Tasmanian Ultimate Association (TUA)
Autumn and Winter
Leagues 2003
Captain’s Notes
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PROLOGUE -----------------------------------------------------
SPIRIT OF THE
GAME: Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive
play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players,
adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.
This league isn't just Ultimate
-
it is a SOCIAL league,
-
it is
a MIXED league.
This means that those who have well developed frisbee skills already will use this league to develop their
Spirit skills.
We have no umpire, except ourselves, and we all strive to be
objective and impartial. Winning points is secondary to being good spirited.
Ultimate is NON-CONTACT
SPORT. New players especially need to be convinced of the following: we
make every effort to avoid obstructing, to avoid threatening with collision,
and to avoid actual contact. People coming from other sports (especially
football) will need to unlearn the practices of shepherding and "using the
body".
There are many ways in which proficient players must make
ALLOWANCE FOR NEW PLAYERS:
-
not mark hard
-
not deliberately force forehand
-
not demand the dump
-
not cut off all targets for the thrower
-
not poach
-
not overuse hucks
-
do call fouls against yourself or your teammates if they occur
-
do stop play to explain rules if the
issue has an effect on play
-
do discuss later rather than penalise
minor infractions
Ensure your own less able or less experienced players are
given tuition, encouragement, and are allowed a full share of the play. Provide
a dump option but do not pressure for it to be taken. Throw to them even if the
cut is marginal, especially if they are trying hard against a mismatch. Slash
spirit scores to teams that "look off" their women or beginners.
Don't call plays if you don't have time to explain what is going on to new
players. Try hard to organise your team to arrive early for a team warm up, stretch
and throw. Aim to warm down and stretch as a team after games.
Spirit guidelines and scores are explained in the player’s
handout. Make sure you and your team
are familiar with these.
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DUTIES --------------------------------------------------
Captains have a duty of care to the players on their team
(there are no umpires regulating play.) To exercise this duty they must
proactively communicate with the League Director, other Captains and their own
team.
Captains are responsible for ensuring that they have enough
players of each gender each week to compete, and that they are ready to play at
the designated time.
They are also responsible for ensuring that their team is
playing with good spirit, encouraging newer players, and everyone is playing
safely. One safety issue is that players will be able to play better and avoid
collision better if they wear cleats.
They must also be fully aware of the WFDF rules
http://www.wfdf.org/2001ultirulesrev.htm
and the local
variations (see below also)
http://www.afda.com/tua/ultimate/rules/
Many rules and decisions about play are at the discretion of
captains; the guiding principles should be Common Sense and the Spirit of the
Game.
The following
are requirements on Captains, or vice-Captains if captain not present:
1. Forfeits:
if a team gives 24 hours notice of the forfeit to the opposing captain and the
League Director, they get their average spirit score (rounded up). A team gets
0 for spirit for a forfeit on the night.
Captains have discretion to agree to play rather than or despite a forfeit. Remember that people come to play a game. In fact, with very few players, a game of "hotbox" or a drill might even be an option.
Before game:
2. Captains
must ensure that team members have paid their fees (especially AFDA). New or
pay-by-the-game players should be directed to the League Director.
3. Captains
should perform the toss, ensure their players have removed watches etc, and
have their team on the line on time. If a team cannot be fielded 5 minutes
after the scheduled game start time, they automatically forfeit the game.
After game:
4. After
the completion of the first game of the night, captains must ensure the
opposition is acknowledged with a "cheer". The TUA insists on cheers,
BUT by "cheer" we mean some group activity by which, at the end of
each game, each team acknowledges the other team. Although a cheer is usually a
song, there are other activities at the end of a game that can be a positive
alternative to picking up your water bottle and walking away. It may take the
form of a poem or play, but, especially where conditions are adverse, time is
short, or after the last game each night, captains may agree to circle cheers,
short games, dances, impromptu speeches or performances, or any activity which
raises a smile or in some way says "thanks for the game".
5. Captains
must return game and spirit scores and to the League Director. The entire team
should decide spirit scores. With spirit scores teams should take into account
how well the opposing team used their team; it is not poor spirit to follow
these rules.
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RULES -------------------------------------------------
The definitive
reference for the rules is the web pages listed above. Rule variations for the Winter 2003 league are given below: