Australian Flying Disc Association

2011 Annual Report

CONTENTS

SECRETARY’S REPORT

PRESIDENTS REPORT

TREASURERS REPORT

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2011 (High Performance)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2011

MARKETING

MAJOR EVENTS

DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN RESOURCES

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2011

AFDA AWARDS 2011

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 AFDA report for 2011.

As 2011 was my first year on the AFDA board, I would like

to start by saying a big Thank-you to out going board

member Mel Gangemi and AFDA employee Simon Wood,

for all of their help. Without their assistance, there is no

way I would have been able to transition into the role of

secretary. Paul Keighley and John Hempel – the only two

board members to continue from 2010 – were also very

helpful in getting the new board up and running.

The new board met in Sydney in May to get the year up and running. I personally found this

a very valuable session, not only from an administration point of view, but also as an

opportunity to get to know everyone. All of the new board members were able to get up to

speed on a number of items which were carrying over from the previous board – the

development of a new website, the High Performance Program and the AFDA strategic plan.

As Tom will detail below in his report, 2011 was a huge year for High performance. It saw

the selection of the Australian Representative teams. As part of this process two teams – a

men’s and women’s team – represented Australia at the Emerald City Classic in Seattle,

The board met again in November – this time with all of the state representatives – at the

AFDA administrators’ conference. This weekend was extremely productive and Jamie will

outline some of the outcomes in his report. It was such a valuable weekend that it has not

only been moved forward on the calendar (to May), but it also encouraged me to re-stand

and continue to be involved in the administration of our sport.

2011 saw a number of grants handed out to help the development of Ultimate, and also a

number of awards to those members of the Ultimate community who work to develop and

support the sport. The annual report is a compilation of all of these achievements for 2011,

so ENJOY !

Ashleigh Thornton - AFDA Secretary

Ashleigh started playing Ultimate in 2006 with Monash University

and Honey in Melbourne. She has since played University games

with Monash on 5 occasions, and commenced playing with Sporting

Team Box Athletic United in 2010. She is that girl you might have

seen walking around with zinc all over her face . Ashleigh has

always been keen to get involved in the administration of Ultimate –

having been on the VFDA committee for two years (2009-2011) and

the President of Monash Ultimate Frisbee for two years (2009,

2010). She also loves to use emoticons.

©Karen Baker

PRESIDENTS REPORT

2011 has been a year of change and growth for the Australian Ultimate community.

The annual general meeting saw a number of experienced Ultimate administrators stand

down from their positions on the board after leading our association to where it is today. I

would like to thank Mel Gangemi, Peter Liddicoat, Carlie Langsworth, Lu Fearnside, Arleen

Keen and Piers Truter for all the work they have done for Australian Ultimate throughout the

years.

What this meant was that a new group of administrators have stepped into some rather large

shoes and worked hard throughout the year to keep our association growing. I would like to

publicly thank John Hempel, Paul Keighley and Simon Wood for all of their help throughout

the year to get my head around the position of President; as well as thanking Amanda Fung,

Ashleigh Thornton, Dan Smith and Tom Watson for all of your hard work and enthusiasm!

The annual Administrators Conference was held in Canberra in November and gave the new

board a chance to connect with State representatives and participate in some fruitful

discussions and take in some excellent presentations. Coming out of the conference the

AFDA board were pleased to announce the introduction of two new national championships

for 2012.

The Australian Beach Championships, to be held on The Gold Coast in May; as well as

the Division 2 Nationals for Opens and Womens, to be held in Melbourne in April. It is

through the increased levels of participation and steady growth of membership that we were

able to put these championships on the map.

Also coming from the conference was the decision to push forward with a Level 2 Coaching

course, a memorandum of understanding between the AFDA and ADG was finalised, and an

excellent presentation by Daniel Rule, Anna Haynes and Matt Hill about their roles as

Development Officers has brought to light all of the great things that are happening in the

development of Ultimate.

The new look AFDA website has been a major project that has been running for a number of

months now under the guidance of project manager Nicole Footer. Nicole and her team of

testers have put in an extraordinary number of hours to help us get to the final product and I

would like to thank them for all of their hard work. The new look site looks amazing and

offers more connectivity and interaction for the Ultimate community. Well done on a great job

team!

Looking forward – this year the Administrators Conference is going to be held in the first half

of the year and will focus on creating a strategic plan for the next three years. A number of

representative teams will be heading over to Japan to participate in the World Ultimate and

Guts Championships and Ireland for the Junior Championships.

I wish everyone all the best in their Ultimate endeavours and

congratulate all of those who have been working tirelessly to keep

Ultimate growing strong.

Jamie Bozza

President – Australian Flying Disc Association

TREASURERS REPORT

Following from last year, in 2011 the AFDA continued significant spending on development.

Consequently the AFDA made a loss of $25,953.11 for 2011; a lesser loss than budgeted

for. This is in part due to the decision to provide a digital copy of the annual AFDA magazine

instead of printing and disseminating a hard copy to all members.

Moreover, most portfolios under-spent or spent on par with their budgeted amount for 2011.

As anticipated in the previous financial report, the impact of the costs of the Website

Development was accounted for in the 2011 Profit and Loss statement.

Note that as of 2010, all Invoices created are subject to GST following the registration of

AFDA for GST.

Profit & Loss Statement

Income Expenditure Revenue from EBFs and Coaching

142, 118.24

Interest 6, 971.04 Governance 57, 942.23 Finance 83.61 High Performance 6723.39 Events 71.76 Human Resources 62, 166. 41 Development 36, 434. 10 Marketing 1, 182.50 Communications 10, 438.09 Total 149, 089.28 175, 042. 39 Net Income (25, 953.11)

Income

Unfortunately EBFs for 2011 collected were less than anticipated. This could be due to the

invoicing process as the Profit & Loss Statement is on a cash basis.

As announced earlier this year, there will be an increase in EBFs from May 1 2012. The new

EBFs (per player and including GST) are as follows:

Fee Type New Fee Amount

Youth League $0.80 per week

League $1.60 per week

Tournament $5.00 per day

Nationals $10.00 per day

In 2011, Event-Based Fees (EBFs) accounted for approximately 93% of AFDA income, with

the balance made up from coaching fees and interest earned on accounts. This is not out of

line with previous years. EBFs are the major source of income for the AFDA and as such,

any increases in costs are met with increases in EBFs. Furthermore, these new figures will

be ease calculations for event organisers. An increase in tournament and league fees by the

States is anticipated to accommodate for this.

Expenditure

Our major expenditure item continues to be insurance costs, which amounted to $39, 795 for

2011. Included within this insurance cost is $8087 worth of claims paid 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.

Another large expenditure item is the funding of Development Officers (DOs) for Ultimate

Victoria and WA Ultimate totalling $30,000 for 2011. The AFDA will cease funding these

DOs from 2013, as part a plan aimed towards ensuring DOs become self-sufficient after an

arranged time period.

The Future

There has been a tendency of the AFDA to budget for a loss each year. This is not

necessarily a negative outcome given the fact that we have $139, 064 (as of 31/12/11) in a

high interest savings account.

Nonetheless, to constantly dip into the savings account is unsustainable. As our membership

base grows and there is greater participation in events as well as new tournaments, this will

mean a healthier Profit & Loss statement for AFDA in the long run. Moreover, projects such

as accreditation and coaching courses, the Grants program and Development Officers are

necessary for the continued growth of Ultimate in Australia.

Given the success of the Development Officers in Victoria and Western Australia, other

states are strongly encouraged to contact the Board with proposals as to how they can also

benefit from this. Furthermore, individuals or groups are encouraged to apply for Grants for

any projects that they have in mind.

Thank you to Simon Wood, who proves year after year that he is a brilliant and integral part

of the AFDA.

Amanda Fung - AFDA Treasurer

Amanda was first introduced to Ultimate in 2007. As a Junior at

the time, she was invited to play as part of a Victorian contingent

to be sent to the National Junior Ultimate Championships. 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.

Her involvement with Ultimate has developed to include administrative responsibilities as

President of Monash Ultimate Frisbee and her appointment as a director to the 2011 Board.

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2011 (High Performance)

2011 has been a full-on year for the High Performance Portfolio, both on

and off the field. Australia has fielded teams at Beach Worlds in Italy, the

AOUC 2011 event in Taiwan and two trans-Tasman tours. Off the field, the

huge WUGC and WJUC 2012 selection processes were a significant focus

for the year and several policy initiatives were progressed. This has only

come about via the efforts of dozens of coaches, staff and athletes. There

is a fantastic network of people striving to lift the international standing of

Australia Ultimate and these contributions are the HP portfolio’s greatest

resource.

From my perspective as the fresh new director of high performance, it has been my intention

to continue to enable and guide the efforts of this vast network of contributors as my

predecessor, Piers Truter, did. Particularly in this first year, I have been greatly in debt to the

staff of the multitude of elite programs we run, to the board, and for their vast knowledge of

AFDA past and present, to Mel Gangemi, Simon Wood and Piers. By all of your good

graces, I have been able to oversee and enable the great outcomes we have had for High

Performance this year. I implore you to continue engaging, collaborating and sustaining with

me and this network in the years ahead.

Australian results at WFDF events:

WCBU 2011 – 3rd (mixed)

WCBU 2011 – 6th (womens)

WCBU 2011 – 14th (mens)

AOUC 2011 – 2nd (mixed)

Selection processes completed (as of March 2012):

-WUGC 2012: Mens, Womens, Mixed, Masters Mens, Masters Womens

-AOUC 2011: Mixed

-WCBU 2011: Mens, Womens, Mixed

-WJUC 2012: Junior Boys, Juniors Girls

Initiatives supported:

-Representative Player code and campaign finance policy

-WADA anti-doping awareness program

-Reorganisation of the Uniform Committee

-Coordination of additional club tournaments (Mixed Invitational and SMO)

-WUGC 2012 selection review report

About the Director of High Performance:

Thomas has been playing ultimate in

Australia since 1999. He works as an

intelligence analyst for the Defence

Imagery and Geospatial Organisation and

will be deploying overseas on behalf of

DIGO later in 2012.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2011

Wildcard & Colony Pillage Win Gold at Nationals

Final Placings - Women's

1. Wildcard (Sydney) 2. Factory (Canberra) 3. Sporting Team Box Athletico United (Melbourne) 4. Honey (Melbourne) 5. Sand Dunes (Sydney) 6. KAOS (Perth) 7. Safire (Adelaide) 8. Southside Penguins (Sydney) 9. Black Betty (Brisbane) 10. Sugar Magnolias (Newcastle) 11. Vixens (NZ) 12. Squadron (Melbourne) 13. ChCh Chicas (NZ) 14. Southside Swans (Sydney) 15. Red Betty (Brisbane)

Spirit Prize: Vixens

Most Valuable Player: Stephanie Malcher (Honey)

Best on Ground (Final): Sarah Crossie (Wildcard)

Final Placings - Men's

1. Colony Pillage (Sydney) 2. Chilly (Melb) 3. Colony Plunder (Sydney) 4. I-Beam (Newcastle) 5. Fyshwick United (Canberra) 6. Firestorm (Brisbane) 7. HoS Burgundy(Melbourne) 8. Sublime (Perth) 9. Magon (NZ) 10. Karma (SA) 11. Sin City (Singapore) 12. MAGNUM! (Sydney) 13. Slamtown Flatball Club(GC) 14. HoS White (Melbourne) 15. Firestorm Ignition (Qld)) 16. Quoll (Tasmania)

Spirit Prize: Quoll

Most Valuable Player: Jason Lopez (Sin City), Joel Pillar (Karma), Matt Hill (HoS White)

Best on Ground (Final): Ken Shepherd (Colony Pillage)

Nathan Wong gets the layout block for Colony Pillage in AUC Final. – Copyright Mark Dolan

PAL beats Banzuke for AMUC2011 GOLD!!

