Australian Flying Disc Association

2012 Annual Report

CONTENTS

SECRETARY’S REPORT

PRESIDENTS REPORT

TREASURERS REPORT

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2012 (High Performance)

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2012

MARKETING

MAJOR EVENTS

DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN RESOURCES

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2012

AFDA AWARDS 2012

TASMANIA

QUEENSLAND

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA

NEW SOUTH WALES

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

DISC GOLF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS AND COORDINATORS

Secretary’s Report 2012

Welcome to the AFDA report for 2012.

This is my second year on the AFDA board as secretary, and now

that the current board has been together for a year we are

starting to make real progress. In 2012 our main target was to

produce the strategic plan for 2013-2015. As Tom will detail later

in the report, the other major event for 2012 was World Ultimate

and Guts Championships in Japan. Congratulations to all those

who represented Australia.

One of the changes to the AFDA’s calendar was to hold the AFDA administrators’

conference in May. This gave the board a chance to meet with the states early on in the

year. This communication with the states prior to the strategic planning day allowed the

board to take these ideas into account when setting its targets for the year. I think this was a

great change to the calendar and look forward to it continuing. It is amazing how much can

be planned and communicated in 2 days of intense Ultimate administration! It was also

great to be able to align the conference with the Showcase game in Sydney – all of the

attendees were able to support the Dingoes against New Zealand.

The board met again in November in Melbourne to start formulating the new strategic plan.

The plan was then finalised at the last face-to-face meeting which was again held in

Melbourne, in January. I think we are all very excited about the strategic plan – it is great to

have clear targets that we have created together and can now work towards over the next

three years. I particularly had fun developing the mission and vision statements, I even

created a jingle! I am not sure it will ever be used in an official capacity – but I will sing it for

you ask ;)

Finally, in 2012 the AFDA were excited to be able to hand out grants to those members of

the Ultimate Community who are working to develop the sport in Australia. The AFDA

introduced some new awards which were presented at the Australian Mixed Ultimate

Championships in Perth. Congratulations to the recipients – you can read about them later

in this report.

I think that is all from me – I just want to finish by saying a huge thank you to all the other

board members – they all work really hard and they make administrating this sport a joy! I

would also like to thank Andrew Jackson for filling in for Tom while he was away. I hope you

all enjoy reading the 2012 annual report!

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.

Ashleigh with AFDA Treasurer, Amanda

PRESIDENTS REPORT

It has been an exciting year in the world of flying disc sports, all around the country and

abroad. Before I get into the great things that we are happening in ultimate and our vision for

the future, I want to thank a few people for their tireless efforts throughout the year.

Simon Wood is the AFDA administration officer, national events officer and more often than

not, the first port of call that people make in regards to any question in ultimate. I enjoy

checking the time stamps of the emails that you send at all hours of the day and behalf of

the Ultimate Community, I want to thank you for everything that you do.

Andrew Jackson stood in the role of the Director of High Performance for some time last

year when Tom Watson spent some time overseas and he did an excellent job continuing

with Tom's vision for the portfolio and also putting his own stamp on it. Thank you for all of

your efforts and please let us know when you're keen to get involved with AFDA program's

again.

Paul Keighley has been AFDA marketing director since April 2008 and has achieved a lot for

our sport during this time. He helped rebrand the Ultimate arm of the AFDA to Ultimate

Australia and has helped create a set of guidelines in the use of these. Paul has been

involved in two strategic plans and his enthusiasm in seeing our sport grow has been

beneficial to entire community. On behalf of the flying disc community I would like to thank

Paul and wish him all the best.

Tom Watson has been the Director of High Performance since 2011. His passion and drive

for the high performance program has been evident in the hours that he logs ensuring that

the program runs to its potential. Tom's diplomatic input in discussions and focus on his

portfolio will be missed. On behalf of the entire ultimate community I would like to thank Tom

and wish him all the best.

We are starting to see more coverage of flying disc sports, and in particular ultimate in the

wider media, including local news stations covering local tournaments and events through to

appearing in segments on nationally syndicated programs. Through this increased coverage

we are starting to see more and more people throwing discs around their local parks and

getting involved in grass roots development and in schools through to a wider range of

teams participating in our regional and national championships.

It is exciting that over the last year we have had Development officers in New South Wales,

Victoria, Western Australia, for the calendar year in the ACT. It is exciting to see that

Queensland have recently appointed a development officer to fill the Ultimate needs of the

people of Queensland. This is a tremendous step forward for QUDA and I look forward to

hearing about the success of the position.

Earlier this year the AFDA completed their new strategic plan for 2013 - 2015 which has

seen the focus being put on four areas including Organisational Development, Participation,

Elite Performance and Communications. We have also nominated focus areas for e next

three years with 2013 being the year of Regional Ultimate, 2014 being the Year of Women in

Ultimate and 2015 being the Year of Indigenous Ultimate.

The AFDA website overhaul has been completed and while there still exists a number of

issues that are being worked with, the new look webpage has given a fresh new feel to the

AFDA's web presence. I would like thank Nic Footer who commenced this project and he

team of testers who helped iron out a lot of the bugs. I also want to recognise and give a

massive thank you to AFDA’s IT Officer, Andrew Olennick who took over from me in

overseeing this project towards the end of last year and got us to where we are now. He

spent a lot of hours working through the site and continues to do so as we move forward.

Looking forward, we have some hard work ahead of us to continue to grow our sport in the

positive direction that it is going. One of the hardest jobs over the next year is going to be

capturing all of the data of those people that are participating in flying disc sports around the

country but are not going through the AFDA database. The AFDA board is going to be

investigating what we can do to help get all of those numbers officially recorded. Be it the

students participating in school sessions, gala days. University leagues, training sessions

and inter varsity competitions. The social leagues that are being played on weekends or

between work groups. The AFDA need to know about all of the participants in these events

and more and we need to be able to capture this data going forward. One of the big reasons

is that if we want to grow as a sport and be able to receive funding from the Australian

Sports Commission, we need to be able to show that there are more people actively

participating in flying disc sports on a regular basis than the 5000 that we hover around on

the AFDA website

If we were to receive funding from the ASC, what would we do with it? The money could be

used in a number of ways that include continuing to develop our elite program's through the

creation and funding of player camps, continuing to develop our coaches through camps and

international coaches, employing a second employee to take some of the strain off Simon or

it could be used to continue to grow and develop our grass roots ultimate.

On the first and second of June this year, the AFDA is taking the administrators conference

to Tasmania for what will be a great weekend. We are hoping that each SSA can send at

least three members to participate in the conference and we ask that at least one of these

members is the treasurer, another being the development officer or someone similar to that

role as there will be a focus on these. I am also very happy to announce that our friends from

New Zealand Ultimate will be present at the conference.

Second lastly, I would like to wish our internationally competing teams all the best in their

upcoming events. The U23's Stingrays coached by Anna Haynes, U23's Goanna's coached

by Dan Rule and the U23’s Bluebottles coached by John Damiani as they compete for the

World Championship in Canada in July. I would also like to wish our World Games team, the

Crocs, coached by Anna Rogacki all the best when they compete at World Games in

July/August.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help grow flying disc sports over the

past year. Your efforts have been amazing and have not gone unappreciated. I wish

everyone all the best.

Jamie Bozza

President – Australian Flying Disc Association

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

Bathurst player to catch a Callahan in competition and has seen his number at Bathurst be

‘retired’ from active competition. Jamie currently spends all of his free time continuing to

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

TREASURERS REPORT

The AFDA is making a concerted effort to gradually turning around our yearly budget to be in

profitable position following a few years of successive losses. This is to ensure the financial

viability of the organization in the future. Whilst there is a high interest savings account, most

of the funds were deposited during the 2006 World Ultimate Club Championships held in

Perth.

Overall in 2012 we were under budget by $7,995, due to underspending by most portfolios.

However accounting for a capital expense of $9,700 for Website Development, this takes the

net position to -$1,774.

Profit & Loss Statement Summary

Income Expenditure

Event-Based Fees 163,768

Coaching Courses 2,450

Interest 5,523

Total Income $171,740

Governance 66,501

Finance 36

High Performance 5,862

Human Resources 60,651

Events 6,332

Development 15,253

Marketing 7,200

Communications 11,680

Total Expenses $173,514

Nett Position ($1,774)

Income

Event Based Fees (EBFs) accounted for 95% of income for Ultimate Australia in 2012, a

slight increase of 2% from 2011. The remainder is derived from interest and coaching fees

and courses run throughout the year. As the

In total the AFDA received $171,740 in income in 2012. This is $7,000 less than predicted in

the budget. This may be due to the cash-recording basis. Some tournaments and leagues

held at the end of 2012 are yet to submit their Event Based Fees or paid them in 2013.

To expand the financial capability of the AFDA and its ability to provide for its members, we

need to look at diversifying income streams for example through obtaining Government

grants and sponsorship. As we grow in active memberships this will be easier to achieve.

Expenditure

The expenses regarding Website Development are not accounted for in the yearly budget

but are taken directly from the high interest savings account. This account is drawn from for

investment projects, as decided at the discretion of the Board.

One of the largest expenditure items for 2012 is Public Liability Insurance. It had been

estimated to be $37,000 in 2012 following successive increases, however the actual

expense was $30,761. This represents a considerable saving and another under-budget

expense. The Sports Insurance Scheme, underwritten by Sport Underwriting Australia Pty

Ltd insures the Australian Flying Disc Association and all affiliated Associations, clubs and

registered members based on a membership of 5,500 and includes Ultimate Frisbee,

Australian Disc Golf and other sanctioned Flying Disc Sports. We are insured for up to

$20,000,000 for general liability and $2,000,000 for professional liability as part of the

Platinum Liability package. There are also other personal accident policy provisions

included.

In 2012, $6,586 worth of claims paid was from the Members Compassionate Fund (MCF).

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

injury during AFDA Events. It is distinct from the general insurance AFDA has for its

members and is discretionary. Up to $10,000 is available for eligible members.

Expenditure 2012

Governance

Finance

High Performance

Events

Human Resources

Development

Marketing

Communications

The final payments of $7,500 for each Development Officer were made to Ultimate Victoria

and the Western Australia Flying Disc Association. The investment made into the

Development Officer positions has proved to be a worthwhile venture and fundamental to the

running of growing State Associations.

The Future

Investment in new digital infrastructure to improve the image, accessibility and reportability

of Ultimate through the use of TopScore, finalisation of the Website and use of social media

will contribute to the growing membership base and reach of the sport. We recognize that

financial incentives will continue to shape the direction of Ultimate.

AFDA members are encouraged to make further use of the Grants program. $10,000 is

allocated towards the Grants Program each year. In 2012, $8,009 was awarded, most of

which was allocated in the first round of grants. Those persons organizing regional, female-

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

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

during January and July. The successful grant applicants are announced at the Australian

Ultimate Championships and the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships each year.

The Grants Policy was recently reviewed at the end of 2012 in order to increase

accountability for approved grants. The policy had previously been focused on the

application process. There are now reporting requirements regarding use of the funds. Most

notably, once a grant is approved, the applicant has one year to access the funds. Otherwise

they are rolled back into the Grants program and made available for the next round.

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

About Me

Amanda was first introduced to Ultimate in 2007. From there, she embraced club and

university ultimate and currently represents Monash University at Australian University

Games and Sporting Team Box Athletico United (STBAU) at the Australian Ultimate

Championships. Amanda also competed in 2010 at the Junior World Ultimate

Championships in Germany and has been selected to compete at the U23 World Ultimate

Championships as a member of the Womens team. Her involvement with Ultimate has

developed to include administrative responsibilities such as President of Monash Ultimate

Frisbee and her appointment as a director to the 2011 Board

AUSTRALIAN TEAMS 2012 (High Performance)

Australian Teams had great success in 2012.In August our Mens and Womens under19

teams competed in Ireland for the World Junior Ultimate Championships while a month

earlier, we had 5 Open Ultimate Teams and a Guts team competing at the World Ultimate

and Guts Championships in Japan.

Our results at WUGC meant that Australia qualified as one of the top 5 countries in the world

and received an invitation to compete at World Games 2013 in Colombia. Off the field,

selection processes for World Games 2013 and Under23 World Championships were

starting up.

I would like to Thank ALL the Coaches, Selectors, Managers, Chaperones and countless

volunteers who make our great Australian Teams so successful.

