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Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 23:25:55 +0100 (BST)
From: Ben Booth <booth@atm.ox.ac.uk>
To: "'britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk '" <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: Regionisations
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On Tue, 9 Apr 2002, KD001(P.M.KETT) wrote:
> Ben's suggestion of a regional split would be
> great but I think that there is likely to be difficulty balancing the
> regions at the moment (just look at the debates over indoors), but as a
> long-term goal it has great potential. 
I think the idea of regionalisation of ultimate is a good
one.  The tour was set up to raise the level of the top
teams in the uk and has done a god job of this.  However
having tried to start a couple of teams (running out of
hereford) in the past, it is a large jump to bring teams
into national events partically the tour.  [I watch the
student teams in the south hold their breath over whether
they would have to bring teams up to st. andrews for student
nationals, and this is a problem faced by scotish teams who
trek south each year] I think the developement of more local
(to a region) events perhaps taking up just one day makes it
easier to make this transition.

Borrowing from the experience of oxford city korftball they
found that they were taking developement teams all over the
country, to play in the second division in what were ofter
quite low quality games.  There response was to say that
instead of carting a team up to leeds they developed a local
oxfordshire league - pushed for new recruits through peoples
work and incorporarted the student teams and now run a
reasombly high level 6-8 team league - lots of games, easy
to get people involved, great for pulling people through
into the oxford team which competes in the national 1st
division.  

If we could do that in the local region - say get hold of
pitch space for 1 day and get teams out from the local
region it's alot easier to get things organised, there is
let commitment required for the TDs and for the players
involed.  National tournaments become the highlights of the
year (be that open tour or a friendly scottish beach
tournaments) rather than the main stay.  This is done
already and not just by the more social teams - the london
winter league was a great example of teams from the south
east coming together and improving - it provided a focus for
the teams over winter and I think they all have come out
stronger.  I know that BAF looked at doing something similar
the end of last summer with a mini events hosting just 6
teams.  

I'm looking at getting a small one day tournament going in
hereford in the beginning of september this year.  Each year
the town holds the annual 'festival of the winds' with kite
flyers coming in from all over the country.  I'm trying to
talk them into allowing me to host a 6 or 8 team mini
tournament to coincide with the same event.  I'm hoping to
use this as a way to resurect the hereford hoofers (dorian?,
richard? taz? are you still in the area?) but if there are
teams in the rest of the region (south wales or
midlands or beyond) that want to take part let me know.  

To develope ultimate and bring people into the sport we need
venues to take them.  I think one of the biggest restriction
on growth of the sport in this country is providing venues
and events for people to play in, which is partly why
universities are responsible for most of our current crop of
players.  We've put together a spring league in oxford which
gets student teams here playing each other (10 teams,
regular games from jan to may and we have over 120 players
on those books).  Maybe it is easier (certainly from my
point of view) to do this on a smaller scale.  My ideal
would be to get a 4 division league running in oxford, but
that ain't going to happen this year or the next.  But more
regional venues might be part of an answer.

ok my tu'pence just ran out (it did long ago but I hope
you weren't counting),

ben
mootones, hoofers, whatever