Final Placings

1st PAL

2nd Banzuke

3rd Friskee

4th Pie Wagon

5th Le Grande Coq Sportif

6th The Black Cockerals

7th Awkward Balloon

8th Hills

9th Burley Griffins

10th VICE

11th Pillow Fight

12th Big Two

13th Word Art

14th BUUF Allstars

15th Blacksheep

16th Bender

17th John Doe

18th UE

19th Happy Pig

20th Heroes

21st LOG!

22nd SOMA

23rd Villains

24th Freak Out

Spirit of the Game

1. Happy Pig (WA)

Most valuable players

Male: James Ley (SOMA) Female: Sophie Stewart (Heroes)

MARKETING

There has been little progress in media and marketing side in the past year. However, things

are looking positive for the near future.

We continue to respond effectively and promptly to media enquiries. While this continues to

be relatively ad-hoc, this is an important part of our media responsibilities and can be quite

time consuming. In the past year, there have been some excellent stories that have

appeared in all types of media and we are now reaching large and diverse audiences.

The new website will be of great benefit to the marketing of the sport, both to our

membership and the wider public.

One of the exciting things that has happened more recently is the growth within our

community of the coverage of Ultimate online. Groups such as Force Sideline and ulti.tv are

doing excellent work and the AFDA is looking for effective ways of providing support in these

areas. I’d encourage all our members to support these groups as well.

Paul Keighley

Director

Paul started playing Ultimate in 2006 and joined the board in 2008.

His playing highlights are few, but much fun is had both on and off

the field regardless. Paul has recently moved to Canberra, where

he works for the Australian Government, in the environment

department. He’s also finishing a degree at UNSW, which means

he’s doing a couple of subjects at the Australian Defence Force

Academy this year (“no, I’m not a director of ADFA...”).

MAJOR EVENTS

2011 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 2011 were in Brisbane, QLD and hosted by QUDA. 16 Open and 15 Women’s

teams made the journey and despite Queensland flooding, the fields were in reasonable

condition thanks to the work by the QUDA volunteers.

Colony Pillage (Sydney) beat Melbourne’s Chilly in a hard fought final. In the Women’s Division Wildcard avenged their 2010 Final defeat and beat Canberra’s Factory to take the 2011 title. A BIG Thank You to Mat Ryan, Sandra Poon and QUDA for putting on an excellent

tournament.

Mixed Nationals

Mixed Nationals were held in Bulleen, Melbourne. The fields were lush and the weather brilliant with PAL (Victoria) knocking off Banzuke (Sydney) in the Final. John Hempel and the Funny Duck crew put on a fantastic event

John Hempel

AFDA Director of Events

DEVELOPMENT

Universities Report

2011 saw a growth in University participation at Regional Australian University Sport events.

Eastern University Games were held in Canberra at the University of Canberra Fields and

had 13 teams vying for the top spot. University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney,

Charles Sturt University and Australian National University all had two teams in the

competition.

After the pool rounds, the top four teams were Macquarie University, Australian National

University 1, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney 1; who played off in

some tight and windy semi finals.

In the end, Macquarie University (10) won the final against University of Sydney (6) in a

great game.

1. MAC, 2. USYD, 3. ANU, 4. UNSW, 5. NCLE, 6. UTS, 7. CSU1, 8. USYD2, 9. ANU2, 10.

UTS2, 11. CSU2, 12. CIT, 13. SUCSG.

Congrats to the competition manager Dan Rule on running a great tournament!

Southern University Games were held in Geelong and had 9 teams challenging to be

champions! Latrobe University had two teams participating in the competition.

After some tight games in the pool rounds, the semi-finalists were University of Ballarat,

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Monash University and Flinders University.

In the end, Monash (15) defeated University of Ballarat (2).

1. MON, 2. UBAL, 3. LTU, 4. RMIT, 5. FU, 6. VU, 7. UTAS, 8. DEAK, 9. LTU2.

A big congratulation to competition manager Matt Hill for running a great event!

Australian University Games were held up on the Gold Coast and consisted of

two divisions. Eight teams participated in Division 1, with 18 teams competing in Division 2.

A big thank you to Peta McNaughton who did an excellent job as competition manager

looking after 26 teams over the week!

Final results:

Division 1 Division 2 Green and Gold Team Catherine Phillips MELB Danya Meakins UWA Geoa Geer MQU Tegan Sneddon NCLE Amanda Fung MON Alexandra Rogers AU Rebecca Carmen MQU Louise Delane UWA Tiger Webb MQU Sebastian Barr MON Stephen Thomas MON Joshua Cukierman MELB Rory Connell MQU Peter Eeley UWA Huy Vu MELB Phillip Turner NCLE Tim Wise LTU Alex Britten-Jones AU

1 Monash University 1 University of Queensland

2 Melbourne University 2 University of Technology Sydney

3 Uni Western Australia 3 University of New South Wales

4 Macquarie University 4 Australian National University

5 University of Sydney 5 University of Ballarat

6 Adelaide University 6 Flinders University

7 LaTrobe University 7 Australian College of Physical Education

8 Newcastle University 8 Queensland University Technology

9 Royal Melbourne Institute Technology

10 Charles Sturt University

11 Murdoch University

12 Victoria University

13 Griffith University

14 Edith Cowen University

15 Bond University

16 University of Western Sydney

17 University of Notre Dame Australia

18 Australian Catholic University

Monash University - Gold Medallists 1

Martin Laird Award

2011 saw the introduction of categories to the Martin Laird Award; the Martin Laird

Encouragement Award and the Martin Laird Achievement Award. This award is presented to

outstanding players who have contributed on and off the field to their team during the year's

campaign. The difference between the encouragement and achievement awards is that the

Encouragement Awards recipients are players that have not yet played at an AFDA National

events or WFDF events. Each year teams nominate eligible players and a male and female

winner are announced during the presentations. Congratulations to Emilia Shan Hua

Yap and Kyle Atkins for being the 2011 Martin Laird Encouragement Award Winners. As

wells as a big congratulations go out to Rory Connell for being named the 2011 Martin Laird

Achievement Award Winner.

HUMAN RESOURCES

In 2011 the AFDA board continued working closely with our only full time employee,

Finance, Development and National Events Officer, Simon Wood. Simon has been

providing essential support to the AFDA board membership since 2007. His work has

provided a high level of value to the AFDA membership through his day-to-day

administrative work, his support to tournament directors and work with the Australian

representative teams that will be competing at WUC (World Ultimate Championships) in

Japan this year.

The appreciation from the ultimate community for Simon’s efforts was highlighted by the

volume of positive feedback that was received during his performance review in November.

Ultimate in Australia wouldn’t function without the effort of multitudes of volunteers across

the country. Seeing so many of these volunteers (tournament directors, national team

captains and managers, league coordinators) being supported by Simon’s work vindicates

the investment made by the AFDA and acts as an example of a tangible benefit that the

AFDA provides to its members using the fees that it collects.

2011 saw the rebranding of the volunteer of the month program to become "ultimate

legends". These ultimate legend awards are now awarded by state organisations and, from

the pool of recipients, the AFDA will be able to select the volunteers of the year for the

annual AFDA awards.

To support the work that the AFDA board undertakes there is now a modest study allocation

available to board members. This can be used for any study that is deemed relevant to their

portfolio. It is expected that this will provide a flow on benefit to the AFDA membership by

enabling volunteer board members to be more effective in their roles.

On the agenda so far for 2012 is the ongoing review of the AFDA board member and AFDA

officer’s job descriptions.

Dan has been playing ultimate since 1997. He has attended

most of the Australian national championships since then

with various teams. He played with Blokes and Sheilas at

WUCC 2006 and with Eastern Greys at WUCC 2011. Dan

has been a Director of the AFDA since April 2011.

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2011

Rachel Grindlay

I first met Rachel Grindlay at a NSWFDA meeting (2002) where she declared that she was

interested in watching and giving opinions for NSW Ultimate but was definitely not interested

in any more committee roles after her experiences as the NZ Treasurer and President for the

previous 2 years (performing both roles simultaneously). From that point on Rachel has

managed to bring her immense organisational flair to a large number of Administrative

positions within both the State and National bodies. Within the year she accepted the role of

Secretary for NSWFDA and remained in that position through to 2005. At that point, she took

over the role of Treasurer, serving to 2010. Even though she resigned her position at the

UFNSW 2010 AGM she has continued to perform basic duties while the new Treasurer

comes up to speed and signatories are handed over. During that time, she was an integral

part of the NSWFDA Executive being involved with all key decisions. She freed up the

administrative role by taking on the vast amount of data entry and expense tracking within

the NSWFDA financial system. Her role in driving the NSWFDA’s yearly report has been

instrumental in guaranteeing the Association’s NSW Department of Sport and Recreation

grant in a number of years. Rachel was also a member of the AFDA Board during this time,

filling the role of Secretary from 2003 – 2004.

In addition to Executive administrative roles, Rachel has been responsible for organising a number of Australian tournaments (Australian Ultimate Championships 2008 (Treasurer), NUFL2 (TD) 2006, NSW State Championships (Treasurer and co-TD) 2008, Longest Day (Co-TD) 2005-2009 and Into the Wild (2009)). She was the Squad Manager for the Australian teams attending the World Ultimate & Guts Championships in Finland in 2004, and has been a chief organiser of the Wildcard club side since 2006.

