubs acknowledge the need to cater for a variety of skill levels and development strategies proposed by the VFDA. In April 2007, Victoria will host the National Open and Women’s Championships and the tournament is shaping up to be extremely competitive with the continued development of the Regional Championships. New affiliation contracts with Active Sports / Gaia have ensured that prizes, merchandise and volunteer gear are of the highest quality. The committee organising the event have been meticulous in preparing every detail and I am sure that it will be successful. I would like to acknowledge the tireless work of the VFDA Committee, the Melbourne Hat Committee, the 2006 Mixed Nats. Committee and the 2007 Nats. Committee who have been outstanding and a big part of our success and growth. I would also like to thank all the club captains, coaches and volunteers who have worked very hard to develop our sport in Victoria. Without their ongoing participation, Ultimate would not be sustainable and our progress in the past few years would evaporate. Steve Campbell VFDA President

South Australia - SAFDA 2006 was a year of transformation for SAFDA. The objectives for 2006 where two fold; increase professionalism of the administration and increase the competitiveness of the playing membership. Through the changes implemented in the administration, SAFDA has become more efficient, professional, accountable and is able to focus on the strategic issues. As for competitiveness, only time will tell. Information Since the beginning of 2006 the SAFDA board has been producing a monthly E-news that keeps the membership informed about issues such as board decision, events calendar and



tournament reports. This is also complemented by the new established web-site that is informative AND current. Governance SAFDA has now been running its clubs policy since late 2005, with 2006 being the first full year. The clubs are now affiliated to SAFDA, not individual player membership. Whilst the income from the clubs is equivalent to that from the membership in previous years, the administration is considerably easier. Further more, we now how 6 additional boards (of the clubs) working towards developing flying disc sports. It has been a HUGE success. Clubs also benefit from the following: Access to the competitive league. Apply for grants. Being a member of the SAFDA congress and thus contributing towards the strategic direction of SAFDA. Clubs can now borrow SAFDA assets such shade tents, field lines, etc. (Most importantly) Clubs and their members qualify for awards at The SAFDA’s. The SAFDA congress, which consists of the SAFDA board and the club boards, has been meeting regularly during 2006. This provides a forum for clubs to be fully informed and provide feedback and input to the direction of SAFDA. Frisbee central 2006 saw the first year of a regular location for Ultimate, aka Frisbee Central. SAFDA is currently in the process of negotiating a MOU with ALSAR, the lease holders. We now have access to ALSAR facilities such as storage, trophy wall and the bar. Social Christmas 2005 saw the first The SAFDA’s. What a party! This was repeated again in 2006, with more awards and a bigger party. Marketing SAFDA has managed to increase the exposure of flying disc sports in SA through the media and community and sporting events. This includes the Glenelg Bay sports day and the SACA beach cricket league. This has been backed up by an increased spend on marketing material. Competitions In 2006 SAFDA established a two league season for the clubs that is coordinated with AFDA, i.e. open and ladies in autumn and mixed in the spring. Running concurrently with these leagues are the Development and Social leagues, with the hat leagues run between seasons. Supporting the local community In 2006, the SAFDA membership managed to raise nearly $1400 for the Roberts Family Trust through their attendance of The SAFDA’s and Little Kev’s beach tournament. Finance SAFDA is financially secure and accountable. There is approximately $17k in the bank and this year saw the first audit of SAFDA’s accounts. Although there is considerable funds in the bank, a majority is allocated for improving the lights at the fields. The current lights at fields are minimal and need replacing. SAFDA along with ALSAR had a grant application rejected for upgrading the lights. The application was for $60k and was reject partially due to the lack of funds provided by SAFDA and ALSAR. SAFDA has a plan in place to allocate more funds next year.



This year SAFDA has given $1500 in grants to the clubs towards recruiting. Clubs Under the current clubs policy the clubs continue to flourish. Of particular note are Ultimate Evolution and Flinders University who had rapidly increased their membership and have significantly contributed to the SAFDA community as a whole. The Future With the administration and finance of SAFDA secure, the board will now turn its energy towards recruitment. The SAFDA board has started to implement this aim with considerable financial support for the university’s "O week" and the production of marketing material. Other future goals include improved lights at the fields and increased revenue through grants and sponsorship resulting in greater support for the clubs. Kevin Robinson SAFDA President

Western Australia - WAFDA Following on from the resounding success of the World Ultimate Club Championships, 2007 is a huge challenge and opportunity for us to develop Ultimate in Western Australia and to remain competitive both nationally and internationally, but one I think we are ready to face. During 2006 WAFDA revised its Constitution. At our AGM, Brian ‘Ballen’ Vanallen and Steve ‘Bakes’ Baker were both awarded Honorary Life Membership of the WAFDA for their incredible and ongoing efforts towards developing Ultimate in WA, throughout Australia and around the world. Congratulations to them both. The 2007 WAFDA Committee is: President – Anna Haynes, Vice President – Russell Slaughter, Treasurer – Paul Denyer, Secretary – Deb Ng, Registrar – Andrew Hutcheon, General Members - Mel Barter, Andrew Delane, John Damiani, Steve Baker. Anna Hayes WAFDA President

New South Wales - UFNSW Ultimate Frisbee in NSW is, as I said last year, in the first part of a transition from ‘almost unknown’ to ‘widely played’. At present, we’re still progressing towards widely known, but the structural changes within this organisation and within the sport generally in this country are occurring which will enable us to keep progressing along this path. NSW continues to be the biggest player in the Australian ultimate scene, but the AFDA conference last year only reinforced the fact that there are enthusiastic and committed volunteers with good ideas all over Australia, and we are only as strong as our own volunteers allow us to be. The bigger the player base and the more ambitious the growth plans, the greater the volunteer commitment we need to keep things going. This is one of the biggest challenges UFNSW faces, and everyone here should be always on the lookout for new faces to get involved.



Australian Nationals – the biggest Nationals to date – were run with great success this year by Bel Kinneally at Queen’s Park, Randwick, in Sydney. They returned a profit, an important achievement given that the GST threshold implications remain unresolved despite much communication with the Australian Tax Office. The part time administrator position continues to prove a success, with Amy Wadwell doing a superb job until her studies ended and meant she no longer had the time available to do the job. The new administrator, Matt Faulkner, was recruited from a lengthy list of applicants from both within and outside ultimate, and is already applying great energy to not only the necessary administrative tasks but also the huge challenge of systematizing the development side of UFNSW’s operations. This AGM marks a momentous occasion in the history of NSW ultimate. After close to two decades as a standout performer both on and off the field, and after hanging up her boots last year, Sally Basten is now leaving her chair at the Gore Hill clubhouse. Sally first became involved in UFNSW in the early 1990’s when she helped deal with the newly acquired DSR grant, and gradually did more and more within the organisation. In 2002 she took over the treasurer’s role from Lisa Waters, and since then has further improved the way finances are run in UFNSW. Sally was instrumental in turning the original Big Red Book accountancy technique of UFNSW into a system using the Access database. In the last couple of years she has overseen another advancement, introducing the MYOB system, which will allow UFNSW to deal with the potential complexities that the expansion of the sport will bring. Sally has always been a tireless contributor to UFNSW, putting in a huge number of hours behind the scenes, either after work hours or as an interruption to the demands of running her own legal business. She has allowed the use of her business premises for UFNSW purposes once part time administrators were employed, which has been of enormous value to our organisation. Aside from the noteworthy functional benefits of the Sally Basten model of Treasurer, there are of course her qualities as an administrator - her sharp intelligence, wise advice and rational, practical viewpoint on all matters that helps bring together differing opinions, but what will be missed most is her infectious enthusiasm, her face-creasing smile, and her wry sense of humour. We wish you all the best in the future, Sal. And we welcome Rachel Grindlay into the position. Rachel’s experience in a number of committees over the years both here and in New Zealand stand her in good stead to perform this demanding task with distinction. She will of course stand down as Secretary after several years of seamlessly efficient service. Frank Milthorpe has once again put great energy into the beginner’s side of ultimate, organising the web information so that newcomers to the sport are easily able to find an accessible option for them to start playing. Frank, along with Simon, provides an invaluable connection for the committee with the extensive non-elite side of Ultimate, an area the elite players on the committee have less and less experience of these days. Ken Shepherd has once again quietly and successfully ensured the web site and system runs smoothly, and has of course ensured the continuing success of the organisation by providing the sustenance at the monthly meetings. Lisi Jarrott continued her fantastic work coordinating women’s coaching sessions and the excellent Summer Series tournaments, which were run in conjunction with men’s tournaments.



