2009 Hobart Spring Social League

Overview

The 2009 Spring League ran for 7 weeks from October 26 to December 7 on Monday evenings, from 6:00-8:30pm (with 2 divisions again), at Sandown Park, in Lower Sandy Bay. The league organiser for the Spring Leagues was David Cooke with some help from Steve Wright (for the first few weeks).

Spring League organisers David Cooke and Steve Wright.

One free Learn to Play session was run from 6:00-7:30pm on Monday October 19. This was a great way for new players to learn about ultimate and the Spring League, and to try the game before signing up for the league!

Spring League blurb

Due to field availability, we are restricted to a total of 10 teams in spring league - 6 in one division and 4 in the other. The league will operate on a strictly first in (registered and paid) best dressed basis, with total player numbers capped at 110 players (11 per team), with a minimum of 3 women per team. This means that a minimum of 30 spots are reserved for women on the registration list and a maximum of 80 male pre-registrations are allowed. Late male registrations will be placed on a reserve list. Places will be allocated to male players on the reserve list in the week prior to the first game if there are less than 30 female registrations. If more than 30 women register, the last players to pay will be placed on a reserve list.

Spring League 2009

We know Spring League 2009 is the one you've been waiting for. Time to get out of those thermals, into those cleats, and out onto the long lush green fields of Sandown Park, in Lower Sandy Bay. If you're anything like us you can't wait to get outside and run around with a disc again!

Remember, your registration is not valid until you've paid your registration fees. This means that if we reach the player cap, only paid-up registrations count.

Please note that the TDs reserve the right to reallocate players between divisions if they feel that the player's experience level is inappropriate for their chosen division.

Social Beginner Division

Social Beginner Division is a league for work/friend based teams that just want to have a bit of very casual fun, and is perfect for new players and juniors. The league's focus is on introducing new players to the game and building basic skills. By playing in the Social Division you will experience the likes of "the force", "stacking" and "cutting". If these terms mean nothing to you, then this is the right league for you! If required, more experienced players can be assigned to new teams to help introduce you to this exciting game! Steve Wright is the Tournament Director for the Social Beginner Division.

Social Intermediate Division

Social Intermediate Division is for all you players out there who have a bit of Ulti experience. If you have played a few leagues before and are coming back for more, then this league is for you. Here you will experience well-spirited games whilst also being introduced to some of the more advanced tactics use in Ultimate. Don't be scared, these new tactics will only help you to have more fun and there will be plenty of other players on your team to help you along if you are unsure about anything! Also keep in mind that Ultimate is a social sport and games will be played accordingly. David Cooke is the Tournament Director for the Social Beginner Division.

Please note that Social Beginner aims to introduce new players to the game, so we will endeavour to have senior players involved in a mentoring and coaching role on each team in this division.

Fees

Spring registration fees were as follows (same fee for each division):

• Beginner - never played an Ultimate League before - $15
• 18 years or under - $15
• Standard registration per division (pay by September 30th) - $20
• Late fee per division (pay after September 30th) - $40

Rules

The rules for the Hobart Outdoor Ultimate Leagues are based on the WFDF rules, which were updated in 2009. The League Organiser takes the position of the TD under these rules. Check the latest local rules here. There are a few exceptions to these rules and a couple of recent modifications.

Schedule

Spring Social Beginner Division Schedule

Spring Social Beginner Division Minor Round Schedule

Games schedules follow. Each team plays one 50 minute game per week (from 7:30-8:20pm), so each team plays every other team twice over a six week minor round series followed by the finals, consisting of a the grand final played by the top two teams and the wooden spoon playoff between the 3rd and 4th ranked teams.

Spring Social Beginner Division Finals Schedule

Finals week consists of the grand final played between the top two teams and the wooden spoon playoff played between the 3rd and 4th ranked teams. Note that the starting times for these games are different to the minor round game times, with the wooden spoon game starting at 6pm and the grand final at 7:40pm.

Spring Social Intermediate Division Schedule

Games schedules follow. Each team plays one 80 minute game per week (from 6:00-7:20pm), so each team plays every other team once over a five week round robin series followed by semi finals and the grand final.

Spring Social Intermediate Division Finals Schedule

The finals are played over two weeks. The first week consists of a qualifying final played between the top two teams and two semi-finals to determine which of the bottom 4 teams qualify for the preliminary finals. The second week consists of a 5th vs 6th playoff, two preliminary finals, a 3rd vs 4th playoff and a grand final. Note that the starting times for these games are different to the minor round game times.

Teams

Social Beginner Division

Team lists follow:

Social Intermediate Division

Team lists follow:

Results

Full results (minor rounds only) for the Spring Social Beginners Division and Social Intermediate Division follow.

TUA Spring Social Beginner League 2009

Jazz | Pure | Red Rum | Wobblies

TUA Spring Social Intermediate League 2009

Jeremy's Socks | Parma | Rockette | Salmonella | Wobblies | half-a-bee

Finals and Awards

Thanks to David Cooke (and Steve Wright) for their work as Spring League organisers!

League Organisers' Report

Last night saw the completion of both divisions of spring league. It was a great night for frisbee - clear with a little bit of a breeze. Thanks everyone for coming along!

Here's how the evening panned out:

Due to the foibles of this season's finals schedule, five players from Jazz also played in the intermediate division final. This made it pretty tough for Jazz's beginners, who essentially played savage for the entire final. Wobblies brought their A-game last night, but Jazz were up to the challenge. It was great to see such a close-fought match that could have gone either way. In the end, the class and great team balance of Wobblies prevailed.

The scoreline belies the closeness of the individual points in this game, which were incredibly hard-fought. Eventually the skills that took Rockette to the top of the table in the regular season shone through and they took the final 12-3.

In the beginners division, the Guts in final prize was awarded to Alex de Vries for great reflexes in being able to lay out and catch the disc after it was knocked down by an opposition player.

In the intermediate division, the Style in final prize was awarded to Jeff Steadman (Rockette) for a wonderful reflex catch around his ankles after rebounding off a defender's head. This showed remarkable situational and disc awareness, as well as great full-body reflexes. The Guts in final prize was awarded to Chris Mrzyk (Salmonella) for a great overhead grab while the disc was coming down at a strange angle. This involved all sorts of body contortions while running blindly backwards.

So to summarise, the winners in each division were as follows:

Awards table:

Full final standings (Beginners)

Full final standings (Intermediate)

Thanks to everyone involved in running Spring League, with special thanks to Steve, Matt, Jeff, JK and Charlie for their help through the league and/or running the BBQ.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Summer League - the Come and Try session will be on Monday January 11th!
Cheers - Dave C