TUA President's Report 2009

The ultimate community in Tasmania had a very busy 2009. In addition to running
the Tasmanian Two-Hat XI and the four traditional social leagues, the TUA
revived the Tasmanian Ultimate Championships (TUC), established an annual dinner
& awards night, added a new indoor tournament to the calendar, and ended the
year by hosting the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships 2009. At a
representative level there was a Tasmanian included in the Australian World
Games team, and renewed desire amongst players to compete at national and
regional championships. 2009 also saw some significant changes in the officer
holders of the association.

== Leagues ==
In 2009, Summer and Spring Leagues continued to be held outdoors on Monday
nights at the traditional Sandown Park. Both leagues consisted of two divisions
and retained almost identical player numbers to 2008, with 4 teams in the
beginner divisions and 6 teams in the intermediate divisions.

The Autumn and Winter leagues were again held indoors on Sunday afternoons at
the excellent Aurora Sports Stadium facilities. With 5 teams, Autumn League
player numbers were pretty consistent with previous years, while the Winter
League numbers were up significantly from 2008 and featured 6 teams.

After a number of years on hiatus, 2009 saw the revival of the Tasmanian
Ultimate Championships (TUC) during the cooler months of the year. TUC aimed to
provide a high level of competition for ultimate players in Tasmanian, which can
be used as a stepping stone to national and regional championships. The league
proved to be highly successful with 4 teams participating in the league, more
than any comparable competition in the past.

A lot of effort went into the organisation and running of these leagues, so a
lot of thanks should go to Michael and Pat Dunne, David Cooke, Steven Wright,
and particularly to Charlie and Alysia Prevost who were instrumental in the
highly successful Winter League.

== Tournaments ==
One of the highlights of the Tasmanian ultimate year, the Tasmanian Two-Hat XI,
was again held as a two day tournament at Wentworth Park. The Two-Hat was
shifted from its traditional weekend to allow for the TUA to host the Australian
Mixed Ultimate Championships. With the hosting of the championships the weekend
before the Two-Hat, it meant that a number of mainland players stayed around to
compete in the Two-Hat. These players lead to the highest number of interstate
players in the tournaments history, and a very respectable total number of
competitors.

The Two-Hat was a significant tournament to organise and it would not have
happened without the tournament director, Dave Wilson, who ensured that the
Two-Hat continues to be one of the premier hat tournaments on the Australian
ultimate calendar. In addition to Dave, the following people also contributed a
lot of their own time before and during the tournament to make it such a
success: Jemery Day, Alysia Prevost, David Cooke, Michael Dunne, and Melissa
Dawson. Some additional assistance was also provided by the AMUC'09 TOC.

The TUA also added a second local tournament to the calendar in 2009 with the
inaugural running of the halfWIT (half-yearly Winter Indoor Tournament) taking
place in July. The halfWIT was the first indoor hat tournament in Tasmania, and
proved to be a highly entertaining one day tournament. Stew Wilde did a
fantastic job organising the tournament, and hopefully it will continue to grow
in the coming years. Thanks also go to Jeff Dunn, Joe Boyer, Shavawn Donoghue,
and Julianne Green for their help in putting on the tournament.

== Australian Ultimate Championships 2009 (AUC'09) ==
After a setback in 2008 where Tasmania failed to field an Open team at the
Southern Australian Ultimate Championships (SAUC), Huddy Fuller organised a team
(Tiggers) to go to SAUC'09 in Ballarat. Even with a very inexperienced team
(only 3 players had played for Tasmania previously), the Tiggers managed some
very respectable results, including a few wins, to finish in their seeded place
of 7th out of 9 teams. Unfortunately the Tiggers were unable to qualify for AUC'09.

Although there was no Tasmanian open team competing at AUC'09, a number of
individual players made the journey across to Perth to play as pickups. Michael
Dunne played for Sweet Chilly, while Reed Burgette and Felix Kennedy played for
FEAR. Felix was in great form, and took out the MVP in the Open division.

In 2009 Tasmania also fielded a women's team at SAUC for the third successive
year. Ash Martens captained BUSH in a very successful campaign with the team
achieving their best result at SAUC, winning Spirit and finishing 3rd (seeded
4th) out of 5 teams. This 3rd place finish ensured that BUSH qualified for a
place at AUC'09.