Lisi has put a large amount of energy into her local Armidale scene, and has also become heavily involved in the national elite level arena, and as a result, is standing down as Women’s Development Officer. Thank you for your great contribution over the last two years, Lisi. Alex Leung is the hidden enigma of this committee. Given none of us are at university, and Alex is not one to blow his own trumpet, we rely on hearsay, which says that he has been constantly involved liaising between the different university clubs and acting as the go to man for all enquiries. He is standing down from his position as Universities Officer, and we thank him for his excellent if mysterious contribution. Simon Farrow has further reinforced his indispensability to UFNSW by overseeing the now quite complex area of the Leagues. The problem of field restrictions due to continuing drought conditions has raised a host of issues, particularly for the bursting at the seams NSL. Simon’s ability to keep a handle on all the issues and relevant people, and to generate good relations with councils is vital to ensuring ultimate, as it grows, continues to get its fair share of fields amongst competition from all the other sports. Simon’s contribution extends way beyond this. He has provided assistance to various new leagues starting up at the same time as putting a lot of energy into his own local league, the Hills League, running a couple of very successful tournaments and overseeing the tournament schedule generally. Simon continues to amaze with his energy and dedication, and is truly the beating heart of this organization. Fiona Myers continues to push forward with the ambitious aims of the Juniors program, a great achievement considering she is now back studying as well as running her own business. In addition to running the Junior National Championships, she has coordinated the delivery of approximately 15 to 20 coaching sessions per week, primarily using the coaching expertise of Owen Shepherd, Nikki Shires, Matt Faulkner and herself. These have largely been in the form of after school sessions for 6 to 13 year olds (i.e. primary school children). Over the next six months Fiona plans to target high school children, culminating in the Gala Day towards the end of the year. Promotional opportunities on TV have already been lined up involving the Juniors when they return from the World Championships in Boston. Fiona and others also presented Ultimate Frisbee to the Conference of PE Teachers late last year, with great interest shown by the participants.

Juniors, or ‘Development’, is obviously the key area for growing the sport, and the most challenging for the organisation to manage. As I said earlier, structural changes such as introducing MYOB and paying administrators provide a framework that will allow expansion, but the great challenge is to maintain the unique flavour of this sport as it moves from ‘widely known’ to ‘widely played’. It is of course an option to remain a small niche sport in order to preserve the qualities that distinguish it from other sports, in particular the core value, the original hippy magic, the ‘Spirit of the Game’, but this would be backing away from the challenge. I’m sure all here are convinced both that this core value is not negotiable and that this sport would be very attractive to a much greater number of people than currently play it if only they knew about it. UFNSW’s challenge is thus to maintain enough control over the growth of the sport that the sport’s values are preserved.

The Development side of UFNSW, with the efforts of various people over the last few years, is certainly more systematic than it used to be, but there is a great opportunity right now to develop a system that will generate and keep enough control over a huge growth in player numbers. The only way to do this is with a combination of volunteers and paid employees, and by utilizing the services of both ‘frisbee’ and ‘non-frisbee’ people and companies. Already, so-called ‘outside’ companies are providing ultimate as a sport option to school children. Ultimate Frisbee is, due to its great qualities as a sport, a commercially attractive proposition. UFNSW potentially, with good enough organization, could stand to benefit financially from this, along



with the coaches and administrators it would employ. This, however, in my opinion, is less important than what I said earlier, that UFNSW’s challenge is to maintain enough control over the growth of the sport that ultimate’s values are preserved. It is an exciting and interesting time to be involved in this sport, and I encourage anyone who has tasted some of that original hippy magic to help preserve it into the future. Charles Blumer President, UFNSW

