Balti to answer your questions as best I can.......
>1. Where do the other disc sports fit into this scheme? As I read it this
is purely >an ultimate based association - are we not better presenting a
united "disc >sports" front to the media, sports Council, BUSA etc?
There is absolutely nothing to stop the association from being involved in
initiatives with other disc sports but this proposal is purely about sorting
Ultimate out. I'm sure events such as the Disc Jam in London last month
would be worth getting involved in. Also, initiatives such as trying to get
leaflets in discs sold in shops would be another place for combination
across sports.
Both Ultimate and Disc Golf are flourishing in the UK despite having very
little real connection. Many of the so-called 'flying disc federations' in
other countries are a bit of a sham due to the hegemony of Ultimate. I think
the other sports would be better served by their enthusiasts looking after
their own affairs.
As it stands, since the dissolution of the BFDF, the BUF has no mandate to
organise other disc sports anyway. My opinions on 'disc sports' being a
wishy-washy label which dilutes the public appreciation of the individual
games are well known. Is this the five minute argument of the full half
hour?!
>2. I'm concerned by the lack of attention given to university students (the
>"lifeblood of our sport") this proposal doesn't seem to do much to help
"attract" >new players to the sport - while other "university sports" are
offering to let >someone play pretty much for free all year we're now saying
"You can play for >free in your first year but if you like playing and want
to go to Regionals Indoors >in your 2nd year it's gonna cost you �18"...
I have talked with a lot of students about this and have had a very positive
response from them about the proposal. Bear in mind that as well as the free
first year of eligibilty and the big discount, they can also benefit from
the fact that all student events are exempt from membership requirements. If
a student player is serious enough to be playing in the (expensive) Tour or
whatever then i don't think �18 is going to be a big deal. I have tried to
make this as accessible to students as possible. I hope I have done enough.
Students are more and more running their own affairs and I think this trend
makes sense as their calendars, competition standards and wallet sizes
diverge from the growing number of non-student players. If the desired BUSA
recognition comes then its likely that non-student player won't be allowed
in their events at all. That said, I accept that we musn't put them off
joining. �18 is a huge subsidy (its loss-making effectively) and look what
they get for it.
>3. Whilst I appreciate the need to "discourage" players from ducking the
main >membership fee the �10 per tournament fee seems a bit steep - Given
the >current tournament costs - this could mean that a visiting player could
end up >playing up to �25 just to play a tournament - Perhaps a better
solution being >that each team is allowed one guest player, who would need
to be rostered
>(with reasons) as such, these guest players could then be monitored to see
if >the sytem is being abused ??
Agreed - I'll let the new board of directors or Director of Competitions
sort out a fair approach. The high guest fee I suggested was intended to put
people off cheating the system but I certainly wouldn't want foreign guest
players to have to pay this.
>4. Will you be offering the ability for teams to register "en masse" with
the >money coming via the "club representative" - not all potential members
will >have access to the internet, a credit card or even a cheque book ?
err..... everyone has a cheque book don't they? They could even pay cash at
a tournament. There's no reason why teams shouldn't register en-masse as
long as we maintain contact with individuals. To be honest one of the
biggest problems with the current setup has been getting team contacts to
organise their teams which is one of several reasons for the move to
communicating with individuals directly.
Teams contacts will of course still be important for maintaining official
contact with teams and organising rosters and tournament fees, etc. However,
there are a lot of really slack team contacts out there so what better way
to keep them on their toes but to tell their players directly about all the
tournaments they're missing! I think women players will benefit from this
hugely as they tend to be overlooked when teams pick which sort of events to
attend. I hope to see a rennaissance of womens ultimate once we have proper
contact with all the women.
>5. Is a �18 vs �30 differential for Unwaged vs Waged fair (I'll leave
others to >argue about just who it may be unfair on!) and how are we
proposing to check >up on unwaged status and how often will this status be
confirmed?
The differential represents a standard 33% reduced student rate (e.g. young
persons railcard.) Surely this answers your question 2? One important point
which Paul Meaney raised was policing 'unwaged' status. I think this would
be a lot easier with students (i.e. show Student ID cards) than unemployed
people. Perhaps this should apply only to students? I'll let the new board
decide if it becomes a problem in the future.
>Subject to clarification of point 1 above BUA seems like a pretty sensible
>name - I think someone already beat us to British Ultimate Players
>Association :-)
Well from a 'nice easy name to remember' point of view, BUA is great. The
only problem is whether that precludes any future Northern Irish
teams/players from joining us. The geographical definition of 'British' is
the mainland island of England, Scotland and Wales. The political/cultural
definition might stretch to those in NI who consider themselves 'British'
but I think a lot of republicans might have other feelings! Perhaps this
isn't a big issue but I wanted to suggest 'UK Ultimate Association' also.
>Just to re-iterate I believe this is a great idea and one we should
actively >pursue...
I look forward to your 'Yes' vote in that case!!
My hope is that despite inevitable teething troubles, this proposal has
enough flesh to allow us to get the ball rolling. I'm sure we'll have to
change a lot of things but with a bigger board of directors, an
administrator and a newsletter I'm sure we can overcome most hurdles.
Ask me some more questions......
Cheers
Ben