Rachel has been keen to help develop new and intermediate players to build their skill level through to the elite level, particularly women. She has been an integral part of the Wildcard leadership team, constantly encouraging women to improve their skills from beginner through to elite levels. She coached Wildside (Wildcard/Southside B team) at the Australian Ultimate Championships in 2004. She has also organised a women’s league in Sydney. Her friendly attitude has helped many young women continue their Ultimate careers forward.

Rachel’s playing skills are also of a level that matches her elite peers. At a national level she has competed in most major championships, including the Australian Ultimate Championships (2003, 2005-10), Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships (2002-05, 2007-10), Australian University Championships (2001, 2009). Rachel won with mixed team Shto-liba in 2004 and captained Wildcard to victory in 2007 and 2009. On the international stage she has played in the World Ultimate Club Championships (2002 and 2006), represented Australia in the Asia-Oceania Ultimate Championships (2005), winning a silver medal, and on the Australian Women’s team at World Ultimate & Guts Championships (2008), which finished fourth, their highest placing ever. Rachel was a senior member of many of these teams, this testifies to her elite level of skills and dedication to her athletic level.

She has been recognised for her contribution to ultimate both on and off the field by being awarded the Wildcard Club Person of the Year for four consecutive years from 2006 to 2009, AFDA Administrator of the Year in 2007, and a UFNSW Award in 2009.

On a personal level, I have always found Rachel to be a fantastic ambassador to the sport of Ultimate. She brings an enthusiasm and efficiency to all she does. From meetings to tournaments and on-field play; her leadership qualities and love of the Spirit of the Game

sees her throw herself into the sport at all levels with an energy and passion that befits a Rob Hancock Award winner. I would see Rachel as a fitting Rob Hancock Award Winner.

Jason De Rooy

Jason came late into the sport of Ultimate at the age of 30. He started playing two days after

moving to Canberra in February 2001 and has played ever since. He had originally been

introduced to the sport in the mid-90’s by Stu McGlashan at UQ, but stupidly decided to stick

with soccer.

By mid 2001 he was directing the local ACTUA League and in 2003 became President, remaining in the position until he went overseas in 2004. During the period 2002 to 2004, Jason ran several leagues and tournaments, and was a member of the 2003 Australian Ultimate Championships TOC. For a good part of this period, Jason was ‘Mr Frisbee’ in Canberra.

In late 2002, Jason became involved in national administration of Ultimate when he became editor of the AFDA Newsletter, delivering 17 quarterly issues over the period to late 2006 – including while he was living in the UK in 2004/2005. The newsletters were a massive amount of work, providing a balanced combination of news from national teams and local leagues, as well as the less serious side of the sport (will we ever know who Secret Squirrel is?). It is a tribute to JdR’s efforts that the quarterly newsletters have now been replaced by an annual magazine.

Upon return to Australia and Brisbane in mid 2005, Jason joined the AFDA Board through a casual vacancy, before formal election in 2006. 2006 also saw World Clubs in Australia, with Jason forming and leading the ’74 Flood Queensland Masters team to Nationals 2006 and then onto World Clubs. Jason has competed at Australian Championships on five occasions and was also a member of the first ever Australian Masters team that competed at Worlds in Finland in 2004.

In 2007, Jason assumed the role of secretary which he remained in until his resignation at the 2010 AGM as one of the AFDA’s longest serving directors. During his period on the board, Jason was one of the most active board members, contributing to many key decision on the national level. Jason was the key driver behind the creation and revision of the AFDA’s safe play policies – as well as many of the AFDA’s promotional activities (such as Wide World of Sports at Nationals in 2008). Jason ensured the smooth running of many prominent AFDA functions, including the AFDA and RHA awards for 2005-2009, and the Annual Reports for five years running (2005 to 2009). Jason’s period of five years on the Board.

Jason’s departure from the national scene was prompted in part by his causal paid role as CEO of QUDA, staring mid 2008. In addition to this role, Jason continued to make important contributions as a volunteer to the sport of Ultimate, from forming local and regional teams

for tournaments, and in February 2010, helping to establish the Griffith Nathan Ultimate Frisbee Club which boasts near to 40 members after twelve months.

During this period, Jason has also been among the most prolific Australian bloggers of Ultimate, with his Brisbane Ultimate Blog possibly the most notable blog for our sport in Australia. Jason has made over 1000 posts over the period 2007-2010, with a further 50 or posts on afda.com

Over the past decade, Jason has been one of the most active and dedicated volunteers in the sport of Ultimate. While he’s in no way short of initiative himself, if you needed something done – Jason would find time to do it and then give you a dozen extra ideas while doing it. He is a deserving recipient of the award and I strongly recommend his nomination to the Board.

AFDA AWARDS 2011

Club of the Year Award

Friskee

Growth and improvement of the team(s) as a whole

Since its formation in Summer 2006, Friskee has entered a Division 2 team at every NSL comp as well as regularly entering a team for the Longest Day. The development of the club has accelerated drastically over the past year with the club making its first jump from Div 2 level to Mixed Nationals. In its first year contesting AMUC Friskee took out 4th place at NSW Mixed Regional's and tied-3rd place at AMUC 2010. At NSW Regional's 2011, Friskee placed 2nd behind Banzuki, resulting in a 2nd place seed for AMUC 2011. Over the past Summer Friskee also successfully divided the club into 2 full teams for NSL division 2 including the maximum 14 nationals players between the two teams. Both teams remained competitive despite the division of key players and both teams contested the Quarter Finals, with Friskee going on to play off for Semis. The growth of the club from a social NSL team to a competitive AMUC team has shown the drastic improvement the club has undergone since its formation and, in particular, over the past year.

Development of individual players

Over the lifetime of the club Friskee has seen its players grow from senior high schoolers excited to get out and throw a disc during their lunch break into passionate, determined, friendly and loud twenty-something's leading their university clubs to medals at Uni Games (USYD & Macquarie) or captaining their Div 3 team at NSL or even earning themselves a place on the 2012 Dingos (Mark Evans) and Firetails (Sarah Hammer). In 2010 4 of 10 of Friskee's boys represented Australia at U23s. In 2011 4 of 7 of Friskee's girls took home Gold with Wildcard at AUCs. Another 7 of the 17 players on Friskee's 2011 AMUC roster were selected for the Australian World's Squad this year. From the support and advice of more experienced players during NSL to the structured training sessions for AMUC to discussions over dinner, Friskee has helped each and every single player grow and develop. Over its 5 years, the club has raised several players from completely new to the sport (that is, they had never played ultimate before joining Friskee) to Nationals level including Emily Wong and Laura Manescu.

Players enjoyed being on the team(s)

What sets Friskee apart is that the team was formed around a high school social group and when you play with that kind of team every win, every loss, every setback and every triumph is worth it because it allows you to develop stronger relationships, deeper teamwork and more synergistic game play. Most importantly, it is those friendships which formed the team that continue to determine its roster. Friskee has seen the likes of Dan Rule, Ken Shepherd and Jimmy Tod-Hill turned down to keep old friends on the team and it is those same choices which have made the team stronger by developing Friskee's key field strength: unbreakable teamwork.

Social activities

One of the things about a team formed around a social group is that social activities are an integral part of what makes the team what it is. Friskee players are not only divided primarily between two universities meaning plenty of Thursday night socials together and Uni Games bonding, but can also be found dining together for a mid-week dinner in Crows Nest or partying at one of the many 21sts of 2010 and 2011 on a Saturday night. In addition, nearly

all of Friskee's roster head up to Lake Macquarie every July for 4 nights. Together, between training, NSL and social events, Friskee has probably spent more time together socially in the past year than most regular league teams do over their entire NSL career.

Uniforms/team identity

They love their pink and blue, they wear their hearts on their sleeves and most often you can find them by listening out for two claps and a woo!

You may think that pink and blue are two very loud colours. You may think the uniforms are designed just to attract attention. You may think the hearts are corny. And you're probably right. Friskee's uniforms are loud, proud and arguably appealing (well we think so). But whatever you think, the uniform speaks to what Friskee is as a club. Because first and foremost, Friskee will always be a group of very close friends who love Frisbee, love to be

loud and love each other.

Achieved on-field goals set out at the beginning of the year/season

Friskee's current vision is to earn a place representing Australia at World Clubs 2014 and everything the club has achieved over the past year has left them well placed to achieve that goal. In working hard to develop a player base strong enough to divide into 2 NSL teams, Friskee has widened its selection options for a 2014 club team, as well as bringing in development players for a possible future on such a team. The achievements of individual players (outlined above) are also driving forces behind achieving Friskee's vision. The past year has seen Friskee move from a social league team to a competitive Mixed Nationals team and that, more than anything else, has set Friskee on course for contesting a club spot in 2014.

Spirit shown on the field

During NSL Winter league 2010 Friskee was voted Most Spirited with an overall score of 8.22/10. Titles aside, Friskee works hard to make fair calls and be honest in their use of the rules. As a team, Friskee is rarely found fighting amongst themselves or bitching about the other team - two traits which thoroughly disrespect the opposition and the sport. In the spirit circle Friskee gave out team themed friendship bracelets at AMUC 2010. And if you haven't already heard one of Tiger's laborious spirit circle speeches, they may not be the quickest but they do tend to leave everyone grinning. Like everything else about Friskee, their pump up cheer leaves people thinking a little of Madeline:

"We love our bread we love our butter but most of all we love each other"

* * *

So why Friskee for Club of the Year? Because who in the ultimate community doesn't love a bit of disc-related innuendo in their team names

Party of the Year Award

Melbourne Hat 22

Having attended numerous Ultimate parties in 2010/11 of outstanding quality, once again I believe the Melbourne Hat Party comes out on top.

It was so good I cant even remember what I wore!!!

Great Dance Music/Awesome Costumes/Beautiful people

Party aficionados you will need to work hard to prevent the 3-peat at Hat 23

Congratulations John & Amy

Administrator of the Year Award

Mat Ryan (QLD)

Mat’s involvement in Ultimate administration if nothing new. Mat has of course been very active on the Ultimate administrative scene since he first began playing Ultimate back in (the 1990's), including stints in a variety of volunteer roles.

But the last twelve months have been a banner year for Mat’s zeal, enthusiasm, professionalism, effort and success. Really, he's gone crazy for Ultimate administration, and Ultimate in Brisbane, Queensland and Australia is much the better for it. He’s run Nationals, two Big Sky tournaments, and the recent Mixed Invitational. He’s taken on the long vacant Presidency of the Brisbane Ultimate Disc Association and set it on a solid track of good governance and planning. And he’s been delivering Ultimate at the coal face as a key figure in QUDA’s Metro North West schools project.