Although BUSH managed to qualify for a place at AUC'09, there were not enough
local players to field a team. Southside from Sydney were also low on numbers,
so fortunately a combined team was formed under the BUSH name. The team played
well and finished 9th out of 11 teams. A big thanks go to Carlie Ryan from
Southside for helping to organise the team.

== Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships 2009 ==
The Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships 2009 (AMUC'09) were hosted by the
TUA in October at Wentworth Park. This marked the first time in more than 20
years that Tasmania had played host to a national ultimate championships. The
AMUC'09 Tournament Organising Committee (TOC) spent many months planning for the
tournament to try an ensure that everyone had a great time. A number of people
commented on it being one of the best organised Ultimate events they had
attended, so all this hard work definitely paid off. Most of this praise should
be directed towards the tournament director, Shavawn Donoghue, who worked
tirelessly to ensure AMUC'09 was a bit hit. Other big contributors on the TOC
included: David Cooke, Alysia Prevost, Jemery Day, Jeff Dunn, Tim Phillips,
Masni Bennett. Finally the biggest thanks should go to those who gave their own
time to make sure the tournament ran smoothly, while everyone else was off
playing games: Mat Johnson, Katie Kristensen, Stew Wilde, Andrew Binny, Matt
Smith, Chris Wright, Andy Cole, Ian Tait, Charlie Prevost, Ken Suber, Frank
Toman, and Halena Bilton.

AMUC'09 also saw two Tasmanian teams compete at the mixed championships for the
first time. Michael Dunne captained Bad Apples to 15th (seeded 22nd) place out
of 23 teams, while Shavawn Donoghue and David Cooke shared the responsibilities
of organising the second Tasmanian team, runamok, which finished 18th (seeded
23rd). Both teams did Tasmanian proud by showing off our great sportsmanship and
finishing 5th and 4th in Spirit respectively. Shannon Trenwith from Bad Apples
also ended the tournament on a high by winning the female MVP.

There was also a Tasmanian flavour to one of the Victorian teams that played at
AMUC'09. Joe Boyer, Jason De Puit, Nick Moles, and Tim Effeney were all pickups
for Funny Duck, who finished the tournament in 21st place.

== University ==
Regular lunchtime pickup games continued throughout the year and were generally
well attended. The Tasmanian University Ultimate Club also saw some turnover in
key administrative roles, helping to revitalise the club and provide some fresh
new ideas as they build towards a big 2010.

== Elite Players ==
In July, Ash Martens competed with the Crocs (Australia) at the World Games held
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The Crocs had a highly successful campaign, winning both
the bronze medal and spirit.

== Volunteers ==
2009 saw yet another first for Ultimate in Tasmania, with the TUA holding its
inaugural Annual Dinner to recognise the significant contributions of volunteers
within our community. Matt Smith received the Volunteer of the Year award for
his efforts in transforming the Tasmanian Two-Hat into a two day tournament in
2008. The Black and Blue Award was presented to Masni Bennett for her
significant efforts in re-branding the TUA, through the creation of a new logo
for the association, and work in producing the new website. Finally, Jeff Dunn
was honoured as the TUA's first ever Lifetime Member for his numerous years of
work within the Tasmanian ultimate community.

Shavawn Donoghue was acknowledged by the AFDA by becoming only the third
Tasmanian to receive the Rob Hancock Award; for most outstanding contributions
to flying disc sports. The Rob Hancock Award is the most prestigious award that
can be bestowed by the AFDA, and Shavawn was a most deserved winner.

Finally the AFDA also acknowledged Michael Dunne's efforts during the year by
awarding him the August Volunteer of the Month.

== Administration ==
In 2009 some very significant changes happened within the TUA, seeing movement
in all positions on the executive. Shavawn Donoghue, having served as treasurer
since the inception of the association 6 years ago, stepped down and was
replaced by Felix Kennedy. Jemery Day, who had also served as president during
those 6 years, swapped roles with the vice-president John Kristensen, and Masni
Bennett replace Joe Boyer as secretary after his 2 years in the role.

A big thank you to all members of the TUA committee for their work throughout
2009. A huge amount was accomplished by our small group of volunteers, and
everyone should be proud of what has been accomplished.


John Kristensen,
TUA President