Australian results at WFDF events:

WUGC 2012– SILVER (Mixed)

WUGC 2012– SILVER (Masters)

WUGC 2012– 4th (Women Masters)

WUGC 2012– 4th (Guts)

WUGC 2012– 5th (Womens)

WUGC 2012– 7th (Open)

WJUC 2012– 7th (Womens)

WJUC 2012– 11th (Open)

Selection processes completed(as of May 2013):

-World Games 2013 -Mixed

-WFDF u23WUC

WUGC 2012 Silver medallist Barramundis - Photo Courtesy of Anson Chun

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 2012

Honey & Colony Plunder Win Gold at Nationals

Final Placings - Women's

1. Honey (Melbourne)

2. Sporting Team Box Athletico United (Melbourne)

3. Sand Dunes (Sydney)

4. KAOS (Perth)

5. Factory (Canberra)

6. Wildcard Bellagio (Sydney)

7. New Zealand

8. Rabble (Sydney)

9. Wildcard Mirage (Sydney)

10. Singapore

11. Sugar Magnolias (Newcastle)

12. Black Betty (Brisbane)

13. Phoenix (Sydney)

14. Safire (Adelaide)

15. Squadron (Victoria)

16. Factory Smokestack (Canberra)

Spirit Prize: Squadron

Most Valuable Player: Heidi Dukovac (Safire)

Final Placings - Men's

1. Colony Plunder(Sydney)

2. Colony Pillage (Sydney)

3. HoS Burgundy(Melbourne)

4. Fyshwick United (Canberra)

5. New Zealand

6. Firestorm (Brisbane)

7. Sublime (Perth)

8. I-Beam (Newcastle)

9. Chilly (Melbourne)

10. Wombats (Masters/NSW)

11. MAGNUM! (Sydney)

12. HoS White (Melbourne)

13. Karma (Adelaide)

14. Bench (Sydney)

15. Firestorm Ignition(Brisbane)

16. Slamtown Flatball Club (Gold Coast)

Spirit Prize: Karma

Most Valuable Player: Myall Hingee (Firestorm Ignition)

Honey – National Champions 2012

Cabs Are Here achieve WA Victory at AMUC2012!!

Final Placings

1st Cabs are Here WA

2nd Friskee NSW

3rd Hybrid Vigour VIC

4th Burley Griffins ACT

5th VICE VIC

6th Pie Wagon NSW

7th A Lovely Bunch NSW

8th Black Sheep NZ

9th Word Art WA

10th Sure SA

11th Primal WA

12th Happy Pig WA

13th Sock Puppet QLD

14th Danger Zone WA

15th Le Coq Sportif NSW

16th Townsvillains NQLD

17th State of Origin SA

18th Funny Duck VIC

19th FEAR WA

20th Monkitoes WA

Spirit Prize: Burley Griffins

Most Valuable Player: Male: Jeremy Nixon (Danger Zone): Female: Alex Rogers (SURE)

MARKETING

The core challenges for the portfolio this year have been around harnessing the power of

social media and supporting timely delivery of online content in a sustainable, cost effective

manner. There are great opportunities in both these spaces, and they are certainly related,

but there are many questions still to be answered and we also need to decide on what the

AFDA’s role is, compared with the role of the community and online providers.

The new website is an excellent step forward and products such as TopScore are equally

useful in communicating with our membership and the wider market. The future promises

much and we need to focus our marketing efforts on identifying and making the most of our

varied products. These can include test matches and our major events to get the general

public interested, and local leagues and tournaments to increase participation and

engagement. All levels of events are marketing opportunities and we are working on

materials to support them.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the board members I’ve worked with over the

years, Simon Wood, officers and everyone else associated with the AFDA. It’s been a

pleasure working with all of you and I know the future is in good hands.

Paul Keighley

------

Paul started playing Ultimate in 2006 and joined the board in 2008, with 2012-13 being his final year on the board. Paul currently lives in Canberra, where he works for the Australian Government, in the environment department. Paul plays for Real Mitchell and Burley Griffins.

MAJOR EVENTS

2012 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 2012 were in Newcastle, NSW and hosted by Newcastle Ultimate. 16 Open and

16 Women’s teams made the journey including teams from NZ and Singapore. A big Thanks

to Stu Sinclair and his Team.

Colony Plunder beat Colony Pillage in an all Sydney Open Final. In the Women’s Division Honey won their first National Championship beating cross town Melbourne rivals Team Sporting Box Athletico United.

DivisionII Nationals 2012 saw the first DivisionII Nationals take place in Melbourne. A massive Thanks to the Chilly Club for hosting the event. 10 teams participated and in a hard fought final Heads of State (Vic) defeated Quoll (Tasmania)

Mixed Nationals 2012

Host: WA Flying Disc Association

Location: UWA Sports Park, Mt Claremont, WA

Tournament Director: Anna Haynes

Last October Perth hosted the 2012 Australian Mixed Ultimate

Championships. 322 participants descended upon the lush green fields

at UWA Sports Park for three days of fierce Ultimate competition that

this peak mixed gender event has to offer.

20 teams from across Australian and New Zealand headed to Perth to

take part in the peak mixed tournament this country has to offer. 78

games over 3 days were hosted UWA Sports Park (aka the best fields

in the country).

Without a hardworking group of volunteers this amazing event would not

have been possible. The tournament organising committee (TOC) worked for 12 months to

put on a great show, sweet fields, great party and amazing food were definite highlights.

The members of the TOC for AMUC 2012 were:

WA based team “Cabs are Here” went undefeated throughout the tournament and in a great

grand final battle, took home the gold medal over NSW based team “Friskee”. Hybrid Vigour

(VIC) took out third place and Burley Griffins (ACT) were winners of the prestigious Spirit

Award.

This was the first time the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships has been hosted in

Perth since it began in 1998 and the first time a WA team has ever won the event.

Thank you to all competitors and the numerous event volunteers who dedicated their time to

making this event a success.

Anna Haynes - Tournament Director John Hempel – Assistant Tournament Director

Ellen Shackles (WAFDA Committee) Geri Viros (WAFDA Committee)

Julie Hardt (WAFDA Committee) Lauren Hoskins (WAFDA Committee)

Andrew Jennings (WAFDA Committee) Kyal Oh (WAFDA Committee)

John Damiani (WAFDA Committee) Hugh Osborn (WAFDA Committee)

Corrine Fournier Chris Thompson

Sarah Thompson Amy Robinson

Gurteaj Singh

A very special mention to John Hempel (AFDA National Events Director) without John’s help

this event would not have been the success it was. John volunteered his time to director the

actual event so that the WA members of the TOC could all play in the event. The WA Flying

Disc Association is extremely grateful for this support. It was vital there was a trustworthy,

experienced Ultimate events specialist taking care of the overall management and timing of

the event. Thanks John

Anna Haynes

AMUC2012 TD

Photo: 2012 Australian Mixed Ultimate Champions; Cabs Are Here (Picture courtesy of Lauren

Hoskins)

John Hempel

AFDA Director of Events

DEVELOPMENT

The aim of the Development portfolio to assist State Associations and Club across the

country with their sport development needs. Currently, the main areas of focus for the

Director of Development lie across three key areas; Coaching, University and Youth. The

expected outcomes are to continually grow and improve flying disc sports; we strive to do

this by strengthening external and internal relationships and ensuring we are always moving

forward in regards to people development. It is vital that we lay strong foundations via

education and resource development to support those who contribute to growth from

grassroots through to the elite level.

Coaching

With the personal support of Jamie Bozza this portfolio took another step forward this year

as we progress with the development of course material for the Level 2 recognised coaching

accreditation for Ultimate as per the Australian Sports Commission’s National Coach

Accreditation Scheme. The AFDA has outsourced a course writer to move ahead with writing

the next level and we look forward to rolling this out of the next 12 months. The coaching

pathway is vital to personnel development and providing the best to support to our current

and future athletes. With 277 accredited Level 1 Coaches already it won’t be long before we

can formalise our coaching pathways and provide education and support for Coaches

beyond the foundation level of accreditation.

In addition to the official coaching accreditation levels we are revising the resources and

initiatives the board can offer to bolster these courses. The aim is to appoint a panel of

esteemed coaches passionate about extending our development in this area and provide

valuable advice and planning support for future events such as a Coaches Conference.

Youth

With several employees now in place across the country there is more support for youth

development that ever before. Numerous schools sessions are carried out each week

extending the reach and awareness of Ultimate and we have a clear player pathway forming

for all ages to be able to get involved in the sport.

It’s no secret that the Australian Flying Disc Association wants Youth Nationals back on the

annual event calendar. For the 2013/14 election year a Youth Sub Committee will be re-

instated and a firm action plan will be enacted to ensure a quality, professional event returns

to the youth program.

There will be an expected buy-in factor required by all State Associations to make sure this

event gets the consideration it deserves. Youth development is critical to finalising our player

pathway from the beyond schools system into the club system and into our senior programs.

Anna Haynes

Director of Development

Anna started playing Ultimate in 2003 and has been a board

member since 2012. She currently lives in Perth and works for

WA Ultimate. Anna plays with PRIMAL Ultimate Club and the

SandDunes.

Universities 2012 saw South University Games being held at LaTrobe University, while Eastern

University Games were held in Tamworth.

SUG Final placing: Melbourne University, Monash University, Swinbourne University of

Technology, Victoria University, University of Ballarat, LaTrobe University, Royal Melbourne

Institute of Technology, Deakin University, Holmsglen TAFE.

EUG Final placing: Australian National University, University of New South Wales, University

of Technology Sydney, Charles Sturt University, Newcastle University, Macquarie University,

UTS2, University of Western Sydney, SUCSG.

Australian University Games were held in Adelaide and the city of churches put on some

great hospitality for the week.

Division 1 was an eight team competition with final results seeing Melbourne University over

Monash in the final. Third place saw University of Western Australia out last Newcastle

University with Macquarie University coming in 5th, Australian National University 6th and

facing relegation in 2013 are 7th placed University of Sydney and 8th placed Adelaide

University.

Newcastle University took out the Division 1 spirit of the game award. The Edye-Fearnside

Award for women’s best on ground in the final went to Cat Phillips from Melbourne University

and the Dowle-Shepherd Award for men’s best on ground went to Huy Vu from Melbourne

University.

Division 2 saw 17 teams competing in two pools. The final saw Ballarat University defeat

the University of New South Wales in a great game. University of Queensland took the

bronze over Charles Sturt University and the unlucky Flinders University came 5th. 6th –

Murdoch University, 7th Latrobe University, 8th Swinbourne University of Technology, 9th –

Curtin University, 10th – University of Wollongong, 11th – Victoria University, 12th – Griffith

University, 13th – University of South Australia, 14th – University of Western Sydney, 15th –

Australian College of Physical Education, 16th – Australian Catholic University and 17th –

University of Notre Dame.

Charles Sturt University took out not only the Division 2 Spirit of the Game Award, but the

overall Spirit Winners. The Edye-Fearnside Award for women’s best on ground in the final

went to Chloe McDonald from Ballarat University and the Dowle-Shepherd Award for men’s

best on ground went to Lachlan McDonald also from Ballarat University.

AUG Green and Gold

The Green and Gold merit teams are selected to acknowledge, recognise and reward outstanding performances at national-level Australian University Sport events. If Australia sent teams to the World University Games, this is what the teams look like. Many Green and Gold Ultimate players have gone on to represent Australia at the World Championships. Congratulations to Amanda Fung (Monash), Dani Alexander (ANU), Cat Phillips (Melbourne), Jess Colwell (Newcastle), Lucy Stevenson (Melbourne), Xindi Kew (UWA), Alex Rogers (Macquarie), Junior Bereton (UWA), Seb Barr (Monash), Huy Vu (Melbourne), Alexander Britten-Jones (Adelaide), Thomas Walcott (ANU), Louis Masarei (UWA), Chris Hill (Newcastle), Chris Stoddard (Newcastle), Ryan Evans (UWA), Tom Tullet (Macquarie) and Joshi Phillip (Monash).

Martin Laird Awards 2012

The Martin Laird Awards are awarded annually by the AFDA, and recognise individuals who combine outstanding on-field talent with unending volunteer work on the University Ultimate scene.

Martin Laird Encouragement Awards

Female: Jessie James (Flinders) Male: Jin Tang (Melbourne)

Martin Laird Achievement Award

Yew Eng Ng (UNSW) I would like to thank all of the club representatives that have worked tirelessly behind the scenes for their University throughout the year. Without you, the University Ultimate scene would not continue to grow! A big thank you to all of the volunteers that helped at EUG’s, SUG’s and AUG’s. Without your help, the events would not have been the successes that they were.

Get ready for next year’s events with AUG’s returning to the Gold Coast! AUG’s Spirit of the game results. These were recorded using the WFDF Spirit of the game sheet and are the averages of all of the pool games. Div 1: ANU - 11.85, AU - 12.29, MELB - 11.71, MON - 12.71, MQU - 10.86, NCLE - 13.14, USYD - 12.57, UWA - 11.85. Div 2 Pool A: UQ - 14, UBAL - 16.25, MDA - 15.75, VU - 16, UNDA - 12.13, ACU - 12.88, UOW - 14.88, USA - 14.63. Div 2 Pool B: LTU - 16.71, UNSW - 16.71, ACPE - 11.29, CSU - 16.78, GU - 13, UWS - 14.86, CURT - 15, SUT - 14.42

HUMAN RESOURCES

Another great year has passed and the AFDA continues to grow as both an administrative

body and a support of a great sporting community. Again, we have been very lucky to have

Simon Wood continue in his dual role as the Administration Officer and National Events

officer. Simon is greatly valued by the Board, as well as the community. In the second half of

2012, l called for comments and feedback from the wider ultimate community on Simon’s

performance during the year. Although only a few responses were forthcoming, all were very

positive of Simon. He has been described as professional, efficient, prompt, knowledgeable,

and an “all-round good guy “. Thanks to those who responded, but please don’t feel you

must wait until it is called for. Feedback is welcome at all times. Thanks for another great

year, Woodie!

The board has been busy this year, with another successful Administrators Conference held

in June. A great benefit of the Admin Conference each year is that it allows our state

development officers to come together and discuss ideas and issues common to their area.

The AFDA board tries to keep in touch with employed state development officers as much as

possible, to ensure that they are well supported by their local committee. In my role as HR

officer, I had several conversations with various Dos during 2012. I’m happy to report that all

feedback received was positive, and the Dos in general feel happy and supported by their

current committee. The usual problems were in relation to the need for more support from

the local community to help realise the potential of the fantastic ideas of our Dos. So please,

help them out whenever you can – they are a vital key to the future growth of our sport!

The board was also busy with much planning in the lead up to the World Championships in

Japan. Australia had a great result, with two silver medals and a Spirit award! Andrew

Stanley, the Chef de Mission was a great example of a CDM - professional and

knowledgeable and did an amazing job with international relationships as a AFDA

representative on this tour

And now onto some more exciting components of the HR portfolio...

Rob Hancock Award

This year, two very worthy recipients were presented the prestigious Rob Hancock award for

their outstanding contributions to the ultimate community in Australia: Mel Gangemi and

Chris Warris. Both are stalwarts of ultimate, both on and off the field, and below is a (very)

brief summary of their achievements..

Many of you will know Mel from her many years serving on the AFDA board including

several years at the helm, as President. Her 12 years of ultimate experience, both as a

player and an administrator, have had a profound impact on the development of the AFDA

and there is no doubt she has been a key driver for the current success of our national body.

Chris is another familiar face for most, I am sure. From humble beginnings at UWA, Chris

has been a major contributor to the early ultimate scene in WA, with turns as both UWA and

WAFDA presidents. He has also been an extremely useful and enthusiastic volunteer in both

the ACT and, since 2006, in his adopted home of Newcastle.

The AFDA would again like to congratulate Mel and Chris, and thank them for their much

valued contributions to the game and the community at-large. Next time you see either of

them around the ultimate field, say hi and thank you!

AFDA Awards

In 2012, we had a great field of nomination for the annual AFDA awards. Nominations are

provided to the AFDA board, which then reviews all entries and decides the winner. This

year’s awards were tightly contested in all categories and the recipients are:

Coach of the Year - Dan Rule (Barramundis)

Administrator of the Year - Heather Bozza (ACTUA)

Club of the Year – Honey (Melbourne)

Team of the Year – Barramundis (National mixed team)

Tournament of the Year – Halibut Olympics, TD Stefan Rapazzo (QLD)

Photo of the Year – Charles Thorn (WA)

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

ROB HANCOCK AWARD 2012

Melissa Gangemi

Mel started playing in the year 2000 at Sydney University and was already volunteering at

multiple levels by 2001. She was the SUFFA Treasurer and the NSL Div 4 League

Commissioner that year and went on to become the SUFFA President for almost 3 years

and became a student representative on the Sydney University Sports Association Board.

This was to be the first of many board level roles within Ultimate for Mel Gangemi.

Mel took on her first Tournament Director’s role with the AMUC in 2002 in Sydney. She then

jumped at the chance to take on Australia’s largest ever Ultimate event, firstly as a member

of the WUCC 2006 Board and from 2005 onwards as its Chairperson. Mel has always put

the interests of Ultimate first, but most importantly, not at the expense of personal

relationships or individuals. Her conciliatory management style ensured that WUCC 2006

was the success that it was. She led a team of equally dedicated individuals and led by

example. Whilst having very strong views on the way things should be done, Mel was happy

to listen and debate and then recommend the best course of action, an attribute of the best

of leaders.

Mel’s unflappable nature and professional approach to dealing with situations meant that,

even during the strongest debates, the team stayed positive and on course. Mel ensured

that everyone involved in the process was rewarded for their efforts.

Immediately following WUCC, and having recently moved to Melbourne, Mel took on the

AUC 2007 down there. While she was ostensibly 'assistant' TD, in her usual style, she took

on a mountain of work and most certainly was responsible for much of the tournament's

success. Specifically, she ensured Nationals ‘07 set new standards in environmental

sustainability, and her work making sure the finances were tidily looked after was incredible.

From the real TD Nicky Smith: “She was the best "assistant" TD anyone could have!”

While doing all of this tournament related work Mel also joined the AFDA Board in 2005. Her

first position was of the WUCC Representative and then from 2007 until 2010 she was

President, her current role being Secretary.

During Mel’s tenure as president the AFDA achieved a great many things and faced and few

challenges as well. One of the first things Mel did was to produce the AFDA Orientation

manual for new board members and employees. This manual will prove invaluable in the

future and help all new volunteers and staff fit into and contributes to our sport effectively.

During her first year she also reviewed all current AFDA policy and created a comprehensive

review schedule and identified potential gaps. Jonathan Potts set up the AFDA’s original

policy bank and Mel ensured that legacy was kept alive, relevant and extensively extended.

Mel oversaw significant changes in staff with the resignation of Jonathan Potts and the

appointment of Simon Wood as the first full time AFDA employee. The appointment of

Simon has made a huge difference to the responsiveness and quality of the AFDA’s work.

Financially Mel ensured the organisation was in the best position it has ever seen. The

windfall gain to the AFDA from WUCC 2006 was established as a capital fund. From this

capital and operating profits many new initiatives to enhance player numbers and

membership experience have evolved. The biggest of these is the Grants program. This

has now completed a number of successful rounds and is hopefully a permanent feature on

the landscape.

During this time Mel has also been a member of two incident committees – and has

effectively chaired both. These are the most non joyous roles in Ultimate – where you are

asked to review the circumstances around incidents that have occurred off the field which

have been deemed not in keeping with either the spirit of the game or the expected norms of

behaviour – particularly when playing on representative teams. You are effectively handing

down a report on the behaviour of your peers – an unenviable task in anyone’s terms.

Spirit of the game and expected norms of behaviour – especially in Ultimate where many

people are attracted to the game as the norms are different – are both subjective terms and

make any determination very difficult. Mel has used her encyclopaedic knowledge of the

AFDA policies – the member protection policy in particular, and her essential sense of fair

play and a fair hearing to guide the outcomes of these incident review committees.

Also during this time Mel sat on innumerable other sub-committees mostly around

appointments for our National team coaches and selectors, AFDA staff members and the

administration of the AFDA Members Compassionate Fund.

Another key initiative during her presidency was the Volunteer recognition program that has

culminated in the part time employment of Anna Hayes by the AFDA and fantastic ongoing

recognition program. Mel also oversaw the development of the 2009 to 2012 Strategic Plan.

Amazingly during all this administrative work Mel actually found some time to play Ultimate

as well! She won numerous EUG and AUG medals with Sydney Uni and was a member of

the Nationals winning Southside women’s team in 2004 and 2005. She also played for

Southside at WUCC 2006. On moving to Melbourne she was a foundation member of the

Honey women’s club in 2006 together with Nicky Smith and Jo Creswell. Mel is one of a

handful of players to have played every year with the club (and still counting!) and forms a

pivotal role both on and off the field. Mel has been a captain, treasurer, chief policy writer

and is always willing to help out with any organisational activities. Her strong sense of spirit

of the game contributed to Honey winning Spirit at Nationals in 2009. Mel has always been

a fantastic asset as a key handler with a deadly breakforce forehand and insanely fit

defender.

Mel has also achieved the highest playing honour in representing her country at the Asia

Oceanic Championships 2007, receiving a silver medal, and in the Australian Mixed Team

(Barramundis) in 2008.

Mel Gangemi epitomises all that the Rob Hancock Award represents. There have been

many worthy recipients over the years but few who could ‘tick all the boxes’ when it comes

to the broad judging criteria. As I’m sure the above demonstrates Mel is a great

administrator, teacher, competitor, mentor and leader.

In Ultimate we talk a lot about the Spirit of the Game. It’s easy to think of instances on the

field were teams and individuals have shown great Spirit. But what Mel has consistently

shown is that the ‘Spirit of Ultimate’ is more than just on field diplomacy, it is a way of being.

A dedication to ensuring that the sport and all those involved, can participate and excel in an

environment that is supportive, encouraging, competitive and above all spirited.

As a previous RHA recipient I feel honoured, and frankly dwarfed, to have Mel join these

ranks and receive the highest recognition within Australian Ultimate. To close though I

would like to quote Brian Vanallen the TD from WUCC 2006 and close friend of Rob

Hancock, he said “Most of all, I feel certain, having known Rob, that he would feel proud to

have Mel’s name mentioned alongside his.”

Chris Warris

Chris Warris has been a great servant of the game of Ultimate Frisbee for the last 15 years.

His efforts have encompassed every area of involvement, from grassroots development of

the sport to administration at all levels. Impressively, Chris has maintained consistent

involvement in local leagues, focussing on the development of new talent, while his own

athletic career has risen to the elite level with numerous appearances at Worlds.

Chris Warris started playing ultimate in 1997, while completing his PhD at the University of

Western Australia. Though his first foray into ultimate was in informal pickup games at

UWA, Chris was soon instrumental in setting up the UWA Ultimate Frisbee club. He was the

club's vice president for its inaugural year in 1997. He then took over the presidency from

1998, a position he held until 2001. Chris also led the first team from UWA to the Australian

University Games in 2000, where they finished fifth and Chris was selected on the Green

and Gold team. In 2001 he was recognised by the university for his work with the club when

he was awarded a University Blue. Chris's contribution to Ultimate Frisbee in WA was not

limited to the university scene. He was on the WAFDA board from 1997 and took over from

John Damiani as the WAFDA president from 2000-2001. Chris was also the WA

representative on the AFDA board during that time.

In 1998 Chris started his competitive ultimate career, a career that has lasted nearly 15

years and has taken him to the highest levels of competitive ultimate. In 1998 he competed

in the open division with the WA side WAnchors, he has since competed at every open

Nationals since. Chris's first taste of international ultimate came in 1999 when he competed

in the open division of the world ultimate club championships with King Brown in St Andrews.

He has since gone to WUCC in 2002 again with King Brown, 2006 with Deathstar and 2010

in the Mixed Division with Pie Wagon. For the latter 3 teams he also acted both as a

selector and a co-captain. His reputation as a hard-nosed defender and a reliable handler

has seen him represent his country at the World Ultimate Guts championships with the

Dingos in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In both 2004 and 2008 Chris acted as a selector for the

Dingos and in 2004 he was given the honour of being the vice captain for the Dingos side.

In 2002 Chris made the journey to the east coast of the country. His athletic and coaching

skills were soon recognised, and in 2003 was the ACTUA male player of the year as well as

the AFDA coach of the year. Chris also stepped up his involvement in our national

governing body when he held the role of AFDA director of development from 2003 through

until 2005.

In 2006 Chris moved to Newcastle, and made an immediate impact on the local ultimate

scene by helping it to move from a university-based league to a community-based league.

On the back of this move he helped set up the Newcastle Ultimate Frisbee Club, a

committee of which he was vice president from 2006 – 2009. He also had a notable impact

on the field. Chris was part of the first ever Newcastle side to win a National championship

when Reekin' Havoc won the 2006 Australian Mixed division. Chris was also a driving force

behind I-Beam's rise out of the ashes of Deathstar. Chris has been a selector and co-

captain of the team since its inception. Then in 2010 Chris was a vital player as I-Beam won

the open Australian ultimate championship, showing his commitment to the cause by

breaking his collar bone as he caught a goal in the final.

Though Chris set his sights towards representing his country in the masters division at

Worlds in 2012, he still played an active role in the Dingos and Barramundis teams, acting

as a selector for both in their 2012 campaigns. He also continues to work at a grassroots

level, and is currently establishing a junior’s league in Newcastle, with an eye to developing

and coaching a team to compete in the proposed NSW junior league.

Chris’ contributions to three regional playing centres, Newcastle, the ACT and the West are

truly remarkable. He has been formative in creating not just Ultimate players, but Ultimate

communities. Further than every position he has held, every league he has run, and every

person he has ever taught to throw a flick, he leaves a legacy wherever he goes such that

everyone still tries to claim him as their own.

