2006 President's Report

2006 has seen some consolidation in ultimate in Hobart, with social
leagues continuing each season, repeating the formats for outdoor
Autumn and indoor Winter leagues from 2005, and the evolution of the
Tasmanian Ultimate Championships (TUC) into a 3 team A-League. This
year also saw a whole range of new league organisers running
leagues. Thanks to league organisers Matt Smith, Aaron Pinkus, Dave
Cooke, Sarah Robinson, Basil van Riet, John Kristensen and Tim
Johnson for running TUA leagues in 2006, with ever present support
from Jeff Dunn. Thanks also to all the new players for coming along
to TUA social leagues and to the old players for coming back for
more!

Thanks also to Matt Smith for stepping up to take over the job of
Two-Hat Tournament Director. Two-Hat VIII was held at North Hobart
Oval in October, with record equalling numbers (48 players and 5
teams) and once again with good support from interstate players.
Thanks also to the following people for helping Matt to run the
tournament: Alysia Cullen; Shavawn Donoghue; Masni Bennet; Helena
Bilton; Joe Boyer; Felix Kennedy; Ash Martens; Mike Baker; Aaron
Pinkus; Sam Waugh; John Kristensen and James Bowe. Shavawn
Donoghue's record in being a member of the spirit winning team 5
times is particularly notable - especially given that this award has
only been made for the last 6 Two-Hats!

The Tassie Tiggers again ventured across Bass Strait twice in 2006,
first to qualify for the Australian Ultimate Championship at the
Southern Australian Ultimate Championships, held in Melbourne in
March 2006. This team had 12 players, including 6 first time
Tiggers. Despite lacking some match practice, the Tiggers finished
in 6th place and  thanks to wildcards and another team giving up
their place, the Tiggers secured a place at Nationals.

The Tiggers finished in 15th place out of 18 teams in the Open
Division at Nationals. This final placing was three places above
their seeding and ahead of two teams that had beaten them at the
qualifying tournament. This was a sensational result for the
Tiggers, especially given the small team size - 13 players,
including 5 who hadn't played Nationals for a Tasmanian team
previously. Mike Dunne also received a special TUA youth development
grant which provided financial assistance for him to play for the
Tiggers in Melbourne at the qualifying tournament, and to give him
some exposure to elite level ultimate early in his ultimate playing
career. Unfortunately Mike Dunne couldn't make it to Sydney for
Nationals.

Congratulations to captain Mike Baker for winning the Most Valuable
Player (MVP) Award at Nationals for the second year running. Thanks
also to Mike for captaining the team, coaching the team and for
general team management, and for ensuring that the Tiggers played
Nationals in 2004 and qualified for Nationals in 2005 and 2006.
Mike's efforts on behalf of the Tiggers have been much appreciated
over the last three years and we wish him well with his move to
Darwin.

Shavawn Donoghue and Ash Martens once again played in the Women's
Division at Nationals playing for Southside, a strong Sydney based
team which finished in 4th place out of 16 teams.

Matt Petrie played for the Moreton Bay Buggers in the National
Ultimate Frisbee League (NUFL) in 2006. In addition, 5 Tasmanian
players played at the World Ultimate Club Championships held in
Perth in November 2006. Kate Godber and Jemery Day played for the
Restless Flycatchers in the Mixed Division and finished in 26th
place (seeded 30th), Shavawn Donoghue and Ash Martens played for
Southside in the Women's division and finished in 10th place (seeded
6th) and Mike Baker played for Thong and finished 2nd in the Open
division (seeded 10th). While these are not strictly national teams,
having a Tasmanian player come home with a silver medal from an
ultimate world championships is a significant achievement!

A mixed Tasmanian team reformed in 2006 and went to Ballarat for
Mixed Nationals, after a one year absence from these championships,
thanks to the efforts of captains Shavawn Donoghue and Matt Petrie.
With very limited numbers of players, Zing managed to finish in a
creditable 14th place out of 20 teams, improving on their seed of
16th.

The University of Tasmania Ultimate Frisbee Club had mixed fortunes
with a decline in the attendance at the weekly lunchtime pickup
games. On the positive side, the club managed to put together their
first ever mixed team to attend an interstate tournament. This team
travelled to Ballarat for the Southern University games where they
finished 7th out of 12 teams (with 4 wins and 4 losses for the
tournament) and qualified for the Australian University Games. After
playing their first ever tournament as a team, the team improved
even further. The University of Tasmania Ultimate Frisbee Club team
finished the Australian University Games played in Adelaide in
September in 8th place out of 17 teams, having been seeded 14th, and
finishing as the third ranked team in the southern region.

Congratulations to Ash Martens for her selection on the 2006 Green
and Gold Merit Team which is selected at the Australian University
Games every year. Ash is the first Tasmanian to be selected for this
"team". Thanks also to Ash Martens for driving the formation of the
first University of Tasmania ultimate team too.

Ashley Button was selected to represent Australia at the World
Junior Ultimate Championships in Boston in August 2006. Ashley is
the first Tasmanian to represent Australia at an international
ultimate tournament - and the Australian Junior Boys team finished
in a very creditable 4th place, narrowly missing out on a medal and
the team won the spirit of the game award. The TUA was pleased to be
able support Ashley by awarding him a junior development grant to
help him play for his country. Ash's selection to the Australian
team also resulted in 4 minutes of coverage on the ABC's Stateline,
which provided some good publicity for ultimate in Tasmania.

For 2006, it has been fantastic to see the return of a Tasmanian
team at Mixed Nationals, a University of Tasmania team forming,
Ashley Button playing for Australia, five Tasmanians playing at
World Clubs, and an increase in the number of women playing
ultimate. Goals for 2007 and beyond include aiming to get a first
Tasmanian Women's team to Nationals, developing more youth players,
and possibly a youth team in one of our leagues and moving towards a
weeknight league which includes more than one division and
continuing to recruit new player at the grass roots level.

The TUA has strengthened its sound financial position thanks to the
work of Shavawn Donoghue as treasurer and due to the number of well
run TUA events throughout the year. This puts the TUA in a strong
position to continue development of the sport, by supporting junior
players, women's development, elite development and increasing the
ultimate playing opportunities in Hobart, ranging from social to
competitive.

Finally, I would like to thank all the members of the TUA committee,
and others who attended TUA committee meetings, for helping to make
things happen. In particular I wish to thank Mike Baker who is
stepping down after three years as secretary of the TUA, and Tim
Phillips who is stepping down as vice-president after two years in
the job. Mike and Tim have both contributed significantly to the TUA
during their time on the executive. Without people volunteering
their time and energy, there would be no ultimate in Hobart! I look
forward to seing more people stepping up to help run ultimate in
Tasmania in 2007.


Jemery Day.
TUA President