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Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 09:07:17 +0000
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From: Aram_Flores@gbccmail.lehman.com (Aram Flores)
Subject: Ultim-8
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     Fellow Ultimate Players,
     
     I must confess I find the current Britdisc discussion on the Ultim-8 
     tour a bit amusing.  I see it as coming down to one simple question:
     
     Does anyone think that one set or format of tournaments can possibly 
     satisify the diverse pool of ultimate players in this country?
     
     The answer, in my opinion, is NO.  How can the schedule of students be 
     reconciled with the 9 to 5ers (7 to 6ers in my case)?  Students want 
     the tournaments scheduled around their exams and summer holidays, 
     while the competitive club teams want the season centered around the 
     major international tournaments and daylight savings time (lit pitches 
     are scarce and expensive in London).  Students want tournaments to be 
     very cheap while club teams (at least ours) are more concerned with 
     good pitches and facilities.  
     
     Then there is the issue of who plays who and how often.  A delicate 
     balance to say the least.  The top teams want mostly competitive games 
     against the other top teams, the up-and-coming teams want to play the 
     top teams, the "fun" teams don't care and students want to play 
     everybody.  Who gets their way?  If you try to force the top clubs to 
     play the lowest teams week in - week out wouldn't they be likely to 
     split and form their own league (a la the premiership)?  On the other 
     hand if the lower club teams were never allowed to play the top teams 
     how would they ever improve?  The answer, in my opinion, is balance.
     
     I think the tour can be an important part of improving Ultimate in 
     this country.  The tour certainly made Shotgun a better team this year 
     and propelled us to a fairly successful Vancouver campaign.  However, 
     I was a bit disappointed with the number of "regular" tournaments this 
     year.  I don't think that allowing the top teams to be split away from 
     the lower teams for 4 or 5 tournaments each year is asking too much if 
     their are 4 or 5 other tournaments where a more traditional format is 
     used.  
     
     In summary, I am a big supporter of the tour, however, I think it 
     should be just one part of a balanced tournament calendar.
     
     
     Aram,  Shotgun Ultimate
     
     
     
     PS:  Students - organise your own tournaments, its got to be more fun 
     than playing and hanging out with a bunch of "old and arthritic" 
     (quoting Mark Jefferson) club players.