Universities 2006 was a challenging year for University clubs, with the ongoing adaptations to the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism. The Australian University Games were held in Adelaide, with Flinders University 2 taking out the coveted Spirit Prize. Final Placings 2006 AUGs

1. Macquarie University 2. University of Queensland 3. University of Melbourne 4. University of Newcastle 5. University of Sydney 6. University of Adelaide 7. Australian National University 8. University of Tasmania 9. University of New South Wales 10. Flinders University 1 11. University of Western Australia 12. Monash University 13. Murdoch University 14. University of Ballarat 15. University of South Australia 16. Flinders University 2 17. Queensland University of Technology

MVPs were Mark Thompson (Murdoch) for the men, and Julia Sheahan (Murdoch) for the Women. The 2006 Green & Gold Merit Team included: Rebecca Carman (Macquarie), Matt Dowle (Macquarie), Matthew Faulkner (Macquarie), Luisa Fearnside (ANU), Chris Freise (Melbourne), David Fumo (UQ), Rena Kuwahata (UQ), John Liddicoat (Melbourne), Ashleigh Martens (Tasmania), Brett Matzuka (UQ), Keah Molomby (Sydney), Miles Montgomery-Butler (Sydney), Karen Palmer (Adelaide), Johnathan Tatham (Newcastle), Huy Vu (Adelaide) and Alex Wong (Macquarie). Jason de Rooy for Andrew Olennick AFDA National Universities Coordinator



High Performance Australia’s elite and international activities have been highlighted throughout this annual report, but some key points: Nationals was hosted in Sydney and congratulations to National Open Champions Chilly (Melbourne) and National Women’s Champions Tumeke (NZ) – '74 Flood and Sultry took Spirit. 18 Open and 16 Women's teams participated, with the Open division expanded from its usual 16 to allow two Masters teams to prepare for WUCC2006. Regionals also entered their second year and have firmly cemented their place in the National calendar. NUFL 2006 continued to provide opportunity for elite development, and was a two-legged affair, first in Canberra in February and then at Macquarie University in Sydney in March. A special WUCC-NUFL season was added in September/October as a preparation for teams attending WUCC. WUCC-NUFL1 saw six Open and two Masters teams competing, WUCC-NUFL2 featured five Open teams plus Magon of NZ, and WUCC-NUFL3 featured the four top ranked Open teams. WUCC-NUFL1 and 2 also featured the four Women's teams. WUCC2006 itself has been well reported, but in High Performance terms it was a massive success in terms of participation and outcomes. For participation, 20 teams of Australians gained International experience. This level of activity will support Australian international teams for many years to come, as there are now hundreds of Aussies who know about the training and financial efforts, along with the fantastic rewards, of international play. The results of course, speak for themselves. In particular, the Spirit outcomes, with Aussies winning in all four divisions, was OUTSTANDING! WUCC2006 Results for Australian Teams