Tournament Director - Nationals 2011

Most obviously, Mat was the Tournament Director for Nationals 2011. Now, being the TD for Nationals is a massive job at the best of times and a ticket to AFDA Administrator of the Year, no doubt. But 2011 was tougher than ever.

Brisbane's devastating floods, Cyclone Yasi and the prevailing heavy rain throughout the four months leading up to Nationals had a massive effect on preparation. Much planned improvement work on the fields was delayed by the field provider, and the fields themselves

required considerable remedial effort.

Reps from AFDA will know how close the calling off of Nationals 2011 came. That Nationals was even played as planned was a miracle that can be directly related to Mat's work. That it was such an excellent tournament all round only reflects on his genuine excellence as an administrator.

President of Brisbane Ultimate Disc Association

Meanwhile, in late 2010 Mat became the President of the Brisbane Ultimate Disc Association - the first President of that group in many years. It’s hard to overstate what a big step that has been for Ultimate locally. Taking the long term view, Mat has provided great leadership in steadily improving the behind the scenes governance and planning of Ultimate in

Brisbane, and the creation of a strong General Committee that meets regularly, and

mentoring a team of League Directors.

Metro North West Schools / The Gap High School

Mat has been a key player in the delivery of regular weekly Ultimate coaching to several schools in the inner north west of Brisbane. Mat has parlayed that into furthering a relationship with the Principal of The Gap State High School, which has resulted in the

school’s oval becoming available for weeknight League use.

TOC Big Sky 10s and the upcoming Big Sky 11s - November 2010 and 2011

Mat has been a key part of the thoroughly committed group behind the Big Sky tournaments in Brisbane.

Mixed Invitational Tournament - September 2011

In his spare time of course, Mat stepped up and offered to TD the inaugural Mixed Invitational Tournament, held in Brisbane!!

It is through Mat's perseverance and emphasis on positive relationships that The Gap Soccer Club has become a regular venue for Ultimate Frisbee tournaments.

In summary, given Mat's massive efforts, his ability to keep things running smoothly while responding to all sorts of unexpected difficulties, and his demonstrated passion for Ultimate and its people, I feel that Mat's achievements during 2010-11 make him a worthy winner of the AFDA Administrator of the Year award.

Congratulations Mat

Recruiter of the Year Award

Dan Rule (UFNSW)

Starting NSW gala day series and Gala Day state champs. Recruiting players from mostly new areas in Sydney like Campbelltown, Bankstown and Sutherland. After 2 years of working as the development officer for NSW, he has introduced Ultimate to hundreds of kids in NSW, mainly in Sydney, Central Coast and Blue Mountains.

Dan is driven to junior development and bringing as many kids from as many diverse

backgrounds into the sport. This year has been very successful with the start of the gala day

series in regional areas then a state championships with the best of those regions. This model has not only brought in many players this year but has set NSW for the future recruitment of juniors across the state.

When Dan isn't developing juniors "on the clock", he attends any and all development events such as beginner's leagues and he also recruits and trains players for Sydney Uni.

If you were to pick a person who lives for the development of our sport, Dan would be it. And he always does it with a smile.

Congratulations Dan

Coach of the Year Award

Vickie Saye (Factory Ultimate - ACT)

Vickie took over coaching Factory last year in 2010, and spent the year learning, experimenting and solidifying her coaching strategy. Unfortunately, Factory was plagued with injuries and babies in 2010, and only just scraped a small 14-woman team together to play in Adelaide in 2010. Factory placed 9th at Nationals in 2010.

To try to tackle the injury problem, Factory put together a dedicated recruitment program, bringing around 40 new and developing players to Vickie to do what she would with them. Vickie took these players and out of them created a team to be reckoned with. The team that Factory took to Nationals in April of 2011 consisted largely of the same players that had been playing for Factory in previous years- with the notable exception of Keah Molomby. The Factory 2011 team consisted of 13 players that had previously played for Factory, 4 beginners and Keah. However, instead of finishing around the bottom 8 bracket, Factory had the best result of any Canberra women's team since 2003.

This is entirely due to the effort and excellent coaching of Vickie.

Vickie took her job as coach very seriously and sessions were always well-planned, targeted weaknesses in the gameplay of Factory and useful for every player at the session, regardless of previous experience. Vickie formulated a game plan and season plan that played to the specific strengths of the players, enabling Factory to make full use of the talent at hand.

Most importantly, Vickie found the time to give individual feedback to all of the developing players, highlighting aspects of their game to improve. In particular, the individual feedback provided to 2 Factory players in the beginning of the season helped these players develop monumentally in this year. Both Nat Blood and Liz de Hoog had played a season or two with Factory, but both players had seemed to plateau. Vickie, however, was convinced that both players had a more potential, and provided these players with targeted feedback early in the season. As a result, Nat Blood because one of the top goal-scorers for Factory, and Liz de Hoog became one of Factory's top handlers, and is now the assistant coach of one of Canberra's Mixed Teams, Soma.

Aside from the team skills, Vickie had an emphasis during training on individual skills. To that end, Vickie formulated fortnightly "pod" sessions with the aim of improving targeted individual skills, such as contested catches. Every player who trained with Factory during the 2011 season, from the newest recruit to the most senior player noticed a measurable improvement in these basic, yet crucial skills.

Vickie also took the time to put some invaluable coaching information on the Factory website. This included an Online Throwing Workshop, available to members only on the factory website, and a series of Drills which targeted these individual skills. The website was available to the entire Factory squad, which consisted of around 40 members. As far as we know, these Online Throwing Workshops and Drills are the first of their kind in Australia.

Vickie has also spent the winter months coaching the newest ACT Mixed Team, the Burley Griffins. They have yet to test their full squad against the might of Australian Ultimate, and so it remains to be seen what they are capable of. However, regardless of the result, Vickie has again achieved a measurable improvement of individual skills across her team.

We look forward the next Factory season with baited breath

Congratulations Vickie

Tournament of the Year Award

Harry Potter Hat

Usually not a whole lot of productive things come out of crazy conversations. The 2010 Harry Potter Hat is a notable exception. Although Australia has plenty of fun party tournaments, a few of us realised last year that the biggest Ultimate Frisbee market in the country, Sydney, didn’t! Sure NSW had some fun beach tournaments like Terrigal and Hunter, but we had nothing like Halibut or Melbourne Hat. And although those tournaments were fun, we wanted one which was really special, one that you wouldn’t mix up with any other tournament you’d ever played before. That meant this tournament had to have everything. Special shirts, beach and grass, zany rules, an epic party, an amazing theme. Only problem was the organising committee was spread across 3 different states, we had no template and only a few months to organise it. Luckily we had a bit of magic on our side…and by magic, I mean tireless effort by the great organising committee.

A few moths later, although we only just pulled it all together (after an overseas company botched our shirt order, they only got printed the day before the tourney!), the HPH Hat was everything we’d hoped for. Day 1 was at the luscious Queens Park fields. There were new rules that teams deviously used against each other, from forced turnovers with an Expelliamus spell, to a Time Turner that let you try for a double or nothing point. There were challenges throughout the day, like a Bertie Botts Bean-guessing competition. The lunches had candy wands in them and every team got their own personalised Olivander wand for casting spells. And there was a snitch (read: a volunteer in a gold leotard running around to get caught at time cap). The action across the day was even filmed by a community TV show and was recently broadcast to the whole of Sydney!

The party that night saw the Bank Hotel transformed into the Grand Hall, as wizards and witches from around Sydney frocked up for the Yule Ball. Amongst the robes and gowns, there were a few mystical creatures (from hippogriffs and dragons to birds and badgers), a couple of Death Eaters and at least one Dumbledore (isn’t he dead?!?). As the bar tab disapparated and music kicked in, plenty of Hogwarts students were seen dancing well past curfew and were lucky not to be transfigured into pumpkins at midnight. And the weather on Sunday held out just long enough to make sure that our beautiful beach day at Curly wasn’t spoiled by rain. We had players from every state in Australia except Tasmania attend (we did invite them, but their broomsticks couldn’t make it over the Tasman) and had over 80 players show up on both days, which we were immensely proud of! Best of all, we have set up the formula for a super fun, Sydney based tournament that can hopefully lure people from around the country every year to make it as awesome as the Melbourne Hat. And if the number of smiling faces I saw on the day is anything to go by, then I think we might just do it. Winning the 2011 AFDA Tournament of the Year award would not only be magical, but could help make this dream a reality and hopefully bring all fun loving Frisbee players to Sydney for the epic Hero and Villains we’re planning for this year. Game on!

TASMANIA

http://www.tasultimate.com/ 2011 was a busy year for the Tasmanian ultimate community. It was a year of ticking off

boxes as we completed many projects that had been in the works for years, as well as

starting some new initiatives and overseeing the continual development and growth of our

small community. We were excited to launch our new website in January, which has

improved our public image and our ability to communicate with the community. We

streamlined several processes to make our administration work smoother and welcomed

Frivolous Ultimate, our first affiliated club.

On the field, the TUA ran our usual four social leagues, an advanced league, the halfWIT

tournament, the Tasmanian Two-Hat XIII tournament and the Southern Australian Ultimate

Championships. Tasmanian teams participated in a number of interstate tournaments and it

was great to require a seeding tournament for our two AMUC teams.

Leagues

Sandown Park was home to the two seasonal outdoor leagues again in 2011, with Summer

League and Spring League both running two divisions. Player numbers for Summer League

were slightly down from Spring in 2010, but the reduction was not as large as the usual drop-

off over the Christmas break. Spring League, once again, was a major recruitment event

with more beginners registering than any league since 2004. Both Spring League and

Summer League had the full complement of six teams in both the beginner and intermediate

divisions.

Autumn League and Winter League were the two seasonal indoor leagues again in 2011,

both run at Aurora Sports Stadium. Autumn League marked the first time an indoor league

has had multiple divisions, 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.

Advanced League made a return again in 2011 from October to December. Due to the

timing and weather conditions the numbers were down a little from previous Advanced

leagues, resulting in a nine-game playoff between two strong teams.

Our League Directors did a fantastic job in 2011, 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. Andy Cole, Nick Moles, Tim Johnson, Steve Wright, Matt Smith, Peter Marendy,

Stephen Joyce, Grady Cowley and Stan Robert all did a wonderful job of managing the

leagues that keep our association going.