With his humble attitude and unassuming nature, Chris has always been a wonderful

embodiment of the spirit of the game: on the field as a player, coaching from the sidelines

and as an administrator. Chris is a very deserving winner of the Rob Hancock award.

AFDA AWARDS 2012

To accompany the existing AFDA awards, a number of new award categories were

introduced in 2012.

The order of presentation is:

1. Photo of the Year

2. Tournament of the Year

3. Coach of the Year

4. Female Player of the Year

5. Male Player of the Year

6. Team of the Year

7. Club of the Year

8. Administrator of the Year

9. Ultimate Legends

Below are the nominations for each of the successful award recipients.

Photo of the Year Award

Charles Thorn – Photo of Barramundi’s goal in Japan

This photo was taken during the Semi final of WUGC 2012: The score is currently 5 all with

the game hotly contested and the Japanese team have the momentum after scoring the last

2 points. JD throws a huck to Tegan in the endzone. The Japanese girl marking Tegan

macks the disc, and Tegan runs back, dives and catches the goal. Japan call out. After a

few minutes of discussion that is going nowhere, Australia is about to concede and have the

disc back to the thrower. Twig's dad comes running where the discussion is taking place

and says he has the photo of the catch but the Japanese team don't want to see it.

Translators and officials step in. 10 minutes later they concede. Goal and the momentum is

now back with Australia. We go on to take half 9-7 and the game 16-13 to make the Mixed

Division final of the World Ultimate Championships.

Tournament of the Year Award

Halibut Olympics – TD Stefan Rappazzo

Overall this was a very well organized tournament. Stefan Rappazzo took on the role of TD and did a cracking job. The theme was well planned, including advertising clips that were filmed and posted on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LlHFt-xW3g&feature=plcp This was entertaining and effective for setting the tone of the tournament. The YouTube clip gave a thorough description of each “Olympic” game and a demonstration so you knew what you were in for. The location was great; the fields at the Carrara centre on the Gold Coast were perfect for a tournament of that size. The fields were in great condition and we had all the important things like water, toilets & shade provided right there next to the fields. Of course the Gold Coast turned on some delightful winter sun. Registration was smooth with the TD asking for single team payments to help reduce stress for them (good idea). The food was good with a basic breakfast, laundry basket lunch and BBQ & Japanese bento box for dinners respectively. There was fruit & cake provided (win!) and also coffee to purchase. The TD provided all the information needed via emails to captains and all players. He also gave a timely wrap up of the tournament, which always helps with the post-tourney-blues. The tournament had an appropriate logo and winners / runners up and spirit winners all received a nicely branded bottle opener.

There were a total of 10 teams from around the country including a Sydney crew and folks from Townsville. There was a great vibe at the tournament. The weekend kicked off with a pre-party at the Frisbee beach house and that continued on to the wee hours. The next day saw games run and then in between each game an “Olympic” event was run. Sara Cargill put together a great schedule of games and executed this seamlessly. Stefan was a great host and much fun was had by all participants. Egg throwing, weird food eating contests etc, the crowd was highly entertained. The party was also really well organized with a cosy venue and more “Olympic” games planned for the evening. The TOGA party theme was a hit with all teams rocking up on various togas. Resident Frisbee player come DJ, Dan Blacklock decked up a storm on the dance floor and keep the party jumping. The 3 events for the evening were a spaghetti eating contest, ice cream eating contest and the more traditional limbo contest. All were highly entertaining and the highlight was definitely watching TD Stefan demolish a bowl of spaghetti! Wow, that man was fierce! It was a fantastic tournament that I would highly recommend to anyone! Congratulations Stefan and the Halibut organising committee!

Coach of the Year Award

Dan Rule (Barramundis)

Dan Rule has been coaching ultimate practically since he could throw a disc. He has

studied ultimate coaching and made it an artform - developing his own unique style and

rhythm. He shares a loving and devoted relationship with coaching ultimate that is both

commendable and inspiring. He has travelled the world to gain knowledge and skills and

has put these to great use back home in Australia with junior and senior players alike. Dan

has been doing this for many years, but 2012 has been his greatest year yet. This year Dan

successfully coached the Australian Mixed Team to a silver medal at the World

Championships. By far the highest accolade any coach in Australia could claim to date.

Having played 6 world campaigns in succession, the expense another worlds campaign was

too great for Dan who had to make the difficult decision to not try out for the Dingoes. Whilst

Dan had accepted that the 2012 world championships was not to be for him, his coaching

skills did not go unnoticed. The Mixed Programme Planning Committee immediately jumped

to offer him the job of Mixed Team Coach which he graciously accepted. Dan juggled his

development officer job for Ultimate Frisbee NSW with school’s coaching, uni coaching and

coaching the Australian Mixed team, whilst also helping out at juniors training camps. It

would be fair to say that Dan Rule has devoted more hours of his life to ultimate coaching

this year than any other person in Australia.

Dan is a great coach and well loved by all who have been coached by him. In this

nomination individual players from the 2012 Australian Mixed Team have chosen to

contribute their own words. We have only a select few contributors because to include

everyone would mean the application would become a book!

Please read on and get a sense of what a great thing it is that Dan has achieved as a coach

for Australia

Dan is one of the fundamental reasons why Australia made the final and brought home a

medal for the first time in an open aged division at worlds.

There are many qualities the Australian Mixed Team planning committee looked for in

seeking out an appropriate coach for the team. Amongst the most highly prioritised were:

- great internal and external communication skills

- sound knowledge of fundamental skills and ability to teach these well

- knowledge of high level mixed ultimate at an elite level

- ability to innovate and bring something new to the world stage in mixed ultimate

Dan delivered on all these fronts and more.

Dan is by nature an affable and respectful young man and was an impressive ‘face’ for the

team at all events; from training camps to pre-tour and then when competing on the world

stage. He was a credit to Australian Ultimate and the spirit of the game. He loved the team

and the team loved him. Dan was a huge part of why the Australian Mixed Team were such

a cohesive and happy group throughout our worlds campaign.

In terms of his actual coaching skills, Dan is the best coach either of us have ever had the

opportunity to work with when it comes to working on the fundamentals. We were able to

learn things from Dan about marking, guarding, throwing and catching which we believe this

made us better players and lifted the skill standard of every player who embraced this

process across the team, regardless of their playing ability.

When it comes to seeking new ideas and experiences in ultimate coaching we would go so

far as to predict that Dan is the most widely travelled, broadly connected and well read

coach in Australia. Whilst on our pre-tour Dan even attended coaching sessions in Seattle

run by some of the top coaches in the USA to glean even more knowledge and experience.

He is at the top of his game and always looking for more. This thirst for knowledge and

experience also extends to his growing knowledge of the mixed game internationally. At the

start of the mixed campaign Dan freely admitted to having limited experience in this division

of competition at an elite level. He was able to take on board all the knowledge and

experience of his brains trust however and combine this with his own research to come up

with a range of sound strategic ideas for the Australian Mixed Team which he was able to

adapt throughout the campaign until he was happy we had the right strategy going into

worlds. He has also used his experiences to aid further growth in his understanding and

develop a strong vision for the way forward for Australia in the mixed gender form of the

game.

The final thing we would say about Dan as a coach is that whilst skills and tactics are

fundamentally important considerations, Dan is also committed to training the mental aspect

of performance just as much as the physical. Dan did an excellent job using training

provided by ‘Condor Performance’ to prepare and train the team mentally for the entire

campaign. He based his messages on simple truths which were repeated throughout the

campaign and which resonated with the whole team. We believe this was a key factor in the

Australian Mixed Team’s semi-final win at worlds.

Actually that’s not the final thing. Dan also has by far the best beard in ultimate.

Congratulations Dan!

Female Player of the Year Award

Lauren Brown (Honey and Firetails)

Lauren is a founding member of Honey Women’s Ultimate Club. When the club was formed for the 2006 Nationals season, Lauren had only been playing frisbee for about 18 months, however despite her relative newness to the sport, she quickly became a key on-field and off-field leader of the club. In 2008, Lauren became co-captain of Honey and has held that position for the past 5 seasons. She has lead with inspiration on the field, through desperate bids when the team has needed it most, through positivity, encouragement and excellent fire-up speeches! She has excellent sportswomanship: she’ll be the first to congratulate good play by the opposition, and is one of the only players to call her own fouls. In this way she sets a great example to those she leads. Lauren is a natural athlete, but grit and determination are the key elements that have lead to her acceleration to the highest levels of the sport - when there’s nothing left to give, she still gives more. In 2008 Lauren was selected to the Firetails, and her excellent performance in Vancouver earned her a spot on the 2009 Crocs World Games team. In 2012, Lauren had her best year of Ultimate to date. She again co-captained Honey through a stellar season and played a starring role in Honey’s Nationals’ win. Training harder than ever before, Lauren represented Australia again with the Firetails in Sakai. Lauren stepped it up a notch in Japan, showing from the very first game that she was among the best of the best. In a tough, high-pressure showcase game against the home team, Lauren got four (maybe five?) layout blocks in critical situations and was a key goal scorer. She continued to show her dominance throughout the rest of the games and was clearly one of the most valuable players on the team. The following list is a summary of Lauren’s playing achievements for 2012: • SMO 1st place • Regionals 3rd place • BCI 1st place • Nationals 1st place • WUGC 5th place This list highlights Lauren’s full physical and financial commitment to her club team and representing Australia at the highest level. She has managed club and country representation commitments as well as giving back to the ultimate community by contributing to leagues and coaching intermediate women. Lauren’s on field capabilities were a major factor in the great results achieved by both Honey and the Firetails. She is a well respected player by both her team mates and the opposition. We hope that the above demonstrates that Lauren is deserving of the Female Player of the Year award. Congratulations Lauren!

Male Player of the Year Award

Gavin Moore (Colony and Barramundis)

Gavin is a 29yr old male player from Sydney, NSW. He was first introduced to ultimate when he moved from his home town of Port Macquarie to Sydney to study at UNSW. His first tournament was university games in 2004 where his team won gold. At this time Gavin was already making waves and being noticed for his natural talent, speed, athleticism and hunger for defensive blocks. From that time on Gavin’s rapid rise to notoriety has been littered with success. From winning the first Australian international medal at world clubs in 2006, a silver medal with Thong (playing with only half a tongue), being a key block getting for the Dingoes in 2008, to captaining his local club team, Colony, to several national championship victories. Wherever Gavin plays success is sure to be. Gavin is a quietly spoken man off the field, not one to ruffle feathers or speak ill of anyone. On the field Gavin is an inspirational player whose passion for his team mates and this sport has lead many teams to success. 2012 has been his greatest year yet as both a player and a leader, captaining Colony to a gold medal performance and nationals with his local Barramundis team mates and then building on that with world championship success. Gavin’s performance as both a player and captain for the Barramundis campaign was outstanding. This campaign encompassed both a 3rd place at Potlatch (USA biggest and most competitive mixed division tournament) and 2nd place at the world championships. Gavin was unbeatable in the air and on the ground. He was instrumental in getting key defensive blocks which changed the course of games; an outstanding feat on the world stage against some of the best players in the world from Canada, Japan the USA and Great Britain. Being on the defensive team is not always as rewarding in the goals and assists stats. These players can get overlooked at times. It is these players however who win games and this is why Gavin preferred to be on the defensive team when he could have chosen to play offense. As a captain he wanted to set an example and to do the work he could do so well for his team. It should also not go unsaid that not many people know or could even comprehend the pressures Gavin has overcome in achieving all he has achieved this year. As a new father and a full time actuarial consultant studying for his accreditation he has worked harder than most in his fight to be fit and ready for worlds, while supporting his wife and family to do the same. He has done so with grace, composure and maturity beyond his years; qualities born out of years of dealing with great personal loss and tragedy. Gavin was one of the few players who could have chosen which team he would play with at the WUGC2012. He made a deliberate and calculated choice which brought him great joy and success. He should be recognised for his great achievements this year.

Congratulations Gavin!

Team of the Year Award

Barramundis

Team of the Year is one of the most sought after awards within the Australian Ultimate community. Many great squads have been recognised for their achievements both on and off the field, including Sydney’s fun-loving Friskee (2011), Perth’s all-round community club Primal (2010) and Melbourne’s national-threepeaters Chilly (2009). 2012 will be the third time that an Australian national team has been recognised for its achievement, matching the Southern Terra’s win in 2006 for their silver medal at the World Junior Ultimate Championships and the bronzed 2004 World Championship Dingoes. We’ll let the team nomination, hosted by our friends at Youtube, do the talking about the 2012 Barramundis -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo06aBwqKVU

Congratulations to the Barramundis!