Team City Division #Teams Seeding Finish Spirit

Thong Sydney/Brisbane Open 21 10 2 16

Chilly Melbourne Open 21 3 3 12

Fakulti Sydney Open 21 7 6 1

Deathstar Can/Newc/Woll Open 21 12 12 10

Hot Chilly Melbourne Open 21 20 18 13

Redbacks Sydney Open 21 21 21 4

Wildcard Sydney Women 18 8 9 10

Southside Sydney Women 18 6 10 6

Ishtar Melbourne Women 18 13 12 17

Phoenix Canberra Women 18 15 16 1

Bootius Maximus Brisbane Mixed 41 6 9 4

Sublime Perth Mixed 41 18 12 25

Blokes & Sheilas Canberra/Sydney Mixed 41 24 20 1

Restless Flycatchers Adelaide Mixed 41 30 26 16

Eureka Goldigaz Ballarat Mixed 41 34 31 39



Perth Renegades Perth Mixed 41 39 32 19

Honey Badgers Melbourne Mixed 41 29 37 33

Eastern Greys Sydney Masters 11 5 3 6

’74 Flood Brisbane Masters 11 10 9 3

Fear Discinsonia Perth/Adel Masters 11 11 11 1

For the World Junior Ultimate Championships, the AFDA oversaw a comprehensive and professional lead up to Australia’s participation featuring two training camps in June and July, culminating in outstanding results. The WJUC is held every two years, for players aged 19 and under. The 2006 Championships were held in Devens, Mass., USA. Back in 2004 at Finland, the Australian Junior Open Team came 7th (+ spirit of the game winners) and the Australian Junior Women’s Team came 6th In 2006, our Aussie Junior National teams did fantastically; the women scored bronze, and the open team was just points short of doing the same, finishing 4th. Both teams were Spirit of the Game winners. Well done all! Now onto 2008! Jason de Rooy for Chris Warris AFDA National High Performance Coordinator

Youth National with Joel Pillar Australia sent two teams to the World Junior Championships in 2006. Probably the most important aspect of the campaign was the further development of good team formation and training techniques by the coaches and planners. Many of the athletes that came out of this process were improved, enthused and inspired to continue developing youth ultimate in their local scenes. Both teams competed well and set new standards for Australian Junior Ultimate, with Southern Terra (the girls) taking the bronze and Aussie Thunder (the boys) finishing a very respectable 4th. In 2007 the AFDA announce the “Year of School Ultimate” in a bid to raise awareness of the need for growth through this age group and to get administrators focusing on developing youth ultimate from the grass level to the elite level. A youth website has been / is being developed which will be a portal for youth across Australia to stay in touch and receive news on youth development / tournaments. New South Wales with Nicky Shires Highlights for Juniors in NSW in 2006 include: - increased number of primary schools who participate in Ultimate Frisbee through the Active

AfterSchools Program that the NSW government runs - NSW represented at Youth Nationals in 06 in both divisions



- Several NSW junior reps were selected and represented Australia at World Youth Championships in Boston, USA

- Increased numbers of coaches for the NSW area in both primary and secondary - NSW created a paid position for a development officer who focuses mainly on juniors

development - Hosted the largest and most successful NSW gala day for high schools which saw over 300

athletes compete across 4 divisions. Teams came from as far as Dubbo and the Central Coast as well as the majority of the teams from schools in Sydney. Over 13 volunteers helped which made the day happen.

- Selected the inaugural NSW All Schools Merit Team which looked to identify and acknowledge the up and coming future stars of our sport. They were recognised on the day and will be awarded with a medal.

That’s it I think but it was a long year for Juniors so I am sure I am missing some stuff. Queensland with Bruce McNaughton In 2006 Queensland youth development was pretty limited with my involvement at national level with the teams, world clubs and serious work commitments. We intended to hold a gala day in November, but it didn’t come off. Our only real activity was ultimate on the beach as part of the Gold Coast Schoolies activities which was the second time we ran this. Of interest, we received state funding for this, and the state was pretty keen on the fact we stumped up for 2005. The event is of limited value, but if we sell it to frisbee volunteers as a free week on the coast following uni + playing and selling ultimate, what more could you ask for? I think we need to be more prepared with the follow-up and information in other media. In early 2007 we held a coaching session in Townsville (both to develop coaches and to impact elite level skills) in Townsville in Feb to get players on board and capable to get into schools. The plan was to develop interest in youth Nats, but we will rely on our existing player base to get interest. Next year we want to get the gala day happening in April/May to feed youth nats. Hope to get a team to youth nats, and QUDA will fund a 12-seater bus to get youth there if we get enough players and drivers - cut-off would be 5 players I think... Tassie with Joe Boyer For 2006 and thus far in 2007 we’ve been working on promoting the image of Ultimate in schools. We’ve sent some information packages to a random selection of schools’ PE departments, and offered coaching clinics. These coaching clinics have been irregular in frequency, but have always had lots of positive feedback from the schools. We’re sending two coaches to the coaching course in Melbourne, and these two will both focus heavily on the coaching of school teams. Our target is to have a gala day in October this year and develop into a proper youth league in 2008. Other big news in our youth scene is Ash Button, who represented Australia in Boston. So yeah, it’s not been a big year for us in terms of youth development, but the cogs are slowly turning, and this year has been focussed on getting the name out there and making people



