In July 2006, the first ever University of Tasmania (UTas) ultimate team travelled to Ballarat, Victoria to play the Southern University Games (July 4-6), a qualifying tournament for Australian University Games held in September 2006. The seeding for this first ever UTas team at SUG seems to have been forgotten - but given it was their first tournament, it is likely that they had a low seed. Southern University Games had twelve teams and two initial pools of six teams in 2006. To make the quarter-finals, the UTas team had to finish 4th or higher in their pool. To qualify for Australian University games, the team had to finish in 6th place or higher, or else rely on other teams pulling out.
The UTas team beat Latrobe Wondonga 15-3 in their first game at SUG, then lost 15-2 to the University of Melbourne, followed by a 14-5 loss to Monash and finally a 9-6 win over Deakin. Day 1 - two wins and two losses. These two wins almost guaranteed UTas a place in the quarter finals.
The UTas team beat Latrobe Bundoora 13-5, in their final pool game placing them 3rd in their pool and facing a quarter-final against Flinders University (2nd in their pool). UTas lost this quarter-final 12-7 so were then playing off for positions 5 to 8 on the 3rd day.
The first playoff game was against Swinburne University of Technology, and the UTas team lost this game, 11-8. This result saw the UTas team play Latrobe Bundoora a second time for 7th place. The UTas team won this game 11-7. 7th place meant that UTas did not automatically qualify for Australian University Games - but the team was the first reserve from the southern region. As it happened, Swinburne University of Technology withdrew and so the UTas team qualified for AUG at their first attempt!
Full results of the 2006 Southern University Games may be found at the Unisport website. For the record, the University of Tasmania results were:
| Game | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Latrobe Wondonga | 15-3 |
| 2. | University of Melbourne | 2-15 |
| 3. | Monash | 5-14 |
| 4. | Deakin | 9-6 |
| 5. | Latrobe Bundoora | 13-5 |
| 6. Quarter-final | Flinders University | 7-12 |
| 7. 5-8 semi-final playoff | Swinburne University of Technology | 8-11 |
| 8. 7th v 8th playoff | Latrobe Bundoora | 11-7 |
The final team rankings (available at the AFDA website) were:
| Rank | Team | Seed |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The University of Melbourne (Vic) | ? |
| 2. | Adelaide University (SA) | ? |
| 3. | University of Ballarat (Vic) | ? |
| 4. | Flinders University (SA) | ? |
| 5. | Monash University (Vic) | ? |
| 6. | Swinburne University of Technology (Vic) | ? |
| 7. | University of Tasmania (Tas) | ? |
| 8. | La Trobe University: Bundoora (Vic) | ? |
| 9. | University of South Australia (SA) | ? |
| 10. | Deakin University (Vic) | ? |
| 11. | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Vic) | ? |
| 12. | La Trobe University: Wodonga (Vic) | ? |
7th place meant that UTas did not automatically qualify for the Australian University Games - but the team was the first reserve from the southern region. As it happened, Swinburne University of Technology did not go to AUG and so the UTas team qualified for AUG, from the reserve list, at their first attempt!
Thanks to Ash Martens and Mike Baker for putting the first UTas team together and to Shavawn for providing material for this team report!
| Shirt number | Name |
|---|---|
| 12 | Ash Martens (captain) |
| 99 | Kathleen Downey* |
| ? | Pauline Van Adrichem* |
| 7 | Shelly Slater* |
| ? | Aaron Just* |
| ? | Duncan Robinson* |
| ? | Kunal Verma* |
| 3 | Mark Verrall* |
| 13 | Mike Baker (captain) |
| ? | Iestyn Parry* |
| ? | Krishna (Panna) Praditya* |
| 79 | Philippe St-Pierre* |
| ? | Tim Johnson |
| ? | Tom Little?* |
UTas team photo, Ballarat, July 2006: (back row) Krishna (Panna) Praditya, Aaron Just, Duncan Robinson, Tom Little (?), Kunal Verma, Mark Verrall, Tim Johnson, Mike Baker (captain), Ash Martens (captain), (front row) Iestyn Parry, Philippe St-Pierre, Kathleen Downey, Pauline Van Adrichem, Shelly Slater.
Congratulations to Mike Baker and Ash Martens on their selection to the merit team selected at this tournament.
UTas team member Panna Praditya, singing the praises of ultimate frisbee and Southern University Games in the 2007 University of Tasmania Undergraduate Propectus Course Guide.