Club of the Year Award

Honey – Vic

Honey was formed in 2005, and first competed in the Australian National Championships in

2006. With a strong focus on development throughout its existence, in 2012 Honey

demonstrated just how far they have come in the past 7 years. Over this time Honey women

have represented their club, and Australian Ultimate in general, at a large number of local,

national and international tournaments. These include but aren’t limited to: Kaimana Klassic

(Honey on Tour, 2007), WFDA World Club Championships (Honey in Prague, 2010),

Brisbane-Canberra Invitational, Southern Regionals, Sydney-Melbourne Open, Golden City

Classic, and the Australian National Championships. Through it’s strong support of elite

players, Honey has also seen players represent Australia at the 2008 and 2012 World

Ultimate and Guts Championships, with three Firetails, one Barramundis and five Flying

Foxes selected for the 2012 Championships. Honey club member Lauren Brown also

represented Honey in the 2009 World Games team.

In order to retain club members year to year (Honey sent two teams to Regionals this year to

encourage club growth and has previously sent two teams to Nationals), Honey provides a

supportive and friendly environment for newcomers and seasoned athletes alike. Honey

prides itself on being inclusive of players at all levels, with social events a key element of

engaging past, current and future club members. Honey usually kicks of its season with a

mini-triathlon, promoting players participation in the club and encouraging general fitness for

the season ahead. In addition, Honey hold open trainings at the beginning of the season to

promote the involvement of new players and have this year taken it to a new level by

organising a Women’s League prior to the start of the Nationals season. Honey believes

that in order for Women’s Ultimate to strengthen and grow, opportunities must be provided

for new and upcoming players to develop and improve their skills. Honey strives to be a

leader in this area.

Honey has seen great improvements in performance over the past 2 years, with coach Anna

Rogacki steering the club towards victory at the 2012 Australian Ultimate Championships.

The past two years have highlighted just how great this club is, as it’s members adapted and

embraced the new work ethic and approach to women’s frisbee introduced by their new

coach. With only one tournament loss in the 2011/12 season (when Honey sent two evenly

split teams to Southern Regionals and placed 2nd and 3rd), it was the most successful yet.

Not only did Honey take out the National Championships in a nail biting final against local

Melbourne rival Sporting Team Box Athletico United, they also came out on top at BCI and

SMO. This was a dream season for Honey, who set a goal to finish as the best Women’s

Ultimate Frisbee team in Australia and achieved it with strength, respect and belief.

From an administrative level, Honey has recently become incorporated and, with a set of

club documents under its belt, is set to skill up future club administrators and managers.

The documents provide guidance for holding an AGM, executing training camps, organising

teams for tournaments, running training drills and fitness sessions, plus planning calendars

for the season ahead. Alongside these documents, Honey also has a playing register, which

keeps track of all past and current members, including the number of games they have

played for the club. This allows Honey to recognise the commitments of long-term players to

the club, awarding each player with a badge when they play their 100th game.

We hope this is illustrates the positive impact Honey has had on Australian Women’s

Ultimate over the past 7 years and in particular throughout the 2011/12 season, and shows

why Honey deserve to be presented with this years AFDA Club of the Year Award.

Congratulations Honey!

Administrator of the Year Award

Heather Bozza (Canberra)

Since beginning with Canberra Ultimate as a Secretary Heather Bozza has worked tirelessly and selflessly to make our community here just that: an actual cohesive community. Canberra is a tough place to live as many Australians are negative about it, and practically no one is from here. I know from personal experience that breaking into the "scene" (of anything) here is very tough. Until Heather moved here, I though it would always be that way, but from day one, she's worked to transform Canberra Ultimate and in a way Canberra itself: making a social life here accessible when everyone is from somewhere else. Not being from Canberra, I don't entirely expect you to understand, but at the core, this is what has most impressed me about Heather. The next paragraph will focus on the measurables: the nuts and bolts that are the reason you have to have to seriously consider her. As a board member who has been really involved in the Canberra Ultimate transformation and seen it from cradle to now, I can assure you that the following list is not comprehensive in the actual things that she's done. More importantly, it's not comprehensive because it does not list the intangible things that Heather has brought, and they along with her hard work have made all the difference! So in addition to the things below, please try to understand the welcoming and can-do spirit that she's brought to the board and the state leagues, and how they cannot be measured but they have truly made a difference. Heather has been working to put infrastructure in place to help Canberra Ultimate grow through her tenure as President, and more importantly into the future. She did most (if not all) of the leg and paper work surrounding the employment of Canberra Ultimate's first employee, Mica Hartley, including several trips up to Sydney to discuss contracts, and working conditions with a person who has expertise in employment and finance. Heather is constantly reading, replying and responding to emails late into the night, or early in the morning to accommodate the various lifestyles of our enthusiastic, but sometimes frustrating board. More has happened under her leadership in one year than the past ten in terms of ACT Ultimate according to several of the founding players of ACT Ultimate. Including emails, power-points, discussions, and many many emails and meetings, Heather has been integral in the implementation of the Canberra Ultimate day-to-day work plan, and strategic vision. She has devoted countless hours (really, many many hours) to finding and working with the right individuals to put into place ideas and scaffolds for CU to blossom now and into the future. In addition to strategic leadership, Heather's attention to detail proved integral on many occasions. As an example, Heather was quick to look into and adopt the new (and critical) WH&S laws which put Canberra Ultimate in leading position. Heather did probably the hardest thing of any leader and appointed and empowered a sub-committee to make a website, and though she was very involved, in a way, what impressed me most about her leadership was how it felt like she was there only when we needed her and the rest of the time we did our thing and made it happen. This is a rare talent anywhere but in almost 20 years of Ultimate organization, this is especially rare! It allowed us to get a tremendous amount of work done very quickly. This, I suspect also led to a huge challenge in her marriage as Canberra Ultimate's decisions and needs sometimes strayed from those ofAFDA in a way that caused her "heartburn" with her husband, the AFDA president. Heather had a very sharp line to walk there, and we all feel that she really has handled this well, and we demanded a lot from her in the way of backbone, which she had to exhibit to her husband of less than one year, who is one of the strongest personalities I know on this continent.

Heather Bozza is certainly Canberra Ultimate's Administrator of the year, and we sincerely hope you will make her the Australian iteration on account of the amount and quality of work that she has done.

TASMANIA

http://www.tasultimate.com/ 2012 was a good year for the Tasmanian ultimate community. We continued our trend of steady growth in leagues and tournaments and coaching events in school groups. Behind the scenes, we made some important restructuring of the way our leagues are administered and appointed new marketing and merchandise officers. Our communication amongst the community was fine tuned, with improved social media communication and valuable player feedback channels refined. On the field, the TUA ran our usual four social leagues, two advanced leagues, the halfWIT tournament, the Tasmanian TwoHat XIII tournament. Most of these increased player numbers from previous years. We also had a beach league, a Savage Sevens tournament and a King ‘n’ Queen tournament run by Frivolous Ultimate, TUAs only affiliated club.

Leagues Sandown Park was home to the two seasonal outdoor leagues again in 2012, with Summer League and Spring League both running two divisions. Player numbers for Summer League were slightly down from Spring in 2011, 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 in our history. 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 2012, both run at Aurora Sports Stadium. We continued to manage 2 divisions in both leagues and this was very successful with 4 teams in beginner and 6 teams in intermediate. These numbers remained high for Winter League during August and September, despite only being able to offer a short 6 week league due to venue restrictions. Advanced League made a strong return in 2012. Despite the cold, damp conditions that Hobart offers from May to July, four teams battled it out for The Beanie League trophy (an apt title, given most players’ choice of headwear). They returned again for a second Advanced League that ran from October to December in much nicer weather conditions. Our League Directors did a fantastic job in 2012, 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, Matt Lyons, Stew Wilde, Basil van Riet, Dale Baldwin, Eliza BurkePolden, Grady Cowley and Stan Robert all did a wonderful job of managing the leagues that keep our association going.

Tournaments There were two tournaments run by the TUA. The HalfWIT (half yearly Winter Indoor tournament) continued to grow, with the largest numbers ever in the tournament’s history. 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. Matt Lyons and Matt Smith did a wonderful job of directing the tournament, and thanks also go to Stew Wilde for his work behind the scenes. The biggest event on the TUA calendar is, of course, the Tasmanian Two Hat. In 2012 the fourteenth Two Hat tournament was the biggest in the tournament’s history with 68 players battling it out over two days. We attribute this increase with everyone’s fear that the world was going to end in December and this would be the last possible chance to play the southernmost hat tournament in the world, so thanks to the Mayans for that. This tournament

continues to have a large interstate contingent. It was also great to welcome some of Tasmania’s regional players to their first tournament as well. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2013. The tournament organising committee of Matthew Berne, Dale Baldwin and Andrew Cole did a great job of running a successful tournament, and special thanks go to Ken Suber and Arthur Edwards for their assistance behind the scenes.

Australian Ultimate Championships Tasmania was not able to field a team in either the Open division or the Women’s division of the Southern Regional Ultimate Championships, due to the large travel commitment required. However, Quoll entered Division II Nationals instead and performed above all expectations. They had an extremely successful tournament and finished second after an intensely fought grand final. Well done to Steve Wright and Jase de Puit for getting this team together.

University The UTAS Ultimate Club had a great recruitment year in 2012, increasing their membership to record levels. This was great for participation in the regular pickup matches held at the university’s Hobart campus. Unfortunately, with campus life being what it is, the club was unable to field a team to any University games, but it was still an important year for development of Ultimate with university life. The UTAS Ultimate Club was extremely proud to take back the trophy for the University vs Workers challenge in 2012, a semi regular traditional match dating back to the mists of time. This was the first time since 2009 a

university team had been victorious.

Regional For the first time in Tasmania’s history, a regular ultimate league was run in a regional area. Huddy Fuller has been working hard on recruitment and development in Launceston, and the results have been amazing. There were enough players for a four team league, three players from Launceston played with Quoll at DivII Nationals, and we had a record eight players from Launceston make the trip to Hobart for the Tasmanian TwoHat. Huddy

deserves much kudos for his effort in Launceston.

Frivolous After its incorporation in November 2011, Frivolous Ultimate Inc. has had a wonderful first year. In 2012 they had a steady increase in membership, managed 3 independent events and also entered a team in each of the two TUA Advanced leagues. Frivolous does not run your everyday event! In 2012 they ran a 5aside beach league, a Savage 7s tournament, and a King’n’Queen Tournament. All of these have been successful and added a much needed diversity to Ultimate in Tasmania.

Player of the Year For his dedication to player development at all levels of the sport and commitment to the game, Steve Wright won the the TUA “Player of the Year” award for the second year in a row. In 2012, Steve travelled with Thunder, the Australian U19 Open Team as an assistant coach to the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Dublin in August. It’s not just at the elite level at which Steve excels, having entered a team in the beginner league in Spring 2011 and entering the same team in a higher division one league later.

Volunteers Many other volunteers were acknowledged at the TUA Annual Dinner in May. The Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Jason de Puit for his consistent and underappreciated work maintaining the website. The BlackandBlue award was presented to Masni Bennett for being instrumental in the design of the new logo, website and online presence, as well as developing important policy for the TUA and being awesome at volunteer recruitment too. The Lifetime Membership award was presented to Shavawn Donoghue for her longstanding and very involved service to the Tasmanian Ultimate community. Shavawn was treasurer of the TUA from its inception in 2002 until 2009. She ran countless tournaments, leagues and

other events, led many open and women’s teams to National Championships. In 2011, she left the TUA committee after 10 years of service to found her own club, Frivolous, and continues to run regular events. Everyone knows Shavawn and she is held in high regard throughout the Tasmanian ultimate community. 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/

2012 was a year of steady growth in Queensland Ultimate. To some degree, the extremes of 2011

(including the effects of weather and the hangover from hosting Nationals) were still being felt, and

the next moves were being planned.

The introduction of the North Queensland Hat was a bright light, showing that the game continued

to grow in the north. It was successfully hosted in Cairns, and saw players from across the state. All

bodes well for this tournament to return next year, moving south to Townsville. This will hopefully

accommodate the very early seeds of Ultimate that are being planted in Mackay, Emerald,

Blackwater and Charters Towers.

Halibut, on the Gold Coast for another year, earned the AFDA Tournament of the Year award with its

Olympic theme and wonderful winter weather. Queensland Hat returned for its second year, adding

ritz through the introduction of a QUDA Ball. In between these, the fourth Big Sky tournament again

raised a significant amount of money for the Neilds, in a testament to the support offered by our

Ultimate community.

Nationals saw the return of Firestorm and Black Betty, and new groups in Slamtown and Firestorm

Ignition. It’s an encouraging sign to have three Open clubs competing at an interstate Nationals, and

we look forward to the growth this can bring in future. Later in the year, the Townsvillains again

invaded Mixed Nationals, joining Brisbane’s Sock Puppets in the fray. QUDA are already looking

ahead to 2014, when we will be hosting Mixed Nationals as per the AFDA rotation policy.