realise we exist. We’re hoping that Tanya and Basil will come back from the coaching course with renewed vigour and we’ll really get some good things happening later this year, and in 2008. Regional Victoria with Dan Rule A bunch of Ballarat area junior players helped to start up the heads of state juniors team that competed in Sydney at youth nats in April 06. The rest of the team (bar one) were from Vic. Nicky Smith ran a gala day in October 06 for Melbourne schools. There were ten teams. We have an active after schools program operating at primary schools in Ballarat. This is organised by Sara Talbot from BUUF (i’m getting involved soon...). I had a few cousins over for Christmas and they wanted to learn how to play ultimate. Tarrant’s younger siblings also wanted to learn so we started a competition in Creswick called church st league. It’s not really a league but we have about 14 regulars and numbers are normally around 20. This is pretty much exclusively a juniors pickup that happens every week (about 5 times a week when it first started in the hols.) A representative team from church st has been selected to play at youth nats in July 07. Melbourne also has a youth team, ice viper (i think). Nicky smith and the ex 06-juniors have had a big hand here. During this year we have had combined training days for melb/creswick (2 or 3 i think) where Nicky and I have coached the kids. We are looking to hold a rather informal Victorian youth champs in Ballarat in two weeks time. New Melbourne juniors team is called kangamoose and the coaches are Nicky Smith, Andy Moroney, Seb Barr, Mel Jackson and Susan Shortreed if it changes anything Metropolitan Victoria with Melinda Jackson We’re running weekly youth nights in which the Melbourne youth nats team can train and also bring their friends, then they play social league. The Ballarat crew are similar, the church street youth team play their weekly leagues Two teams (heads of state and euien the walking whale) at youth nats ’06, looking at two mixed teams plus extra floating players at youth nats ’07 We have had only one gala day type thing, Nicky Smith will know how many schools but it was from a region of schools in her area, it went really well Australian Capital Territory with Tom Walcott Highlights included: - Myall Hingee and Lucy Stevens to Junior Worlds - 5 athletes to youth nats - further development in schools (particularly primary) - development of youth DVD (still under production) for the ACT - introduction and purchase of Juniors development kit Joel Pillar AFDA Juniors Coordinator



Coaching At the end of 2006, we see the main challenges for ultimate coaching in Australia as: • build on the success to date of the Level 1 Coaching Courses by providing more such

courses and develop courses for other needs • bring keen teachers, players and administrators together and make it easy for them to

communicate and find resources for coaching • building respect, recognition and awareness of the value of coaching among players and

administrators • grow coaching administration and programs at the state and local level to support our

successes at the national level (which includes Australian Representative team coaching, AFDA coaching courses and national level planning)

There are growing numbers of people interested in developing their skills in coaching, as shown by high demand for the Level 1 AFDA Coaching Courses. A Level 1 AFDA Coaching Course will be held in Townsville in Feb 2007, and presenter by Piers Truter. Three Level 1 Coaching Courses have been scheduled and advertised for 2007, in NSW, Victoria and SA. The number of AFDA accredited coaches is 16. This is the same as 2006. In April 2007, an AFDA Youth and Coaching Conference was held in Melbourne. There were 23 attendees from around the country. Strategic plans for both youth ultimate and coaching were drafted, as well as five other sessions on specific areas within these areas. Nikki Shires was 2006 AFDA Coach of the Year. In collaboration with the Australian Sports Commission, we are developing game cards for Active After School Communities coaches, and school teachers. These are simple graphical cards with a wide range of disc games and activities suitable for infants to primary school aged children. Owen Shepherd AFDA National Coaching Co-ordinator

Newsletter 2006 saw three issues of AU put out to around 1500 players a go. Thanks to all the contributors. Jason de Rooy AFDA Newsletter Editor

Awards In 2006, Nikki Shires received the Rob Hancock Award.



