Tasmanian Ultimate Association
President's Report 2010

The Tasmanian ultimate community had a rather quiet 2010 when compared to what
was a very hectic 2009, but nonetheless a lot was still achieved. In Hobart, the
TUA ran four social leagues and the Tasmanian Ultimate Championships (TUC), in
addition to the halfWIT and Tasmanian Two-Hat XII tournaments. Tasmanian teams
performed well at interstate tournaments, and a number of local players were
selected to compete in elite level competitions. There was also some well
deserved recognition of volunteers both locally and nationally.


== Leagues ==
In 2010, Summer and Spring Leagues were again held outdoors at Sandown Park on
Monday nights. Player numbers for Summer League were slightly down compared to
previous years, but still consisted of two divisions with four teams in the
beginner division and six teams in the intermediate division. In contrast,
Spring League had the most players seen in a league since 2007, with six teams
on both the beginner and intermediate divisions.

Two indoor leagues were also held during Autumn and Winter on Sunday nights at
the Aurora Sports Stadium. Autumn League saw quite a jump in numbers from 2009,
with the eight teams in the league, while Winter League remained fairly constant
with six teams.

During the 2010 winter, TUC was also held for the second time since its return
from hiatus. While player numbers were similar to 2009 and there were again four
teams, it seemed many people didn't agree with the colder weather and
participation was down a bit which resulted in a number of forfeits during the
season. Despite this, the league was still successfully completed.

As always these leagues don't just happen by themselves, so a great deal of
thanks should go to Matt Smith, Alysia Prevost, Huddy Fuller, and Eliza
Burke-Polden. In particular I would also like to thank David Cooke and Andrew
Binny for their great work in managing the vastly higher than expected numbers
in Spring League, under what were rather trying circumstances.


== Tournaments ==
July of 2010 saw the second running of the halfWIT (half-yearly Winter Indoor
Tournament) at the Aurora Sports Stadium. Numbers were down quite a bit from
2009 with only four teams, but from all reports it was still a highly successful
and fun tournament. The tournament organising committee of Stew Wilde, Nick
Moles and Charlie Prevost did an excellent job ensuring the tournament was well
run. Alysia Prevost, Shavawn Donoghue, and Felix Kennedy are also thanked for
their work behind the scenes.

The premier event on the Tasmanian ultimate calendar, the Tasmanian Two-Hat XII,
was shifted back to its traditional second weekend in October, and held at
Cornelian Bay in 2010. The number of interstate players was down significantly
from 2009, which was boosted by AMUC'09 being held the previous weekend, but a
large increase in local players meant that overall numbers were similar, with
the tournament having six teams. There was a lot of positive feedback from many
of the interstate players, which can only help to further increase the profile
of the Tasmanian Two-Hat on the mainland as a quality tournament. A lot of this
credit goes to Shavawn Donoghue, Alysia Prevost, Emma Pharo, and Emily Johnson
as the tournament organising committee. Others who helped out during the event
included Nicholas Oldfield, Liz Blink, Ken Suber, Jemery Day, Louise Emmerson,
David Cooke, Reed Burgette, Charlie Prevost, Rich Little, Matt Smith, Andy Cole,
Mike Dunne, Hazwan Khair, and a special mention for Andrew Binny.


== Australian Ultimate Championships 2010 (AUC'10) ==
In March 2010 the Southern Australian Ultimate Championships 2010 (SAUC'10) were
held on the outskirts of Melbourne. With the new year came a new Tasmanian open
team call Bad Apples, breaking the long tradition of the Tassie Tiggers teams.
Though suffering a number of losses to injuries and early flights, Bad Apples
played well throughout the weekend finishing a very respectable 5th out of 8
teams (with a very undermanned team going into the final game), and secured a
spot at the Australian Ultimate Championships 2010 (AUC'10).

Bad Apples then ventured across to Adelaide in April to compete in AUC'10. A
number of old Tasmanian faces now located in Adelaide and some pick-ups from
Chilly B (Vic) helped to bolster the playing numbers. Unfortunately some key
injuries again hampered the teams prospects with Bad Apples eventually finishing
16th out the 16 teams. Bad Apples did manage to uphold a fine Tasmanian
tradition of wining the spirit prize at AUC'10, making it the fourth time since
2002 that a Tasmanian open team has done so. Congratulations to Huddy Fuller for
pulling the team together.

In the women's division things didn't fare so well, with Tasmania unable to
field a team in their own right at SAUC'10. With a bit of work, Eliza
Burke-Polden and Emily Johnson managed to pull together some local and
interstate players to play under the name of VicTas. For what was essentially a
pick-up team they perform very well and finished 5th out of 6 teams.


== Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships 2010 (AMUC'10) ==
The Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships 2010 (AMUC'10) held towards the end
of October in Bathurst could have been considered fairly low-key from a
Tasmanian perspective after the circus that was AMUC'09 in Hobart last year.
LOG! reformed after a year off to battle against the rain, thunder, lightning,
and earthquakes that were served up by the rural city. After some hard fought
games against the other teams, LOG! finished a very credible 17th out of 26
teams, as well as winning the spirit prize. Congratulations goes to Shavawn
Donoghue for running a very successful team, and to Cath Matthews for winning
the MVP award. 


== University ==
Lunchtime pick-up games where held throughout the year with player numbers
ebbing and flowing with the weather conditions. The Tasmanian University
Ultimate Club managed to field a team at the Southern University Games in July,
coming away with the bronze medal. Congratulations to everyone on the team, in
particular Eliza Burke-Polden who also won the female MVP.


== Elite Players ==
A number of Tasmanians competed on the world stage in 2010. Steven Wright and
Tim Stoneman played for Thunder, the Australian junior open team, at the World
Junior Ultimate Championships 2010 in Germany during August. Thunder finished
8th out of 18 teams. 

In July, Mike Baker played for the Estonian club Sexy Legs at the World Ultimate
Club Championships. The team played well above their initial seeding of 38 to
finish 28th out of the 40 teams in the mixed division.

Congratulations to all of these players for not only making their respective
teams, but for showing the skill and dedication that is required to play at the
highest levels of ultimate.


== Volunteers ==
The TUA held its second Annual Dinner in May of 2010 to recognise the volunteers
within the community and the significant contributions that they make. The
Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Shavawn Donoghue for the
significant amount of time and effort she put into running AMUC'09. Alysia
Prevost received the Black and Blue award for her behind the scenes
contributions to AMUC'09 and the Tasmanian Two-Hat XI. Finally, David Cooke was
honoured with Lifetime Membership for his many years of work within the
Tasmanian ultimate community.

Some of the local volunteers were also recognised by the AFDA for their
contributions. David Cooke was awarded the Volunteer of the Month in January
2010 for his "untiring and consistent work", and Shavawn Donoghue and the
AMUC'09 tournament organising committee were honoured with the tournament being
announced as the AFDA's Tournament of the Year for 2009. This was an exceptional
effort, and everyone who volunteered some of their time to help ensure that
AMUC'09 ran smoothly should be very proud of themselves.


On a personal note - A very big thank you to all the members community who
helped out in big and small ways throughout the year. Whether it was just
helping to pick up cones after leagues, or running a large tournament, the time
and effort these people volunteered were all highly valued. These contributions
all help to make the ultimate community in Tasmania as great as it is today, and
one that I am very proud to be a part of.

John Kristensen,
TUA President