Our schools programs continue to grow, with around 800 students receiving coaching this year

across 9 schools. In a significant step forward, QUDA was able to reduce its subsidy of these

programs, which is an excellent sign for how Ultimate is perceived by these schools, and also

contributes extra revenue for the organisation.

In a major development for our state association, our members voted in favour of significant

increases to QUDA fees from 1 July 2012, with the goal of appointing a part-time Development

Officer as some other states have done. This will significantly boost QUDA’s operational capacity,

creating the potential for accelerated growth and development of the sport.

Thanks to all of our volunteers throughout the state, contributing their time to give back to Ultimate.

Without these people, nothing could possibly happen. A special thanks to the QUDA committee for

their generous service this year.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

http://saultimate.net/ League and Membership: The mixed league in the second half of 2012 had 2 divisions and approximately 150 players. Throughout the league there were issues with the grounds being unplayable due to heavy rain over the previous days, and issues after the Royal Show. During these times arrangements were made with another local football club to use their fields. Some of the uses were scheduled weeks ahead, whereas others were organised just days in advance. This new found relationship has been developed over the last few years to the point where we now have two permanent playing spaces.

This new playing space has helped our first league for 2013 blossom. With Open and Women’s league had a few changes this year in relation to previous years, with more teams nominating (18 in total, overall active membership being increased to approximately 180. The extra field space allowed for only one more field space overall, but with larger fields and longer playing times the consensus has been that this is a vast improvement. LeagueVine was also used to keep track of games and ladders this league as the SA Ultimate website was having issues

Overall membership for SA has grown slightly over the last year, while some clubs have battled with membership and the last year has seen the dissolution of North Adelaide, this has been offset by both Flinders University and Adelaide University having strong recruitment in the first semester of 2013. This has led to the strengthening of the ongoing Flinders Social League as well as an increase in the number of university teams in the local league.

State representation has taken a hit in the last few years with many elite level players emigrating away from South Australia, or losing interest in elite level ultimate. This has been a big problem for both our Men’s and Women’s national teams as most years the focus is spent on rebuilding teams rather than development of teams.

Our National representation however has been very good this last year, particularly for women. Eight players have been selected to play for Australian teams. Ranging from Women’s Masters to Men’s U19’s we have had representation across the board.

Finances:

For the 2012/2013 financial year, SAFDA had total income of $17,468 and total expenditure of $15,398.59 for a net profit of $2,069.41

SAFDA's financial position remains strong, and at the end of the financial year has a total of $36,320.29 - $32,929.05 of which is in a high interest account.

A key goal for the financial year was to use SAFDA's strong balance for the benefit of the SA Ultimate community. Initiatives that helped facilitate this include:

- Removing SAFDA's fee from coaching in schools organised through the SAFDA Development officer. This resulted in more money being paid to coaches for their time to encourage more coaching sessions being held.

- A grant of $500 to Flinders University to assist the club in ordering discs for sale to new players. This also resulted in the establishment of a more formal grant process and form, and will provide an easier process for future grant applications.

- SAFDA provided a grant to facilitate the screening of Chasing Sarasota at University Games. SAFDA ran this community event at a loss of $805.50

- A minimal increase in league fees was introduced for the first league of 2013, despite additional costs for the running of the league with a second field location being used for the first time. Development:

The greatest challenge SA faces currently is in recruitment and development of players. The annual Super League tournament was run for the 6th year running, with a Women’s Super League being run for its second instalment. These leagues provide a way for our top players to get near-nationals level experience without the expense of having to travel. The coverage partnership with ulti.tv has continued, however the uniform sponsors changed from Savage to Zone ultimate.

Schools development has essentially ground to a halt as we don’t have sufficient, qualified coaches available to send to schools. This is a priority for the coming 2013/2014 financial year. We have also run the Adelaide Women’s Invitational for the 3rd year. The AWI is a 5:2, women:men, tournament with the emphasis on being to help develop and promote women’s ultimate in SA. This falls on the beginning of our Women’s Development Month. November is WDM: experienced coaches and Aussie reps took our players through drills and games focussing on developing the skills of all levels of ultimate players.

Future Directions:

For the coming 2013/2014 year the priorities for SAFDA are in developing a resilient schools program via the training and accreditation of coaches and the implementation of school gala days. This will ultimately allow increased participation in state wide leagues.

Our current supply of ultimate in SA is in good shape with the acquisition of a second field space. This will allow us to expand for the immediate future, however securing more fields and/or establishing leagues on other nights will also need to be investigated.

Development for high and elite level players is an ongoing challenge given our relative size and geographic isolation. The implementation of super leagues and training courses will be key to this, as well as ongoing participation in national competition.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

http://www.waultimate.com/ 2012 Snapshot 2012 was an exciting year for Ultimate in WA. It saw the election of new executive and general committee members, WAFDA membership reaching 683 players and Ultimate becoming more popular in regional areas of WA, with Esperance, Karratha and Broome beginning to have regular games. Leagues were run at UWA Sports Park, Riverton, Yokine and Bunbury. There were 10 WA tournaments held in 2012 including a new one held in the south-west, DUST. Hosting the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships (AMUC) was an obvious highlight of 2012, as well as the high number of WA representatives taking part at national and international tournaments. Our state women’s team, Kaos, finished fourth at AUC which is the best performance by a WA women’s team so far. The relationship between WAFDA and the Department of Sport and Recreation continued to thrive as a result of the efforts of our Development Officer and the Executive committee.

AMUC 2012 AMUC managed to attract 20 teams, with a total of 322 players registered. Massive congratulations to WA team, Cabs Are Here on winning AMUC. Cabs are the first WA team to win a mixed nationals tournament.

AMUC 2012 winners Cabs Are Here with Anna Haynes and Ellen Shackles

A huge amount of effort went into planning for AMUC and the event was a great success! There was a lot of positive feedback from supporters, players and AFDA. Thank you to all involved with the organising and running of AMUC this year, especially Tournament Directors, Anna Haynes and John Hempel, and a massive thank you to supporting businesses such as Sea to Summit, Manassen Foods and Sweeter Banana.

International representation A special mention must also be made for two groups of players who competed at an international level in 2012 - those selected to represent their country at the World Ultimate Championships (WUC) and those selected for the World Ultimate Junior Championships held in Ireland. Playing at WUC were Anna Haynes, Paul Denyer, Danya Meakins, John Damiani, Kendall Thorn, Minh Huynh and Sean Fourie (South Africa). WA players named in the Under 19 team were Ashley Evans, Jaxon Botje, Sam Francoise, Jeremy Nixon, Monte Masarei, Jack Morris, Paige Oh, Tamsin Hearne and Annie Jessop. We are very proud of all of these players and their performances at this elite level.

WAFDA members who represented Australia in 2012. Back row: Tamsin Hearne, Annie Jessop, Jeremy Nixon, Monte Masarei, Sean Fourie, Kendall Thorn, John Damiani. Front row: Jaxon Botje, Sam Francoise, Jack Morris and Anna Haynes. Absent: Paige Oh, Minh Huynh, Paul Denyer and Danya Meakins

Development Officer I would like to acknowledge all of the work done by our Development Officer, Anna Haynes. Anna worked tirelessly in 2012 to help raise the profile of Ultimate within the Department of Sport and Recreation, in schools and the wider community. In addition to this Anna competed at AUC, WUC and AMUC and headed up the organising committees for AMUC and Witch’s Hat on top of her busy schedule. I’m sure all players of Ultimate in WA appreciate her superstar efforts. Anna also went on several trips to remote areas of WA to run Ultimate sessions for local young people. We appreciate the sacrifices Anna makes to promote Ultimate in WA. For 2013, we have also taken on a second, part-time employee, Kyal Oh. Kyal will be focussing on the areas of Inclusion and Youth Development. This should help WAFDA to better cater for the growing interest in Ultimate, with one of our aims for the coming years being to coordinate an interschool youth tournament.

WAFDA Committee 2012 saw several changes on the WAFDA Committee. We said goodbye and thanks to former President, Andrew ‘Hutchy’ Hutcheson, who moved to Canada to start a new chapter in his life. A new President was elected (Ellen Shackles), Geri Viros moved into the role of Treasurer and Julie Hardt became Secretary. We also gained new general committee members; Andrew ‘AJ’ Jennings, Lauren Hoskins and Hugh Osborn. Lauren is responsible for the Marketing portfolio and is working with Geri and Steve Baker to develop the new WA Ultimate website to be launched later in 2013. The committee continues its focus on member protection, clear governance and increased and efficient communication with members.

WAFDA Awards The 2012 Awards night was held in Dunsborough (a coastal town about 3 hours south of Perth) and was partnered with a new 2 day tournament, DUST, hosted by Bunbury Ultimate Club. Congratulations to our winners, Geri Viros (Administrator of the Year), PRIMAL Ultimate Club (Club of the Year), Cabs Are Here (Team of the Year), WordArt (for hosting the Tournament of the Year – Phoenix Has Risen), John Damiani (Coach of the Year), Jed Yu (Recruiter of the Year), Kyal Oh (Outstanding Service), Kendall Thorn (Male Player of the Year) and Anna Haynes (Female Player of the Year). The night was a great success, with the highest turnout we have seen in recent times and many strong nominations meant there were several closely contested awards.

Key 2012 Statistics 638 members

10 tournaments

9 representatives on the junior international squads and 7 representatives on the senior Australian squads

545 discs sold

138 Ultimate coaching sessions delivered to schools (double the number from 2011)

3000 primary and secondary students exposed to Ultimate through these sessions

55 teachers given professional development through Ultimate sessions A big thank you to all our members, clubs, coaches, volunteers, league directors, employees and committee members and supporters for all of the work they did to make 2012 such a successful year for WAFDA.

Ellen Shackles WAFDA President

Ellen (aka Elle-Shack) has been playing Ultimate for around 5 years, joining

the Perth Ultimate League team Disco Inferno. A player who places great

importance on Spirit, she is happy to play in any position on the field, although

defence is her preference. Elle-Shack became President of WAFDA in 2012,

following the AGM and since that time she has helped organise AMUC,

competed at her first national tournament at AMUC and helped develop a

strategic plan for the next 3 years with the committee. Outside of Ultimate,

she is a secondary school Maths teacher and tutor and she also volunteers for other

organisations.

VICTORIA

http://ultimatevictoria.com.au/ 2012 was a very busy year for Ultimate Victoria, as saw a changeover in the president's chair and also the adoption of a new strategic plan. We used the outstanding work done by previous administrations and built upon it to further develop our professionalism as state sporting association, and working for further opportunities to play ultimate.

UV introduced two new tournaments to the ultimate calendar in 2012. The inaugural AFDA Division II Championships were held in Melbourne in April as a precursor to the Australian Ultimate Championships for teams who did not qualify. Ten teams from Victoria and interstate took part in a great weekend, with Melbourne's Heads of State Black taking out the title over Quoll from Tasmania. The success of the event ensured it will be a permanent fixture in seasons to come. UV also took the opportunity to rebrand our AMUC qualifiers as a state championship event in it's own right. Ballarat played host to the first Victorian Mixed Ultimate Championships, with ten teams competing. Melbourne's VICE were victorious on the weekend and went on to represent the state at the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships in Perth.

UV's flagship event, the Melbourne Hat, ran for the 24th time in December, attracting over 350 players from all over the country and from overseas. Tournament director John Hempel, running the show for the fifth time, put on a great event as always. With fantastic working relationships with service providers allowing us to keep the event sustainable, UV aims to make the 25th Hat in 2013 bigger than ever!

On the field, Victorian teams enjoyed a successful 2012, particularly in the women's division. In April, cross town rivals Honey and Sporting Team Box Athletico United faced off in the final of the Australian Ultimate Championships, with Honey winning their first national title. STBAU's sister team Squadron also qualified for AUC, coming in 15th and giving many new players their first taste of elite ultimate. In the open division, Heads of State had two teams (Burgundy and White) qualify for the tournament, while perennial attendees Chilly took an understrength team as many of their players joined the masters team Wombats for the season. HoS Burgundy won their way into a bronze medal, while Chilly (9th) and HoS White (12th) secured qualifying places for the South region for the 2013 season.

Victoria's representation at the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships was down on previous years due to a number of factors, however three teams made the journey over to Perth to compete. Hybrid Vigour finished in the 3rd place, while Victorian champions VICE finished 5th, a big improvement on 2011's tenth place. Affiliated club Funny Duck took a relatively inexperienced team and finished 18th. With AMUC returning to the eastern seaboard in 2013, we anticipate a strong Victorian presence next time!

2012 also saw Australian representative teams compete at the World Ultimate and Guts Championships in Japan. Victoria was well represented, with 40 players earning selection across the 6 teams wearing the green and gold.

Open (Dingos) – Sebastian Barr, Keith Hodgson, Mark Isherwood, Lachlan McDonald, Owen Shepherd, Max Wheeler

Womens (Firetails) – Lauren Brown,Maylin Chuah, Clare Hussey, Joy Lee, Stephanie Malcher, Ashleigh Martens, Catherine Matthews, Catherine Phillips, Michelle Phillips, Shannon Trenwith

Mixed (Barramundis) – Chris Kaliviotis, Amy Hempel, David Knight, Huy Vu

Masters (Wombats) – Alex du Plessis, Geoff Doty, German Borray, Mark Junker, Sascha Humpherys, Steve Campbell, Steve Wealands, Tao Browne, Tom Rogacki

Women's Masters (Flying Foxes) – Karen Baker, Tegan Don, Mel Gangemi, Kelli Martin, Kate Sargeant, Marcella van Blaricum

Guts (Ironbarks) – Stuart Austin, Lee Baker, Rueben Berg, Matt Hill, Dallas Jones

Off field, Ultimate Victoria made outstanding progress in our development as a professional sporting association. AFDA Safe Play policies were formally adapted and applied to all competition across the state, and our own policies on anti-harassment, drug use, financial reporting, communication, league management and tournament management were developed, adopted and implemented. But the most significant was our Club Affiliation policy, which encourage existing teams to become incorporated clubs and start planning for their future growth and development. Many of our national level and university teams fulfilled the affiliation requirements, and more teams are currently undergoing the steps required. We plan to work closely with clubs to help develop ultimate participation in targeted population centres.

Regional development continues to be a key objective. Affiliated club Ballarat Ultimate hosted Victorian Mixed Ultimate Championships and run a successful indoor league, while we continue to work with groups of players in Geelong and Traralgon to encourage more participation outside the Melbourne metropolitan area. Plans are in place to target Bendigo as our next regional centre, coinciding with the city hosting the 2013 Australian Ultimate Championships.

Finally, I would like to formally acknowledge two key people who stepped down from roles in the organisation in 2012. Matt Hill, our Development Officer, resigned from his position early in the year to resume his tertiary studies. He was UV's first employee, and worked hard to make the role his own. Several initiatives he started and worked on continue to grow under the watch of the new Development Officer, and his efforts will be remembered for time to come. 2012 also saw the president of the last two years Matt Hui stand down from the role, after spending five years in total on the committee. Matt's drive and passion saw sustained growth in player numbers during his tenure, and I'm sure he will continue to remain involved in the sport in other ways.

Simon Talbot

President Ultimate Victoria

Ultimate Victoria

Matt Hui – President (until May 2012)

Simon Talbot – General Representative (until May 2012)/President (since May 2012)

Rebecca Wallbridge – Vice President

Natalie Rae – Secretary

Martin O'Brien – Treasurer

Chris Folkes – General Representative

Jarod Cowan – General Representative (since May 2012)

Matt Hill – Development Officer (until June 2012)

Greta Hunt – Development Officer (since June 2012)

NEW SOUTH WALES

http://ufnsw.com.au/ Frisbee in NSW has continued to be one of the leading states in Australia in terms of development from beginner to elite. 2011/12 was a busy and fruitful year with achievements across many areas. I would like to start by thanking the many volunteers who have contributed to their local Frisbee communities’ success. Without these important people, we would not be able to be as strong and successful each year. We have maintained the importance of the paid development officer role and it has continued, despite the overall financial loss, to be a worthwhile investment. The development officer’s role is broad and focuses across many areas including: 1) coaching and liaising with junior players 2) running the regional and state gala days 3) starting up and maintain junior leagues 4) hosting tournaments 5) applying for grants 6) building relationships with schools and other key stakeholders across NSW 7) acting as the main administrator for our organisation. Gala days and junior state championships in its second year were successful again in bringing more juniors into our sport. The junior leagues fostered their interest in the sport and paid dividends as we had a large percentage of the players from the Australian Junior teams coming from NSW, many learning of the sport from the gala day system. An area for greater focus in this role will be creating more money to maintain the role as a viable position for our organisation to continue. Investing more time in grant applications and running events to generate income are some areas we can achieve this. This role has made it possible for our other volunteers to focus on the goals for their particular area which has in turn has made this a very productive year. It is important to note the work of Dan Rule whose work as our first paid Development Officer was remarkable and inspiring. NSW is in debt to his commitment to our sport and how he approached his position for the 2 ½ years he was with us. He handed over to Rory Connell who, on a temporary basis, maintained the role with professionalism and independence. We are grateful to both them for all their work. 2012 saw Newcastle host a very successful National Championships displaying their beautiful city and hard-working volunteers. The tournament was not only financially successful for Newcastle but the player’s feedback was very positive. Tournaments throughout NSW have continued and started. A new elite tournament was created – The Sydney Melbourne Open (SMO). It was successfully run as another avenue for elite player development. In Dubbo, Tim Hosking and other volunteers successfully ran "WOTDA Huck!" Tournament (West of the Divide Amalgamated) a mixed tournament held in Dubbo to offer player development to areas like Dubbo, Bathurst and Mudgee. The Indoor Series run by Anson Chun, a new concept of indoor ultimate over a series of weekends was a success. It is great to see people trying innovative ideas to drawn in new players. At the university level, it is pleasing to see the Universities working together to run university level tournaments. The IV series have been profitable for the hosting university and our Universities Officer, Nathan Wong worked on ensuring every interested university could be a part of this potential profit. Our leagues continue to be the bread and butter of the local regions in terms of financial viability and player development. It is great to so many leagues sustaining growth across NSW. As an organisation we would like to assist any areas that would like to start up a league but need assistance because we see it as an important step to building a region’s Frisbee success. I would also like to note that Nathan Wong, universities officer, liaised with Macquarie University to run a league through them for casual Frisbee players. It had

teething problems but eventually was successful and there is a scope for this to develop at universities and other venues. UFNSW hosted the first ever “Community Cup” as an opportunity to showcase top level ultimate to the greater community and Frisbee community. It was held a Gore Hill Oval in Sydney and saw over 200 people in attendance. The teams were Australian Reps vs. Internationals. The Australian reps won but the real success was a showcase of top level Ultimate. UFNSW also hosted the first ever Volunteers Recognition Evening and Awards (held during the Community Cup) for all the hard-working volunteers throughout NSW. The evening aimed to thank the many unsung heroes of our sport who, particularly in the regional/rural areas who introduce and encourage new players, run pick-up and leagues, host tournaments, coach and overall continue to grow our sport in their communities. We gave special awards to outstanding volunteers for the year, these going to Amanda Hudson (Hills), Michael Craigie (Bathurst) and Glenn Hodges (NSL) and the Simon Farrow Award (long standing commitment to UFNSW) to Frank Milthorpe. The night was a success with many volunteers coming from across NSW to enjoy the free drinks and nibbles and watch the Community Cup match. Along with success, we have faced many challenges this year. One real problem that Sydney, where a majority of our player base is, has faced issues securing fields for tournaments, leagues, trainings and pick up. Simon Farrow, leagues officer, has worked closely with councils, players and other sporting associations alike to create a long term solution. This is why it is great to have regions like Newcastle and Bathurst who have a strong player/volunteer bases to be able to host National tournaments for NSW. Some potential solutions we are looking at are investing in lights on existing fields to secure a permanent booking and using artificial grass fields. Other challenges we have faced have been meeting the needs of regional areas. The real challenge is human resources in the regional areas and we will continue to help where we can. We are also facing financial challenges which we are addressing but we always knew employing a full time development officer would drain our resources. A new challenge that we will be addressing over the next 12 months is the changes in legislation with regards to WH&S responsibilities. We already run our organisation meeting all standards set by the government and this will be no different. Despite the many challenges the UFNSW Executive and committee have faced, I think they have addressed them with professionalism and to the best of their ability. In other news, we have tried to keep up with the times by introducing social media into our communication with members. We have added a Social Media officer role to the committee, which will regularly update these accounts. We are also updating the website by updating the content management system and updating the look and feel of the overall site. Tom Brennan, our IT Officer, will be heading these changes in 2012. As my first full year comes to a close as president, I feel the committee has accomplished much and addressed the many challenges faced this year. Our committee has many new faces, which bring enthusiasm, ideas and a new way of thinking. I have found the key to a perfect committee is same as a perfect Frisbee team - a combination of more experienced players to make the tough decisions and a bunch of newer, energetic players who never stop working and never see anything as too difficult to achieve. Thank you to all the committee members for their hard work this year, them any hours spent in meetings, achieving goals and writing reports. Nikki Shires President, UFNSW

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Canberra Ultimate had a massive year in 2012. Started our first

employee, created an amazing website, successfully received

grants, and started more leagues. Canberra Ultimate is also now

officially the Peak Body for Ultimate in the ACT as recognised by

ACTSPORT.

Website The long awaited website was completed in time for the commencement of our Spring leagues. The website enables us to communicate happenings with our community and provides a place where players can register and pay individually, taking pressure off our treasurer and captains. So far we have received great feedback for the new good looking website. With the website came the creation of @canberraultimate.com email addresses which has also promoted communication with the community with having president and development officer in easy access. Have a look at our amazing website www.Canberraultimate.com and wicked new logo. Massive special thanks to Mica, AJ and Brevin for getting this website up and happening. Development Officer The year begun with first employee Mica Hartley as our Development Officer. Mica was

employed from May-December, with financial reasons why the role was not continued into

2013. Mica did an amazing job over an array of areas; including the Find Thirty Lunchtime

league (special thanks to ACT Health for providing grant funding for this), website up, Active

After School Community program, the constitution, and a mass amount of general admin

duties. Having the employee was the push Canberra Ultimate needed to do more than just

one league. To finish her time as Development Officer Mica was looking to the future of the

paid project plan Canberra Ultimate put into place and developed the roles and guidelines to

minimise disruption between plans.

A highlight, that also assisted all of Canberra Ultimate, was Mica’s inclusion to the Sports

Small Business Hub with ACTSPORT. Mica was provided desk space, mentoring, and

access to other sports if required.

Grant Funding Canberra Ultimate was successful at receiving funding throughout 2012. Mica was

successful in receiving grant money from ACTSPORT to get her level 1 Ultimate Coaching

course and attend a Women in Sport Workshop. In late 2012 we furthered our relationship

with the ACT Government by applying for an Annual Operations Grant and a Project

Development Grant (in early 2013 found we were successful in gaining $5,000, Jason de

Rooy even got to shake hands with the Minister at the announcement).

Leagues Canberra Ultimate had a boom in leagues in 2012 with 3 new leagues. The first introduced was a king/queen WUFL (Winter Ultimate Frisbee League) pick-up on some glorious Sunday afternoons. The next was with the Development Officer Role the Find Thirty Lunchtime League. This was grant funded and free for players at midday on Wednesdays. The idea to add 30mintues of exercise into an office worker’s day and have another opportunity for new players to join ultimate craze; this league continues. The third league is another mixed adult’s weeknight league, run by Jamie Bozza and Jason de Rooy, on the south side of the lake. SCUL (South Canberra Ultimate League) started as

a hat league where all players where provided a shirt in their team colour with the Canberra Ultimate Logo. This league also encourages a social aspect going to a nearby pub after the game. In it’s first season, Spring, there were 6 full (4:3) teams; next season was Summer season where 8 independent full teams signed up. This league will continue into 2013. The year ahead 2013 brings some more changes to Canberra Ultimate, and conjunction celebrations with the Canberra Centenary year. Moving from the one employee position to the paid projects plan- initially for the Active After School Community government program, any Youth program, and to continue the Fin Thirty Lunchtime League. A new constitution introduced, which has been developed throughout 2012 with the help an MDO Consulting (which was funded by the Sport Small Business Hub). Big tournaments coming to town; including BCI and Mixed Nationals. Ultimate trying to find a way into the hearts of youth, with a Youth league early in the year. And the establishment of more Canberra university teams, fingers crossed for a university play-off later in the year.

Canberra Ultimate Superstars, Dani Alexander (left) and Konrad Wallace (right)

DISC GOLF

ADG Tour

The Australian Disc Golf tour had another very successful year in 2012. There were a total

of 7 A-tier events on the ADG Tour this year, with a number of B-tier and C-tier events

popping up all over the country. Very big thanks go out to everyone who helped out with a

tournament of any level. It’s very encouraging to see more and more enthusiastic people

around the nation volunteering their efforts to put on more competition disc golf for everyone.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of the tour was the fact that 10 juniors participated in

ADG Tour events, with Chris Perkins of Victoria taking the Junior Tour Title. It total, 123 disc

golfers played in ADG events around the country. ADG Membership is now about 200.

ADGC 2012

This year’s Australian Disc Golf Championships took place at the Drysdale Reserve in

Geelong, Victoria on 2nd – 4th of November. The Drysdale course is rated by many as the

best disc golf layout in Australia, and Aussie disc golfers from all over the country made the

journey to Geelong for the Aussie Champs. This course, plus the joint efforts of the

Melbourne and Geelong disc golf crews contributed to drawing the first sold out, full field of

72 for an Australian Disc Golf Tournament.