Tournaments

The TUA played host to three tournaments around Hobart during 2011. On a windy

weekend at the end of February, the Southern Australian Ultimate Champion was held at

Wentworth Park. It was great to witness some elite-level ultimate played in Tasmania, with

Chilly, Sporting Team Box Athletico, Safire, Heads of State, Honey and Karma all visiting us

to compete for National Championships allocations. This tournament was a huge success

thanks to the dedication and commitment of co-directors Shavawn Donoghue and Alysia

Prevost. It also would not have been possible without the assistance of Andrew Binny, John

Kristensen, Katie Kristensen and Jase de Puit.

The HalfWIT (half-yearly Winter Indoor tournament) made a triumphant return in July 2011,

with numbers growing slightly from the 2010 HalfWIT II. 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. Stew Wilde and Nick Moles did a wonderful job of directing the

tournament, and thanks also go to Matthew Smith, Charlie Prevost and Shavawn Donoghue

for their work behind the scenes.

October in Hobart means strong winds, balmy evenings, early spring flowers and, of course,

the Tasmanian Two-Hat. 2011 was the 13th running of our two-day hat tournament, and

Cornelian Bay proved, once again, to be the perfect venue. In unpredictable weather

conditions (from perfectly still to full-strength winds and torrential rain) five teams battled it

out for the valuable prizes. Numbers were slightly down from 2010, although interstate

players remained consistent and once again we received lots of positive feedback from all

participants. The tournament organising committee of Nick Moles, Matt Smith, Matt Berne

and myself ensured a hassle-free tournament, and we couldn’t have done it without the

assistance of Ken Suber, Charlie Prevost, Chris Wright and Peter Marendy.

Australian Ultimate Championships

As mentioned, Hobart hosted the 2011 Southern Australian Ultimate Championships.

Without the usual travel expenses, it was pleasing to enter two Tasmanian teams in the

open division and one in the Women’s division. Quoll and The Clap, both newly formed

open teams, enjoyed a hard-fought tournament. Quoll secured a position in the Australian

Ultimate Championships (AUC), and The Clap achieved their objectives of having fun and

providing tournament experience to some of our newer players. Bush did well in the

Women’s division, finishing 5th and securing a spot at the AUC. For many players on Bush it

was their first elite tournament and the experience gained at this tournament was invaluable.

Due to the large travel commitment, it is always hard to field a team to AUC in Brisbane.

With the help of some pickups from South Australia, Quoll was able to enter the tournament.

Unfortunately, due to some key injuries, they finished 16th (out of 16). Quoll did continue the

tradition of winning Spirit, meaning that a Tasmanian team has won Spirit all of the last four

times we’ve entered a team in the open division. Bush were unable to confirm enough

players to enter the women’s division, but many Tasmanian ladies played for the Southside

Swans and had a lot of fun. Two other Tasmanians did particularly well in the tournament.

Shelly Slater played for Wildcard and won another gold medal, and Mike Baker played for

Chilly, made it to the grand final and came back with a silver medal. Well done to Huddy

Fuller, Steve Wright, Nick Moles and Shavawn Donoghue for putting all our SAUC/AUC

teams together.

Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships

The Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships were held in Melbourne in October. For the

first time ever, there were two teams in the same division of an interstate tournament. LOG!

returned once again, joined by a new team Freak Out. Both teams had some hard-fought

games and a good time was had by all. LOG! finished 21st out of 24 and Freak Out finished

24th. Well done to John Kristensen, Shavawn Donoghue, Steve Wright and Huddy Fuller for

putting the teams together.

University

The university pickup games continued to run throughout the year, and numbers fluctuated

with the university calendar and the wintery weather conditions. The UTAS Ultimate Club

sent a team to the Southern University Games, led by Steve Wright. This team finished 5th

out of 7 and should be congratulated on giving many new players some valuable tournament

experience.

Elite Development

Two events were held in 2011 for the development of our local players. In January, we were

visited by Anna Haynes to train a dozen of our elite players as coaches. These accredited

coaches now run events at local schools and lead our teams in competition.

We were also pleased to welcome to high-level coaches to our state in March for an elite

development weekend. Matt Hill and Greta Hunt did a wonderful job of running through

higher level skills, drills and mindsets for our local players. An interstate perspective on our

techniques was valuable and informative. These two events would not have been possible

without the generosity of the interstate coaches, and the organisation of Matt Smith and

Shavawn Donohue.

Player of the Year

Steve Wright’s name has come up a few times in this report, as he organised and led a team

to every major tournament on the AFDA calendar in 2011. He has also been selected as an

assistant coach of Thunder, the Australian U19 Open Team that will attend the World Junior

Ultimate Championships in Dublin in August 2012. Steve’s contributions on and off the field

were acknowledged at the TUA Annual Dinner when he was awarded the TUA Player of the

Year 2011 by popular vote.

Volunteers

Many other volunteers were acknowledged at the TUA Annual Dinner in May. The Volunteer

of the Year award was presented to Andrew Binny for being a regular helper behind the

scenes at nearly every tournament and league. The Black-and-Blue award was presented

to Shavawn Donoghue for directing several tournaments over the previous year, and the

Lifetime Membership award was presented to Jemery Day, the inaugural TUA President who

founded the TUA, was TD for the first 7 Two-Hats and has been an inspiration both on and

off the field.

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 just 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 –TUA President

QUEENSLAND

http://quda.org/ At the end of my 2010 report, I concluded with two words that described where Ultimate in Queensland was at: “foundations complete”. Throughout 2011, the benefits of this work became evident with the smoothness of implementation of a number of new initiatives. Some of these achievements would not be obvious to players - for example, moving our accounts to MYOB, increasing our banking flexibility through subaccounts and debit card access for direct payments. These reforms may not sound like much, but they have been significant in improving our business and making life easier for volunteers. Other administrative developments have included establishing a multi-stage process to support expressions of interest in developing Ultimate from preliminary interest to a full scale local league, incentives for player development, and clearer State Event management to encourage and reward our members undertake activities on behalf of the Association. A lot has been achieved in 2011 – here are some of the highlights. Brisbane Floods and Hosting Nationals The Brisbane floods in January 2011 submerged QUDA's equipment storage at Fairfield. Thanks to the work of a few of our members most of our equipment much as the marquees,

trailer, BBQ were recovered from the mud-strewn wreckage. Thanks to the Queensland Government’s flood recovery grants, QUDA was able to obtain $3,600 to replace equipment that was lost, including porta-fields, line marking equipment, whiteboards and stopwatches. Thanks to Fatty and Kirsten for providing a new (temporary!) home for the gear, and Dave Bowman for his continuing quarter mastery. The flooding significantly impacted the preparation and hosting of the 2011 Australian Ultimate Championships. The fields suffered extensive damage which tested everyone involved in preparation and delivery of the biggest annual event on the Australian flying disc calendar. Cyclone Yasi then added unexpected food costs. Tournament Directors Mat Ryan and Sandra Poon lead an outstanding team in these circumstances. Thanks to all. This had a big impact on the bottom line. In hosting Nationals, QUDA only picked up a small surplus of just under 2% on the nearly $100,000 budget. The combination of flood damage, a lack of information provided to QUDA on previous tournaments budgets by previous hosts and an out of date Nationals contract with AFDA which obligated the delivery of services but limited management fees, all combined to seriously challenge the budget. A positive outcome on this front was that at the AFDA national conference QUDA provided a detailed analysis and recommendations for updating the contract signed between the AFDA and the hosting body. QUDA also attempted to provide players with a range of merchandise to both act as memorabilia and increase the surplus from the tournament. Unfortunately, a small loss was the result, partly due to a lack of advice from AFDA or previous tournament committees. Nonetheless, the event was a huge success for QUDA and the Ultimate players of Queensland. Players from around the country came, had a great time, and went home happy. We’ll just need to remember everything we’ve learned for when we’re due to host Mixed Nationals in 2014. Major Events Go Travelling Around Queensland Bringing Nationals to Brisbane allowed QUDA to take the bold decision to hold the 2011 Open Northern Regionals in Townsville! This was the first time a major QUDA competition had been held outside the southeast of Queensland, and provided a chance for higher level Ultimate to develop in Townsville and Cairns. It was great to see two teams from Townsville and one from Cairns compete against the Gold Coast’s Slamtown Flatball Club and two Firestorm teams from Brisbane. It was a memorable affair in the tropical heat under the “saint on the hill” in one of the most striking settings for Ultimate in Australia. Thanks greatly to TD Hugh and our northern Hosts. Women's Regionals attracted less interest and was a week night affair in 2011. QUDA is taking steps to grow the Women’s scene with the introduction of the Queensland Women’s Hat in the place of Women’s Regionals in 2012-13. Continuing the theme of regional development, Halibut 2011 was held at the Carrara Sports Park on the Gold Coast. Many thanks to TD Stef and his committee. Such was the success at the venue that QUDA is looking to return Halibut to Carrara in 2012. A few adventures in event management over the last few years has seen the QUDA Executive reassess its role with regards QUDA events, and a new management agreement will be in place from Regionals 2012. Introducing the Q-Hat The inaugural Queensland Hat, or Q-Hat, was held as the finale for 2011 and was a huge success with over 100 players involved. Many thanks to hosts the Heroes Ultimate Club and TD, Carl Behrendorff. The hope was to provide an event which would attract everyone from the elite to rank beginners, and the player numbers were well beyond expectation. It was particularly pleasing to see many BUML players trying out tournament play for the first time, as well as many of the new players from Gympie!