The 2006 AFDA Awards were: • Recruiter of the Year – Brett Matzuka (UQ) • Party of the Year – Shennanigans II (ACT) • Coach of the Year – Nikki Shires (Australian Junior Women, Macquarie U) • Club/Team of the Year – Southern Terra (Australian Junior Women) • Administrator of the Year – Bruce McNaughton (AFDA Juniors and QUDA) • Tournament of the Year – NUFL1 (Tom Watson TD) Jason de Rooy Director of Human Resources

Insurance and Member Compassionate Fund The AFDA has two types of insurance:

• public liability insurance; and • death or total permanent disablement Insurance.

Our public liability insurance provides coverage up to $10 million for any liability a member may incur for damage to property or injury to another person whilst participating in any AFDA sanctioned event. Our policy also provides professional indemnity cover up to $2 million. The death or total permanent disablement insurance provides cover for serious injury or death resulting from participation in an AFDA sanctioned event, or related activities (meetings, organised social events, etc). The maximum claim is $50,000, but payouts range from 3% to 100% of that amount depending on the type of disablement. As of 15th March 2005, the AFDA ceased being covered for Personal Injury Insurance. Injuries suffered before that date are still covered by the old insurance scheme. Injuries suffered since 15 March 2005 come under the Member Compensation Fund (“MCF”). Tom Brennan, Lisi Jarrott, Andrew Olennick Member Compassionate Fund Committee Colin Wagstaff Insurance Officer

Governance

Board of Directors At the end of 2006, the current Board of Directors (along with their year of first election) is

President - Leon Smith - 2004 Treasurer – John Hempel - 2006 Secretary – Matt Boevink - 2004 Director – Mel Gangemi - 2005 Director – Andrew Olennick – 2005 Director – Jason de Rooy – 2005



Director – Lisi Jarrott - 2006 Director – Tom Walcott – 2006

At the AGM in April 2006, a new Board of Directors was elected. Standing down were Tom Brennan (Treasurer) after eight years of service (although Tom continued in the role until the appointment of John Hempel in July 2006) and Bart Watson following three. Piers Truter resigned at the end of 2005 and Lisi Jarrott was appointed to fill the vacancy in early 2006, and subsequently elected at the April 2006 AGM. Director participation in on-line polls during 2006: Director # of polls available # voted in Leon Smith 18 10 Tom Brennan 7 7 Bart Watson 7 7 Matt Boevink 18 10 Mel Gangemi 18 18 Andrew Olennick 18 16 Jason de Rooy 18 18 Lisi Jarrott 15 11 Tom Walcott 11 8 John Hempel 7 6 All current Board members attended the annual Board Planning weekend in Sydney on 22-23 July 2006.

Executive Through 2006, the executive is headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Potts, who is employed on a part-time basis. Emily Shuter is also employed on a part-time basis, beginning in March 2006, as Financial Administrator. Other key staff, all volunteers, include: • Member Compassionate Fund Committee – Tom Brennan, Lisi Jarrott, Andrew Olennick • Insurance Officer - Colin Wagstaff • National Universities Coordinator - Andrew Olennick • National Coaching Coordinator - Owen Shepherd • Coaching Development Officer - Piers Truter • National Youth Coordinator - Joel Pillar • National Events Coordinator - vacant • National Selection Coordinator - Owen Shepherd • Anti-doping Officer - John French • Member Protection Officers - Ross McKerracher, Bel Kinneally, Mel Gangemi • Newsletter Editor - Jason de Rooy • Media Officer - Megan Maurice • Assistant Media Officer - Tim Lindsay-Brown • Website Coordinator - Tom Brennan • Website Coordinator - Jonathan Potts

AFDA 2006 Annual Report

Documents

Transcript of AFDA 2006 Annual Report