Tournament director Greg Bowers should be applauded for his stellar efforts. With the help

of his tournament team, Greg put on a very well organised tournament that made every

player feel like a professional athlete. The course, the players’ dinner, the tournament

format, awards, food, and other activities were all superbly put together.

The tournament itself was hotly contested in all divisions, with the Aussie championship

eventually being stolen away by a Kiwi. Simon Feasey took the title by 3 throws, while Kurt

Karlsson held off Chris Finn for 2nd in a very tight final 9. Joel Paton won the Men’s

Advanced, while Cassie Anderson took the Women’s Advanced title. Other titles went to

Bruce McNaughton in the combined Masters/Grandmasters, Gavin Palmer in the Men’s

Recreational, and Chris Perkins took the Junior championship.

International Round-up

In 2012 several Australian disc golfers again took to the skies to land themselves in another

part of the world to represent Oz in international tournaments. Several players again headed

to the United States for the PDGA World Championships, while WA’s Chris Finn headed to

Sweden to play in the European major, the Stockholm Disc Golf Open.

Written by Robert Kyle

Tasmania

Poimena Reserve in Austins Ferry remains the only public disc golf course in Tasmania. I

understand that the 4 baskets that were in a park in Geeveston have been removed at some

point in the last 6 months. I last saw them in the summer of 2011 and at that point three of

the four had been badly vandalised. The Poimena course is well maintained by volunteers

and the Glenorchy City Council parks department. This year the Council also installed a

roadside sign directing people to the course.

Participation levels continue to increase at the Poimena course. There are a growing number

of local players, and the last Sunday of every month is the scheduled meeting time. A

number of other community groups have been playing the course as well, including local

schools and colleges, organisations that care for people with mental and physical disabilities,

Scouts, and church groups. There is also a large group of teenagers now playing the

course. On one occasion there were about 30 of them on the course- it was like a

stampede! I have been running a number of coaching workshops with local schools and

colleges, and I have also run a number of disc golf events for local businesses.

Last year’s tournaments included the Two Heads Disc Golf Open which attracted local TV,

radio and newspaper coverage. We also held the Tasmanian Titles in December. The 2013

Discology Two Heads Disc Golf Open is shaping up to be a larger tournament with a field of

about 30 players.

Written by Richard Sampson

NSW Disc Golf Report 2012

The Jesmond Park Disc Golf Course near Newcastle received an important upgrade in

2012. Jonathan Jonas and the Newcastle crew were able to secure funding for new course

signage designed by DiscGolfPark. A total of 18 tee signs and one large course sign have

been installed on the course. This is an important step towards developing disc golf in the

area, as park users can now navigate the course with ease, without the need of a local to

show them where each tee is.

In June, our A-tier tournament, the Sydney Open, was to take place at the Newington

Armory course. After a slight hiccup when the Tournament Director came down with

appendicitis, the club pulled together and the tournament proceeded as planned. The

tournament was contested by 14 players over 2 days, and the overall title was won by Kurt

Karlsson. On the Friday of the tournament we also brought disc golf to a new park, with the

doubles being played at Queen Elizabeth Park in Concord. The Sydney Disc Golf Club will

continue to work with Canada Bay Council to set up Queen Elizabeth Park as a permanent

course in the future.

Thirty players attended the B-Tier Jesmond Jam and Ace Race weekend in Newcastle. The

doubles event also ran on the Friday at Rathmines Styles Point Reserve. The event was

won by local Chris Hill (aka Chilly). Hopefully we will see Chilly out and about on the tour

this year. 2012 also saw a consistent increase in numbers at Sydney and Newcastle league

days.

New South Wales was very well represented on this year’s ADG tour. Kurt Karlsson won the

tour title for the Men’s Open division, Dominic Lumsden won the Advanced title, Gavin

Palmer won Men’s Recreational, Emilie Cameron took the Women’s Open title and Lyndsay

Scheitel won the Women’s Recreation division. We were quite proud to see such a great

showing from NSW disc golfers on the tour!

Eight NSW players attended this year’s Australian Disc Golf Championships in Geelong,

Victoria. In February, Dom Lumsden and Neil Roberts also made their first international disc

golf trip to play in the New Zealand Disc Golf Championships in Taupo.

The focus within the New South Wales disc golf community for 2013 will be on getting

another public disc golf course into Sydney to expand the growth of the sport. We also hope

to get further park installations happening in the Newcastle area.

Written by Neil Roberts

WA

2012 has been a transitional year in the West in the world of disc golf. The profile of disc

golfers in WA is changing from a small group of club members playing the course in

Greenwood to a wide demographic of players spread throughout the Perth metro area. This

has been spearheaded by the efforts of Down Under Disc Evolution (DUDE).

The Dudes started off the year by running a come and try day right in the middle of the

Busselton Festival in the southwest town of Busselton. The temporary 6-hole course that

DUDE set up got quite a few new players slinging discs as well as getting one gentleman

back into the sport after an absence of 20 years. Community development officers from

several councils came to check out disc golf and they have the sport on their radar for a

course in the future.

We also discovered WA’s newest disc golf course at Camp Logue Brook in Harvey. Camp

Logue Brook runs school camps with many activities on a massive property, and also

welcomes recreational visitors to come and stay. The camp’s manager, Ken Topperwein,

built the 9-hole disc golf course on a large hillside, with wooded tee signs and home-made

baskets. Ken looked up the specs for a disc golf basket online and built them mostly out of

plastic drums, PVC pipe, and chains. While the course plays on a fairly open area, Camp

Logue Brook may look to improve and expand their disc golf facilities in the future.

Last year also saw efforts from DUDE and the Perth Disc Golf Club (PDGC) to re-build a

bridge between the sports of Disc Golf and Ultimate. The Dudes set up shop and

participated at the Beach Ultimate Furious Fives tournament at Leighton Beach in Fremantle

in February, and they also supported the Ultimate Mixed Nationals in October by promoting

the event, selling discs and talking about disc golf to Ultimate players from all over the

country. The PDGC was also able to get quite a few Ultimate players to play some

tournament disc golf at the Rob Hancock Memorial tournament in May by adding a super-

class division and promoting the event to the local Ultimate community.

In August the PDGC headed down to Perry Lakes Reserve to set up a temporary course for

the Perth Open. The 18-hole course had beginner and advanced tees, and was played by

27 competitors on day one and 22 players on day two. After three rounds of 18, David

Bandy took a comfortable lead into the 9-hole Men’s Open Final. Although the final was

played in a steady rain, a very unusual event for disc golfers in Perth, Bandy held on to take

the title.

The Perth Open was not the final tournament on the WA disc golf calendar, however. Down

Under Disc Evolution organised the inaugural Okthrowberfest at Jorgensen Park in the Perth

Hills suburb of Kalamunda. This one day tournament was played on a long 18-hole course

at the expansive, dog-walker friendly park. The course featured a lot of elevation and long

fairways with punishing thick bush facing those whose discs skipped off the fairway. A lot of

good vibes were exchanged between the hardy disc golfers and the regular park users, and

we are likely to see plenty more disc golf played in the Perth Hills in the future.

The last disc golf event in WA took place at Perry Lakes in November. With support from

Australian Disc Golf (ADG), DUDE organised a fundraising event in support of long running

WA children’s charity Telethon. Despite the short amount of promotional time for the event,

there were sponsors, corporate teams and quite a few community members having a go at

disc golf alongside some of the local disc golf diehards. The Telethon event not only spread

the word about disc golf, but also raised $1000 to donate to this worthy charity. Planning is

already underway to make this event bigger and better in 2013.

WA-based disc golf course designers DiscGolfPark Australia (DGP) designed and supplied

course signage for the existing Jesmond Park Course in Newcastle. DGP also designed

and installed a beginner friendly 9-hole course high in the Victorian Alps at Licola Wilderness

Village. Licola’s manager Adam Wake and his staff have been very enthusiastic about their

shiny new course complete with tee signs and Innova Pro DisCatchers. Licola is a popular

spot for school camps visiting from Melbourne and all over Victoria, and each school group

that visits will be playing disc golf as part of their curriculum. Adam and the Licola crew are

going to be instrumental to the further development of disc golf in Victoria and throughout

Australia. They also welcome casual visitors to come play some disc golf and relax at their

mountain paradise alongside the Macalister River.

Plenty more is on the horizon for Disc Golf in WA in 2013.

Written by Robert Kyle

Canberra

In April, the Eddison Park Disc Golf Course was enjoyed by 50 children from a school

holiday program run by the YWCA. Two groups came at different times so I was able to

supply enough lightweight approach discs. They played a short, beginner friendly course

layout utilizing 6 holes.

In May we held the first ACT Open at Eddison after 14 years of Sparks Summers Sizzlers

held only in February. The date change was needed to avoid the increased public use of the

park due to the installation of new playgrounds, tables, BBQs and a skate park. There are

less people in the park in the cooler months so this proved to be a more suitable time to

stage an A-tier disc golf tournament.

The tourney was well supported by interstaters with players from NSW, WA and Victoria

making the trip. Dom Lumsden won Men’s Advanced, Gavin Palmer took the Men’s Rec

title and Alicia Smith won the Women’s division. The Men’s Open was closely contested

between Kurt Karlsson and Chris Finn, with Kurt eventually holding on to win the event by

four throws. Hopefully the DVD of the 2012 Mayfly Final 9 holes will soon be available. The

ADG site has a good set of Finals photos taken by part time disc golfer Paul Moore.

In September the lakeside launch of the GOLD program by ACT Sports Minister Barr

included a disc golf photo with him and others throwing featured in the local paper's

story. The paper's photographer insisted ("it will look better") that we throw the large discs

after most mini discs had just been thrown into the mini hole; it wasn't a complete waste of

time as later I got some enquiries from the public & was able to promote the free course in

Woden. I did three Sunday afternoons of Come & Try disc golf with only 4 GOLD

people playing, but I got plenty of people who were visiting the park for other reasons to

have a go at disc golf.

Written by Greg Sparksman

Victoria

2012 was a huge year for disc golf in Victoria and for the Melbourne and Geelong clubs.

Both clubs continue to see growth in membership along with a rising interest in disc golf

across the state.

Victorian disc golf has had much to be thankful for, but in 2012 we had two main highlights.

In October we saw the long awaited instalment of the first free to play disc golf course in the

metropolitan area, the Ruffey Lake Park Disc Golf Course in Doncaster. Secondly in

November, the 2012 Australian Disc Golf Championships were hosted jointly by the two

clubs at Drysdale Reserve near Geelong. It was the largest disc golf tournament in

Australian history and the first nationals to sell out.

2013 continues to look bright, as there is ever increasing interest in disc golf. The 2013

Victorian Open will be hosted at the end of April at Ruffey Lake Park. We are also looking at

getting at least two additional free to play public courses in the ground within the next 12

months.

Written by Greg Bowers

Queensland

Last year we had lots of new players turning up to the regular Saturday events at the

Fehlberg Park Disc Golf Course in Yeronga. We also had a number of our experienced

players stepping up to organise events that kept disc golf on the calendar throughout 2012.

Queenslanders also travelled a bit more this year to play disc golf interstate, including 15

who went to compete at the Australian Disc Golf Championships (ADGC) in Geelong.

2013 is shaping up to be an excited year for disc golf in QLD, as we will be hosting the

ADGCs in November. A great tournament is starting shape up with a top-quality

championship course design in the works. We hope everyone can come up to Brisbane this

year and compete.

Written by Tim Marchbank

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At the end of 2012, the current Board of Directors (along with their year of first election) was:

President – Jamie Bozza (2011)

Secretary – Ashleigh Thornton (2011)

Treasurer – Amanda Fung (2011)

Director of Events – John Hempel (2006 )

Director of High Performance – Thomas Watson (2011)

Director of Development – Anna Haynes (2012)

Director of Marketing – Paul Keighley (2008)

Director if Human Resources – Emma Briggs (2012)

COORDINATORS AND OFFICERS

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

Officers and Coordinators.

Finance and Administration Officer – Simon Wood

National Volunteers Officer – Anna Haynes

National Universities Coordinator – Jamie Bozza

Coaching Administration – Simon Wood

National Events Officer – Simon Wood

National Appointment Panel – Melissa Gangemi. Piers Truter, Matt Faulkner

Anti-Doping Officer – Emma Taylor

Rules Officer – Caroline Tamas

Member Protection Officers – Simon Wood and Mel Gangemi

Webmaster – Andrew Olennick

Assistant to High Performance Director – Andrew Jackson

WFDF Committee Members

Rueben Berg – Rules Committee

Richard Moore – SOTG Committee

Piers Truter – Ultimate Committee

Anna Haynes – Athletes Commission