Regional Development – Gympie … and Beyond! In the 2010 Report I also wrote “The next two to three years will transform Ultimate in Queensland such that it will be truly state-wide sport”. Pleasingly this geographic development work appears to showing its first result in Gympie. A highlight for QUDA in 2011 was the involvement of a contingent of Gympie players at the Q-Hat, the Final featuring three of its players. We look forward to the arrival of the Gympie G-Force at 2012’s Open Northern Regionals! Earlier in 2011, QUDA also attempted to establish Ultimate at the Sunshine Coast University in a manner similar to that successfully undertaken at Griffith University at Nathan over 2010-2011. Unfortunately the nature of the Sunshine Coast population means that the University does not have the same central focus in student’s lives. The seeds stayed stubbornly in their pods, at least for now. With the lessons learnt from Gympie, Sunshine Coast and Griffith, QUDA will be focusing on establishing Ultimate in Toowoomba throughout 2012. This will be a combined university and community development approach. Stay tuned for how you can help! Leagues and Tournaments Abound The increasing number of playing centres makes it difficult to describe all the opportunities available to players in 2011. There are four regular Leagues in Brisbane – BUML with 20 teams, BPL with 7 teams, Spring WUFL with4 teams, UQL with 6 teams, as well as regular pickup on Wednesday nights and the recent Summer Indoor League. The Gold Coast’s League continues with 6 teams and the Townsville League with 8 teams, plus occasional pickup in both cities. The new Cairns League started in late 2011 with 4 teams. And there’s now regular pickup in Gympie too! There were at least 15 weekend tournaments that we know of in Queensland through 2011, including ABDUC, Regionals, Brisbane 7s, the Griffith Hat, Nationals, SatHATurday, the Moreton Bay Muddle, Halibut, Brisbane Indoor, SEQualifier, Townsville Hat, Lovefest, the Mixed Invitational, Big Sky 11s and the Queensland Hat. Many clubs now also train regularly on weekends. Almost all leagues and tournaments experienced growth during 2011, some by more than 20%. Thanks to all League and Tournament Directors for getting us all on the field! Coaching and Teachers Accreditation Continues QUDA continued to deliver Level One Coaching courses to school teachers on behalf of Queensland Sport and Recreation. Around 20 teachers gained their accreditations in Brisbane and Gold Coast areas – meaning they are ready to teach Ultimate in their own schools. In 2012 QUDA will look to undertake a course in the Cairns area, linking in with a “ultimate equipment library” being trialed. QUDA also delivered a Level One Coaching course to its members in SEQ. Thanks to John Coorey for his continuing work as QUDA Coaching Coordinator. As at January 2012, Queensland had 79 accredited Level One coaches. Metropolitan North West School Initiative Enters Next Phase With all this work around the State, QUDA still had stuff going on in Brisbane. QUDA continued funding coaches to support Ultimate as an interschool Year 8 and Year 9 sport across five Metropolitan North West District schools, continuing the program from 2010. These schools have again approached QUDA to continue supporting school Ultimate in 2012. QUDA has also continued its intensive program at The Gap State High School, in cooperation with BUDA.

The challenge with school coaching into 2012 remains to move towards a user pays system without the QUDA subsidy, such that more schools can take part and QUDA can generate a sustainable income source. Brisbane Disc Golf Club Arises It was also exciting in 2011 to see the Brisbane Disc Golf Club emerge and formalise its operations. QUDA is supporting the purchase of golf discs and playing baskets to make it possible to hold a full 18-hole tournament to be held. Website Refreshed Thanks to the skills and dedication of our webmaster Rob Lowe, QUDA has a refreshed website. I know we are all very glad it is here now. While the initial focus of the website is streamlining and explaining QUDA’s activities as a State-wide body, it is the intention to continue to develop the website into a functioning tool and resource for all Ultimate centres across Queensland as one of the services QUDA provides, reducing the load on our volunteer executives and event organisers. Organisation Excellence Everything done to organise Queensland Ultimate is dependent on those amazing people who step up to create opportunities for others to play. A huge thank you to everyone, particularly those who served on the Executives. Two members received formal recognition in 2011. Jason de Rooy received the Rob Hancock Award from the AFDA for his contributions across ACT, Australian and Queensland Ultimate. Congratulations again Jason. Mat Ryan received the AFDA Administrator of the Year award for his massive contribution during the year (which of course, was only a scratch on his decades of involvement). Congratulations again Mat. Looking to the Future As Ultimate has grown, so to have the demands on those managing our game. The QUDA Executive believes the best way to meet existing demands and grow the sport is to secure the services of a Development Officer who can reliably provide more hours to undertake the administrative and development tasks required. QUDA has developed a position description, estimated costs and will seek to access Queensland Government funding to appoint a Development Officer for an initial 12 month period. The role will be about assisting us all to make the game bigger. I hope the membership will support this move at the upcoming Annual General Meeting. Final Thanks My thanks go out to everyone who helped on the QUDA committee for 2011, particularly our Treasurers Matt Stubbs and Sean Mailander, Secretary Emma Briggs and General Members Jo Ashdown and Adam ‘Jangles’ Beu, and the work of our Executive Officer, Jason de Rooy. I would also like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to helping more people enjoy either Ultimate or Disc Golf in Queensland over the last year. For many of us, Ultimate is more than a sport, it is a community from which we gain so many benefits. From a personal perspective my thanks to the Cairns, Heroes, Cobra and Co- Mingled teams in which I played during the year. Whereas I normally play with the beginner teams, pickup or teams struggling to make up the numbers, and as a result have probably lost more

games than anyone else in the history of Queensland Ultimate, it was enjoyable to play with Co-Mingled and take out the Season 2 BUML Division One Final in late 2011. As I come to the end of my third year in “power”, and reflecting that I have been QUDA President for seven of the last 11 years, it is timely to reflect upon the 20+ players I first encountered back in 1999 and to see the achievements that have brought us to where we are today. One of the first things I did as President in 2000 was to develop a strategic plan in consultation with a few key people stepping up to help, many of whom still volunteer today, and apply for Queensland Government Sport and Recreation funding. We received $6,600. As President, and when not on the Executive, I've always made it my key task to ensure this funding was maintained. When QUDA’s third payment of $25,000 is made for 2013, QUDA will have received over $195,000 in state government assistance. Amongst other things I’ve done, gaining this funding and having ultimate recognised as “sport” worth funding is something I am personally proud of contributing. When I first took on the role QUDA had about $5,000 in the bank. Just over ten years later I leave with cash at bank of $54,000 and no major debts. This is a credit to all who have served on the QUDA Executive during this time. But money is only a facilitator, it is the people and ideas of what to do, that have made ultimate possible as a Queensland wide sport. Making a true statewide sport out of ultimate was always my aim and I think it has worked out pretty well. From the 20 core players in Brisbane in 2000, a conservative count, ignoring “lost tribes” is over 750 players across established centres of Cairns, Townsville, Gympie, Brisbane and Gold Coast, which will ideally soon to be joined by Toowoomba and possibly Emerald. Well done to all and thanks everybody for your assistance and more importantly your friendships. Matthew Boevink President 2011

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

http://saultimate.net/ There is plenty of opportunity in South Australia for both new and experienced Ultimate

Frisbee players to get involved in trainings, social leagues, as well as competitive leagues

and tournaments. If you are interested in joining the SA Ultimate community

There are currently 4 leagues running in SA as well as a number of tournaments including

Big Kevs Beach Tournament and Flycatcher 5s.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

http://www.waultimate.com/ Another very busy year has flown by as flying disc sports continue to flourish here in

Western Australia. Membership numbers have hit 500 thanks to a strong club structure and

the Perth Ultimate League is thriving. In November a new south of the river league

commenced so we now have four league venues including one in Bunbury (South West

Regional WA).

It’s been a big year with Western Australian Representative at World Clubs, Under 19’s,

Under 23’s and the Australian Disc Golf Championships were held in Perth. The WA State

representative teams gave another good showing at the Australian Ultimate Championships

and we now have 52 accredited new coaches under the Australian Sports Commission’s

National Coach Accreditation Scheme. Eleven local tournaments were hosted by the

Association and affiliated Clubs with almost one tournament every month in addition to

weekly games and club training opportunities.

The most significant change to the WAFDA structure was that in February 2011 the

Association took on a paid employee with the assistance of the Australian Flying Disc

Association. In September the Association took another step forward and signed a contract

with Murdoch University securing a home office for WA Ultimate. The office is based in the

sport and recreation centre of the University. Having both an employee and a functional

office is vital to our every day operations as a State Sporting Association.

In addition to an annual planning meeting the WAFDA also conducts monthly meetings as required by the constitution. Monthly reviews of the current Operation Plan and Strategic Plan are conducted and all business relating to the Association is recorded. The WAFDA is committed to improving communication to our members, sponsors and stakeholders. The official monthly electronic news update provides members current information relating to Association activities, the website continues to be a vital communication tool and is constantly updated with current and relevant news. “Ultimatum” is the official quarterly newsletter for the Association current and past issues are available for download from the Association website.

In School Sessions

With the support of our Development Officer and casual coaching staff we are now able to fill

all session requests.

The number of sessions delivered in the last 12 months was:

47 primary school sessions were delivered at 10 venues

43 high school sessions were delivered at 13 venues

25 holiday sports sessions with the City of Gosnells, City of Wanneroo, and Venues West and YMCA

2 Teacher training sessions at Murdoch University

2 Teacher Professional Development Sessions through the Department of Sport and Recreation (Perth and Bunbury)

10 sport expo gala days with Coach Approach

Regional WA

We are gaining access to regional areas and have the personnel to help carry out these

projects including delivering sessions to local participants in the Shire of Toodyay,

development days in Bunbury and regional coaching trips with Coach Approach. Coming up

in early 2012 we will be delivering a project to remote communities in the

Kalgoorlie/Goldfields area.

Bunbury Ultimate Club continues to run weekly sessions and hosts a league and we now

have a new club established in Mandurah. Rumours are circulating that Broome Ultimate is

alive and well and are looking to host a hat tournament in late 2012.

WA Youth Development Weekend

We held our first Youth Development Weekend and were lucky to secure the coaching

services of Matt Hill and Luisa Fearnside to visit Perth and teach our future superstars some

tips and techniques from our National Youth Coaching staff. This project was funded by

WAFDA and the Department of Sport and Recreation and allowed us to put on a weekend

for 27 participants. Four of these went on to take part at the National Youth Camp in

Melbourne then go on to represent Australia at the first ever Trans-Tasman series against

New Zealand. Currently there are 10 WA juniors up for national selection for the 2012 World

Junior Ultimate Championships in Ireland.

Brodie Smith Project

In November we invested in a project to bring over a high profile US player to up skill and

encourage our players to elevate their game. Brodie Smith from “Everything Ultimate” and

“Doublewide” came to Perth for 16 days to run a series of camps and skills sessions for

intermediate, high performance and coach development purposes. Brodie was enthusiastic

and professional in his conduct of these sessions and excellent feedback was obtained from

members. Time was allocated to ensure a local trick video (or two) was made and Brodie

also played in the local leagues and beach tournament.

Many thanks for all this work must go to our tireless Development Officer, Anna Haynes, and

to our small army of volunteers - club captains, league directors, coaches, food preparers

and anyone else who chipped in even 5 minutes to help disc sports in WA."

