>However, the majority of women who compete at this level will get >less disc, less pitch time and less opportunity to develop their >skills as players.
Couldn't agree more. If you are a woman playing in a mixed-open team and do not feel this is the case then I personally think you are particularly lucky. Furthermore, as a woman, no matter how valued you are as a player by your own team, I can guarantee that if you play against a men-only-open team they will take advantage of the difference in height, speed and even weight on some occasions (if I'm about to jump for the same disc as a big bloke I'll always back off rather than be wiped out mid-air). >As for hosting the women's tour on separate weekends, it's >already been mentioned that we have a pretty packed calender in >our relatively short outdoor season, so I doubt that this is a >practical suggestion anyway. Anyway, isn't it great that we still all get to party together? I'd much prefer to play with women on pitch (be it mixed or women's), but on the dance floor it's nice to have the chance to play with men too! Keeping the tournaments side by side means that the community stays strong and you have more supporters (always nice). As for numbers of women, I think Tour 1 and 2 are difficult as quite a few women players are students (fantastic growth in the sport) and with exams and course work deadlines looming Ultimate has to take second place to academia, just for the next month or so, it'll be interesting to see how this is reflected in the number of women's teams at Tours 3 and 4. The strangest thing is why in countries like Canada and the US men's ultimate continues to be called 'Open'? Looking forward to the weekend. Anna BAPS
