Starting a new club...here we go.

Ultimate disc starter pack?!?

Ok...first post and this is one story: Almost two years being inconsistently playing, or consistently off the fields. Now decided to go back, I put my name down to play the worlds championship with the Australian Masters team in Japan. With quite a few other very experienced and active players looking forward to be selected, my chances are rather low. My hopes were focused on being able to play as much ultimate as possible with the women's club in Brisbane Black Betty. Understandably not possible; quite a few chicks who attend training cannot be cut to open a spot for me who living in Central Queensland cannot make even one session. 

Determined to get my fitness and skills back, I started a plan to get back to my usual weight, gain muscle and build strength. I'm in the gym and having small throwing sessions...however, no proper team training and no chance to get one unless I get a team happening locally so...bring it on!!

I have developed some sort of aversion against the social leagues. It's not that I don't want them to happen, it is just that I come from a very strong club culture (Colombia) and I find the strong focus on social leagues here in Australia hard to swallow. I'd love to have a team to play every tournament with and train all year round, rather than forming a different team every time an ulti event happens. I'd like to at least try to get something more competitive happening more often, and the just-social-fun side having less attention. 

So I live in Emerald now, where there seems to be a lot of sporty people around, I've seen a couple of fields with lights where ultimate can happen, my neighbor played the sport for 2 years in Townsville and two of my husband's work mates would be interested in going for a throw every now and then. There is hope. However, what should I aim for?? Just put the word out to throw and play at the same venue the same days a week and see who shows up and where to go from there?? Or elaborate a more specific plan to attract the kind of people that would be open to let us transform them into disc addicts?? 

I'm inclined towards the more specific plan and this are my basic ideas: Somehow get in touch with the people who have access to the graduates that work for the different companies in the area and propose them to spread the word (email them) about a meeting/chat that would happen at our place. It's not that I don't want the locals to be involved, is just that the graduates seem to be easier to reach and if we end up with a team that trains at a certain venue, then locals can always ask and get in, or with the team we can plan to reach locals. The other reason why I think of graduates is because most of them are single without kids, which can mean that they have relatively good time in their hands and money in their pockets, can travel and seem more comfortable with trying new things...in other words, less convincing. The problem here is, I don't think there would be too many women interested in this group of graduates. 

In the meeting I would share what ultimate disc is, what I dream of a team and what I would do to build that team (a.k.a proposal). At the end I'm looking for comments, not necessarily commitment, but comments to iterate and improve the proposal. There would be a sign-up sheet for those interested in being informed about coming throwing/training sessions and plans....maybe I should do host this meeting more than once with other groups of people as well...hum...

So here is what a dream of an Emerald based team: Attend 3 highly competitive tournaments (Halibut 2012, Nationals 2013 and Mixed Nationals 2013). 2 of them aimed at exponential learning (Halibut July 2012 and Nationals April 2013) and Mixed Nationals October 2013 as our tournament that focuses on competitive learning. 

I've heard, but I'm not sure, that there is ultimate happening in Mackay and we know Townsville also has a team and league...it would be awesome to have an ulti tour where once month a team from one of the cities, travels to another city to have a weekend of ultimate against each other. This might be a bit too much but...it could be a way to help developing ultimate in Northern Queensland so that we don't have to rely 100% of the time on what happens in Brisbane. Still part of the proposal tho.

My focus would be on mixed because to me that's where most of Australia points to. We would use Nationals, which are only Open and Women's categories, to strengthen gender skills and autonomy but training sessions are mixed because, to me, a very important success factor in mixed ultimate is the girls. Most of the time that's what makes a mixed team a good team. Mixed teams where boys run the show and girls, justly on unjustly, are not trusted to receive or throw a disc, are teams of exhausted men players, wasted legs and running space and as a consequence can only go so far in a competition. 

And I would love to train 3 times a week all year round and if tournaments or games against another team are to be created in the area, they would support this training format so that if other teams formed, they can also train 3 days a week. 3 days a week all year round and all tournaments as a team, to me, translates into a club that, depending on numbers, can be represented in every category, and there will be a training plan for a year...big commitment from our side tho...I might also include something about my coaching ideas or philosophy, although it might take the meeting too long so...that could be part of a first training session.

This is roughly it. I would love to read your feedback if you have any.

Oh...and about the name of the blog nor being so original...sorry, I heard about Ultimate peace way after I saved the name in blogger...not a real problem right?