2014 State of the Villainous Empire! Part 1/3

As with last year I've broken this into three posts as there is simply too much happening to cover it all in one or two posts!!!! So without further ado:

Part 1 - The year that was (the remainder of 2013).

Since August last year, Townsville Ultimate has been growing locally and achieving a number of milestones. Townsville Ultimate commissioned a new jersey for Halibut and we sent two teams to compete. The tournament provided a great learning experience with which some of those lessons are being applied this year. I’m happy to say that this year we’re looking to send another two teams (albeit smaller teams), and I believe Mackay and Cairns are also looking at sending a team each to Halibut.

It would be incredible to see four teams from North Queensland attend this year particularly as it wasn’t that long ago that it was a struggle for one team to be sent! Part of this is due to Queensland Ultimate Disc Association’s (QUDA) continued commitment to the region by providing a subsidy for the players attending. Townsville Ultimate has also been making the tournament more affordable for members by covering the team fee and reducing the cost of the jerseys to $50.

September was a busy month with the AFDA Women’s Conference, the Uni Games Fundraising Tournament and of course, the Australian University Games. The AFDA Women’s Conference was attended by Matthew Finn and I on behalf of the club after we had canvassed for other participants, however they all had previous engagements.

The conference was hosted in Brisbane over two days and it was a magnificent networking opportunity. After attending a number of individual sessions I’m happy to say that what we’ve been doing over the years in regards to recruitment to grow Ultimate in Townsville is the correct path, and we now have the resources and confidence to take Women’s Ultimate to the next level!

It makes me very happy to announce that as a result of the conference, the support of a number of women across Australia, QUDA, and AFDA, that Queensland’s next representative team will be, The Powerpuffs! This team will be captained by Laura Knecht and Ashlee Dodd. The team will have full access to the club’s resources and the team has already commenced training. Their first goal is to prepare for the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships as they will be the primary picks for the mixed team, The TownsVillains. The Powerpuffs are planning to debut at the 2015 Northern Regionals and potentially attend the 2015 Australian Ultimate Championships.

September also saw a successful fundraising tournament held for the JCU Uni Games Team. The tournament catered for four teams and raised enough money to cover the Uni Games team’s food for the week. This team was the first JCU Uni Games team for a number of years. The team performed exceptionally well quietly surpassing everyone’s tips to finish 4^th in Division 2 and winning an award at the JCU ceremony, “Most Unexpected Result”! 

October saw a number of Townsville players travel to Charters Towers and Mackay to help spread Ultimate in the region by providing coaching support. Three cars travelled to Charters Towers to help Ashlee Dodd and Tyson Buhagiar run an exhibition match at the Active Lifestyles Festival. There were a number of spectators and the local players enjoyed the structured games. Thanks to QUDA for providing the money to cover the fuel.

Mackay saw its first Level 1 Coaching Course and a car full from Townsville made its way down to also participate. As a result both clubs now have additional level 1 coaches which should make teaching beginners much easier. Thanks to QUDA for providing John McNaughton as the coaching presenter and covering the fuel costs for Townsville to travel down.

October also saw the Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships (AMUC) being hosted in Canberra. The TownsVillains sent a team and started with a bang knocking off the 4^th seed, Canberra’s Burley Griffins, on universe point in the opening match. A full write up of the tournament can be read here. 

The Villains had a number of hard fought games and ended up placing 14^th at the end of the tournament. Our highest finishing place at AMUC since 2005. On top of this, it was officially announced that Townsville had won the bid to host AMUC 2014! This is the third time in the history of the event that AMUC will be hosted in Regional Australia and the first time it will be hosted in Regional Queensland! This is an amazing opportunity for the region to display high level Ultimate and to encourage club development beyond grass roots skills. AMUC will be hosted on the 18^th – 20^th of October 2014.

November saw the wrap up of both Townsville leagues with Robust Fawn taking out the social league in a dominating display over Ducks Tie Together. Meanwhile in TSVL we saw Rainbow Seagull Fantasy edging out Demigods in their final. This was Ash O’Sullivan’s last competitive match in Townsville as he moves on to greener pastures in Sydney to do his Masters. Good luck O’Suv!  Thank you to Matt Finn and Scott Adams for running the leagues, to all of the captains, Tim Saunders for setting up the fields each night, and Timmy Roland for being the Social Event Guru.

The Queensland Hat was also hosted in November and with the event came the 2013 QUDA Awards. The TownsVillains took out the Club of the Year Award and received a $150 rebel sport voucher from QUDA which was used to purchase 8 agility poles, 50 cones and 2 whistles. The club also took the opportunity to invest in a pair of agility ladders and is storing the equipment in the new kit bag which was given to the club at AMUC. Thank you QUDA!

That's the wrap for 2013, for the continuation: Part 2 - The year that was (2014).