Andrew Hutcheon

President

WA Flying Disc Association

VICTORIA

http://ultimatevictoria.com.au/

President’s Report (Matt Hui): • This year saw the creation of MAD League under Will Christopherson

• New incorporation policy for clubs and universities

• Mixed Nats was TDed by Matt Hill and John Hempel and ranked 9.2/10 by the AFDA

• Melb Hat TDed by John Hempel and was also a success

• Incoming for 2012 onwards is the new government ‘Victorians More Active’ scheme which

will guarantee UV’s funding through to 2015

Treasurer’s Report (Martin O’Brien) • Income of $70,000 (however less income was received from school clinics, but more

income received from selling discs because

of the new e-system; Melb Hat is also expected to make a profit)

• Expenditure involved higher bank fees because of the new e-system, payment of a league

coordinator and the addition of two paid employees, as well as new utensils such as 2 new

BBQs, light bulbs etc.

NEW SOUTH WALES

http://ufnsw.com.au/ UFNSW has made steady progress over the last year in many areas, continuing the growth and development of the sport. Our focus this year has been predominately on the development of player pathways, particularly in the junior levels, hoping to increase our player base through more youths playing and from widening the area in which we offer the sport. Other areas continue steadily maintaining our foot in the community. UFNSW made the decision over a year ago that in order to grow we would need to put more effort towards the development of the sport so we have invested in 2 employees. UFNSW changed the Coaching Coordinator position title to Development Officer to broaden the scope of the role. This has allowed Dan to work on areas outside of just coaching which has been a great success. Despite our recent change towards paid employees, we are predominately a volunteer-run organisation and without the immense work from our volunteers, Ultimate Frisbee would not exist in NSW. As president, it has been a pleasure to work closely with these people or to learn about the other volunteers in the wider community. Development Officer / Junior Development: The expansion of the role, previously known as Coaching Coordinator, opened up more opportunities of development. The role now focuses on training coaches, seeking funding, running tournaments, starting youth leagues, running school competitions, promotion, guiding young players from grassroots to elite levels, building relationships with key stakeholders as well as coaching and coordinating other coaches. Employed for over a year now, Dan Rule has established a systematic school competition, introduced the sport to new regions across greater Sydney, started and maintained youth leagues, run coaching courses across NSW and assisted NSW juniors to securing the majority on both of the Australian Junior squads through junior elite development. Dan’s greatest success this year was to run a NSW Youth State Championships which was a culmination of the top 2 teams from each local gala day. Offering this player pathway for the younger players already proved successful with the increase in participation in elite junior events. Dan has created a successful junior player pathway. He is now developing youth leagues to further that pathway which will connect to our leagues, universities and club teams. Dan has also worked closely with Rory Connell, Junior Development Officer, on further strengthening the junior competition circuit. Rory has liaised with developing youth players, coached, volunteered and worked with Dan with some of his projects. In the coming year, Rory and Dan will work towards a youth club competition that would span from Newcastle to Sydney South including coaches, weekend competitions. Rory is an asset to NSW Junior Development with his experience and interest in the area. Leagues: The 2010/2011 period has seen ups and downs in the leagues within NSW. Whilst a number of leagues have maintained membership, some have grown and others decreased. The positive area is that leagues still remain strong across the NSW area. New problems have cropped up (field fatigue) but clubs are starting to be able to work closer with councils in a community based approach to help consolidate their presence within that council. We have several leagues that remain constant and well organised by their volunteers. The younger leagues – Inner West league and Darlinghurst League both have survived and are

growing in numbers. More well established local leagues like Newcastle and Manly are maintaining their numbers and position in the community. Hills League is growing and leading the way with organisation, creativity and building strong relationships with the local community. NSL has re-established all divisions in the league and despite difficulties retaining fields, has maintained healthy numbers. Glenn Hodges and his volunteers are pivotal in the success of the league, as are all the league commissioners and volunteers that run leagues across NSW. Tournaments: It was good to see a number of clubs and universities run tournaments again this year: Bathurst Stampede, Hunter Hat, Longest Day, Mid-Winter Solstice, Savage Sevens, Share the Love, Summer Fling, Terrigal Towel and Uni IVs (UNSW, USYD, UTS) and we also welcomed the addition of the Harry Potter Hat. Monica Chang, Tournaments Officer, and Tom Flanagan, Men’s Development Officer, took the initiative to run a beginners tournament encouraging Division 3 and 4 teams to play outside of their league competition. It was successful and will hopefully be made an annual event. Women’s and Men’s Development: This past year saw more a more combined effort with men’s and women’s development. Monica Chang and Tom Flanagan, Womens and Mens Development Officers, offered many events to players interested in learning more about Ultimate. Weekly learn-to-play sessions were held before the start of NSL division 4 during summer at Gore Hill with the help of several volunteers. Media Exposure: There have been a number of media exposures and sightings over the past year in NSW including in several local rags, Sydney Morning Herald and Women’s Health. Public coverage was most effective through press releases using local newspapers. Anapatt Tansomboon, Media Officer, has been proactive in approaching local newspapers with current and relevant Ultimate Frisbee stories. He has also been exploring new forms of media. The increasing popularity of social media was the impetus for the UFNSW Facebook fan page which has served to be a great means of promoting updated info and has been more than helpful when needing to promote frisbee event/news promptly. UFNSW Directions: The UFNSW committee have been re-evaluating the direction of our association this year. We have met several times to discuss and develop a Strategic Plan that has key performance areas and targeted outcomes with short, mid and long term goals. This will enable the association to have a unified approach to the growth of our sport in NSW with common goals. Anna Haynes mediated and helped develop the framework for our strategic plan which is still in progress. Next year will see further development of the junior player pathways and links towards the leagues, universities and clubs already in place. We will be focused on securing more funding to allow for our development to happen. Supporting regional areas is always regarded as important and with more funding this would be possible. We would also like to place a greater emphasis on the work and recognition of volunteers throughout NSW because they are the backbone of the sport. Building stronger relationships with key stakeholders such as AFDA, other state bodies, Councils and NSW Sport and Recreation will be another area we will be interested in.

I look forward to another year working for our Frisbee community with our many hardworking volunteers. Nikki Shires President, UFNSW

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

ACTUA board introduced 3 out of 5 new board members including Liz De Hoog, Brevin Balfrey-Boyd, and Heather Bozza. Canberra’s membership had regular seasonal highs- in the Spring- and lows- in Autumn/Winter.

Canberra League Canberra League in 2011 was again at high demand running at full capacity in the first time slot. This first time slot we successfully introduced the spilt of the social division to division 2 and 3, with 24 teams. The division 1 continues to demonstrate a high level of competitive ultimate throughout 2011.

ACT representative teams From the beginning of 2011 the Opens and Women teams were up and running- recruiting and training hard. The hard work paid off with Opens team Fyshwick United placing 5th and our amazing women’s team Factory placing 2nd. Factory’s great work would not have been done without AFDA’s coach of the year Vickie Saye. In winter saw the mixed teams start their recruitment and training with SOMA and newly formed Burley Griffins. Canberra was

also represented at AUGs with ANU.

Children’s ultimate Andrew ‘AJ’ Jackson did a great job throughout 2011 co-ordinating and introducing Ultimate to children of various ages through the Active After School Care government initiative; between five coaches they complete four sessions in terms three and four. AJ also

organised coaching sessions at two schools within the ACT.

The year ahead 2012 is going to be establishing some plans for long term development for the association. Canberra Ultimate is looking to have an awesome website up and running; start a new weeknight league on the south side of Lake Burley Griffin; increase the number of board members- spreading responsibility and with more defined roles-; further improve development opportunities linking clubs and the association closer together with a Club Liaison Officer; and be identified as the Peak Body of Ultimate Frisbee in the ACT officially to the ACT Sport Government. The most exhilarating project is the Canberra Ultimate is looking into a proposed paid Development Officer role.

Heather Bozza-Secretary Australian Capital Territory Ultimate Association

DISC GOLF

Australian Disc Golf (ADG) had another fantastic year of growth in 2011. Our focus this year

was predominately on two key areas: the increase of member participation and the

strengthening of our relationship with AFDA to ensure the inclusion of all Disc sports under

one governing body.

A new system in line with AFDA’s model saw the membership numbers increase from

around 100 to over 200 by years end. The ADG board and committee are also continuing to

develop as they grow.

The ADG and AFDA have been working on a Memorandum of Understanding between the

two, which was finally signed off on in 2011. This clarifies how the two bodies will interact

with each other and will assist in improving the administration of all disc golf clubs around

Australia.

Here is a breakdown of what is happening in each state.

Australian Capital Territory (by Greg Sparksman)

The 14th Sparks-Summers Sizzler was held in February on a short, open course at Eddison

Park. Martin Ryland Adair led the field of twenty one players with an easy win over Andrew

Ferguson from Victoria and Luke Williams from New South Wales, who finished second and

third respectively. The most enjoyable part of the tournament was the putting competition,

which was won by local Matt Gallagher.

Unfortunately, the cash splash on "shovel ready projects" which rushed community

consultations and ignored many groups’ ideas had a negative effect on our disc golf course.

A new $2 million skate park took the 1st fairway and the new playgrounds made a large area

of park unusable, so a new course layout was required. The large disc golf sign was also

recently damaged by new park users and we are currently waiting on the government to

replace and relocate a new sign to an area away from the skate park.

During 2011 we also put on four successful Come and Try days for four very different groups

of people. The first group was made up of about twenty young males doing a week long

Buck's party; the buck had to wear a pink cowboy hat all week! The second was a group of

twenty five female footballers looking for another sport to maintain their physical fitness. In

December we also ran a small office’s Christmas party on the disc golf course. Our last

Come and Try day had us teaching twenty five young children from the YWCA during the

school holidays.

Tasmania (by Richard Sampson)

Disc Golf in Tasmania was going strong again in 2011, driven by Richard and Harvey and

supported by some of the local players on a regular basis. There are currently two disc golf

courses in Tasmania: Poimena Reserve (www.poimenadiscgolf.org) in Austins Ferry and

Geeveston, an unmarked 9 basket course.

Poimena Reserve

There is evidence that participation at Poimena Reserve has increased in 2011. The local

supermarket next to the course is selling a lot more golf discs and more players can be

observed playing. Many local schools are also now using the course. Unfortunately there is

also more litter on the course, a consequence of increased activity.

Poimena hosted the Australian Disc Golf Championships on 25-27 November 2011. This

event was an important catalyst to getting some significant infrastructure improvements done

at the course. Volunteers completed significant work on the tee pads at Poimena: new tee

pads were built and almost all of the 36 tee pads are now gravelled. Poimena also hosted

the Two Heads Open. Eleven players took part in this ADG A-Tier tournament.

New courses

Clarence Council is considering an application to set up a 9-hole disc golf course in

Richmond, a twenty five minute drive from Hobart.

Coaching

Led by three time Doubles World Champion, Jay Reading, and three time Women’s World

Champion Des Reading, the Educational Disc Golf Experience (EDGE) visited schools and

youth organizations to teach kids and teachers about disc golf. In mid November, EDGE

conducted disc golf clinics with approximately 500 students in total at six schools in Hobart:

Hutchins, Ogilvie, Bellerive Primary, Corpus Christie, Rosny College and Austins Ferry

Primary. EDGE also held 'teach the teachers' workshops which attracted 20 teachers.

The Australian Sports Commission also provided support for this project. They are

interested in helping facilitate the introduction of disc golf into their 'Active After Schools

Community Program' in schools in Southern Tasmania. After the EDGE workshops, three

Hobart schools purchased portable disc golf baskets and discs to run disc golf activities

during class time.

Victoria (by Greg Bowers-officially Australian)

Disc golf in Victoria has continued to grow in 2011. Memberships to both the Melbourne and

Geelong clubs have seen steady growth with more and more people coming along to our

monthly league days (1st Sunday of each month in Geelong and the 3rd Sunday of each

month in Melbourne). We also had 34 people play in the 2011 Victorian Disc Golf Open, held

in Drysdale, VIC. This was one of the largest A-tier tournaments for the year. Twelve

representatives from Victoria also participated in the National Championship in Tasmania,

with members of the Melbourne Disc Golf Club winning both the advanced and recreational

divisions.

In 2011, we also saw the creation of a free to play disc golf course at Lake Mountain Alpine

Resort. This course can be credited to the hard work of Melbourne Disc Golf Club members

Chris Ronalds, Joel Paton, and Mark Hardy who designed and got the course into the

ground.

The end of 2011 brought the sad news of the passing of Stuart Jones, who played a

significant part in painting the landscape of disc golf in Victoria. Stuart had a passion for disc

golf that spurred on the creation of the Whittlesea Disc Golf Course, which until recently was

the only permanent course in Victoria. The Melbourne and Geelong Clubs have been

bequeathed the course and will continue the vision that Stuart had for disc golf in Victoria.

The Melbourne and Geelong clubs are excited for the continued growth of the sport and the

opportunities that are starting to arise. Disc Golf in Victoria has a very bright future ahead.

Western Australia (by Robert Kyle, Kris Kohout, & Chris Finn)

2011 was another good year for disc golf in Western Australia. We saw some new

players taking up the sport on a recreational and competitive level. Early in the year, we

saw the East Greenwood Primary School torn down adjacent to the Rob Hancock Memorial

Disc Golf course. Shortly thereafter, the school’s carpark was torn out, to the dismay of the

local disc golf community. But we learned to park on the grass, and we seized the

opportunity to use the vacant school grounds for a fun back 9 holes that were used in both

the Rob Hancock Memorial and the Perth Open. It was exciting to see a good turnout in the

Recreational Division in these tournaments, as this bodes well for the future of the sport in

WA.

Events/Competitions

The most successful event in 2011 for WA was the Ace Race in August, which attracted over

50 players, many of whom were throwing a golf disc for the first time. Thanks to Rob

Masters who worked hard in his first role as a TD to make the event so successful. Since

that day we’ve seen a few of the Ace Racers coming down to play regular rounds at Rob

Hancock.

PDGC ran several tournaments including Discs on the Green, The Rob Hancock Memorial,

The Discraft Ace Race and the Perth Open. Our monthly league day continued to be a big

hit with members and non-members alike due to the handicap format we use.

PDGC also ran several social events including our annual Good Friday at The Maze picnic

and for the first time, a Christmas get-together. Everyone enjoyed both events with The

Maze having a short nine-hole course, and Dave Bandy’s backyard proving to be a

challenging mini disc golf course layout for the Christmas party. Thanks to the committee

and members of Perth Disc Golf Club for another fun-filled year. Anyone who’s keen to

learn a bit about disc golf in WA please feel free to contact us at www.perthdiscgolf.com.

Coaching

Throughout the autumn months volunteers from Disc Golf Park coached several hundred

school students at four YMCA Expos throughout the Perth Metro area. Finnish Disc Golf

professionals Jussi Meresmaa and Juho Rantalaiho also made time during their visit to WA

to do some coaching at the Morley YMCA Expo. The kids were keen to learn from these

professionals, and they were fascinated to watch them throw a disc over 150 meters.

Development

Disc Golf Park (www.discgolfpark.com.au) has taken the reigns to proactively promote the

sport throughout the WA community. Working with local councils and businesses, DGP

began running Come and Try Days in a number of new parks and bringing Disc Golf to a

large number of people at community festivals throughout the summer. As DGP continues

to diligently spread the Disc Golf love, we are likely to see the development of some new

courses in the works in 2012. We are also working hard with the large local Ultimate

community to combine our passion for Discs Sports into something great. 2012 has some

great things in store for WA.

Perth Disc Golf Club is moving their focus more towards running really good tournaments

and having fun. Perth Disc Golf Club have another very active year full of exciting events

planned for 2012 and continues to be the driving force of disc golf in WA.

Golf Discs and Flying Disc Products

DUDE (www.dudediscs.com.au) continues to support disc golf tournaments throughout WA.

We also assist suppliers with discs, and we support Come and Try days and Ultimate

players. 2011 saw the first flying disc shop opened for business in Australia. Dude’s doors

are open from 7am till 5pm during weekdays, sharing the office space with DiscGolfPark and

Chris Finn’s profitable company PSS.

New South Wales (by Martin Ryland-Adair)

27 competitors attended the 2011 Sydney Disc Golf Open held in June at the Newington

Armoury Course. Martin Ryland-Adair narrowly won the hotly contested Open Division in a

playoff over Kurt Karlsson. Other winners were Neil Roberts in the Advanced, Andrew Sims

in the Recreational, Terry Jordan in the Masters, Bruce McNaughton (QLD) in Grand

Masters and Sally Hill in the Women’s Open. The first day of the tournament was played on

a new reverse course layout course that was well received by all players.

Twelve monthly Armoury Tournaments (nicknamed Rattles) were held this year as our

Handicap League continued to flourish. The overall title was won by Peter Cricchiola. The

club has been busy accruing funds to install permanent tee signs at the course. We are only

awaiting permission from the Sydney Olympic Park Authority to do so.

Due to some hard work from Jonathan Jonas and Emilie Cameron a permanent disc golf

course has been established in Newcastle. Whilst the lion’s share of financing was

provided by the council, other funds were provided by AFDA and ADG. The disc golfing

fraternity in NSW is grateful to all parties involved in this project. A monthly league day is

now held in Newcastle on a different day to the Sydney league day so that players can

participate in two competition days a month.

Finally, the disc golfers of NSW would like to thank Jason MacFarlane of Defy Gravity Discs

for his ongoing support of disc golf in NSW.

Queensland (by Tim Marchbank)

2011 got off to a wet start for Queensland, with the disc golf course at Yeronga being up to

3m under water at some points during flooding that hit Brisbane. Surprisingly though, once

the water subsided, there was no damage and the course didn’t take long to become

playable again.

March saw the formation of the Brisbane Disc Golf Club with the aim to develop and promote

the sport utilising the four courses already installed within the region. This began the regular,

weekly social rounds which began to attract both new and experienced players, with up to 15

players attending on some weekends.

August saw 21 local and interstate players play a tightly contested Queensland

Championships at Yeronga. Tim Marchbank won the Men’s division and Carmen Crain won

the Women’s division. Thanks to local players Rick Kapalko and Nate Lee who helped with

sponsorship of the event.

Other activities during the year included a QUDA supported road-trip to Roma to

demonstrate disc golf and set-up a small course in the town. BDGC members also travelled

to events around Australia, with special mention to Bruce McNaughton who won both the

Men’s Grand Masters division of the ADG Tour and also at the Australian Championships.

Australian Disc Golf Tour

The ADG Tour events continue to be a huge success bringing together the competitors from

each division in each state on a regular basis. Thanks go to the host states for putting

together such fantastic tournaments each year. For details on each tournament please

check in State reports

The Overall Australian Champion for 2011 was Martin Ryland Adair from NSW. Please visit

www.australiandiscgolf.com for full tour results.

Australian Disc Golf Championships 2011

This is Australia's premier tournament. The event was held at Poimena Reserve and hosted

by Tasmanians Richard Sampson and Harvey Yarnall. The field of 45 competitors came

from around Australia and overseas, including international competitors from Finland, USA,

England and New Zealand.

Innova were the major partner for this tournament. Other sponsors included Discology, Mac

Plus More, Discmania, Mercure Hotels, Digital Ink, and ADG. The Australian

Championships financed bringing Des Reading and Jay Reading from the Educational Disc

Golf Experience (EDGE) to Hobart in November.

The tournament had great coverage in Tasmania's main newspaper, The Mercury. There

was also a short feature on the evening news. A double page report on the tournament

featured in the quarterly international publication Discgolfer Magazine.

A professionally produced video about the tournament and the EDGE workshops will be

released in 2012 and will be available on YouTube.

International Representation

2011 saw some of our disc golf friends wandering off into the wilderness to compete on the

big stage internationally. In March Chris Finn went off to compete in the Asia Open 2011,

finishing respectably in 7th place. Australia also had some representatives at the Amateur

and Professional Disc golf World Championships from Amateur division through to Senior

Grandmasters in 2011. Congratulations to Greg Bowers, Paul Arden, Kingsley Flett and last

but certainly not least the master of disc golf and pun Kim Holmes who all travelled to the US

to compete and finished well in their divisions.

Australian Disc Golf would like to thank all the countless volunteers, helpers and significant

others who help to make each event, tournament and disc golf day work. As a sport that is

still breaking into mainstream it takes a lot of work just to be able to share the love and all

these things happen because of these people.

Chris Finn

Australian Disc Golf

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At the end of 2011, the current Board of Directors (along with their year of first election) was: – Jamie Bozza -2011

– Ashleigh Thornton -2011

– Amanda Fung -2011

– John Hempel - 2006

ce – Thomas Watson -2011

– Vacant

– Paul Keighley - 2008

– Dan Smith -2011

COORDINATORS AND OFFICERS

In addition to the Board, a number of people take on positions of national significance as AFDA Officers and Coordinators.

– Simon Wood

ional Volunteers Officer – Anna Haynes

– Jamie Bozza

– Simon Wood

– Simon Wood

Committee – Melissa Gangemi, Piers Truter, John Greenfield

-Doping Officer – Emma Taylor

– Jo Creswell

– Simon Wood and Mel Gangemi

– Max Halden, Ewan Wymer, Matt Hill

– Max Halden and Ewan Wymer

– Tom Brennan and Jonathan Potts