I wasn't going to bother to reply but since you have sent the same
email three times I thought I might.
3. yes, having teams play 5 games in a row isn't ideal, but given the
alternatives it was the best option available (or have I missed the helpful,
well thought out, suggestions as to how it could be done better that always
accompany people's gripes?!). Have those people that complained about 5
games in a row also noted that those teams got a late start on Sunday and
only played two games, thereby ensuring they were as fresh as possible. This
wasn't by accident! And that's the only time this is going to happen,
because now that teams have had a fair chance of finishing in the
appropriate place, we are going to play in peer pools for the rest of the
Tour and beyond. One days sl;ight discomfort for the benefit of the next few
years, definitely worth it in my book......
Not in mine. Surely as part of the mixed committee you want to see
the level of mixed improve to a level where a GB Mixed team can
actually compete at Worlds. Since no world class event that I know of
has so many consecutive games, why do we play in this way? Maybe
quality of games should be considered as well as quantity, and having
sufficient time to discuss the previous game, warm up, drill etc in
between games, let alone have the time to get food and water, should
be considered bare minimum requirements instead of luxuries.
4. Criteria for running a UKUA sanctioned event - when the UKUA get 4 bids
for every event they'd like to run, we can start getting to the level of
awarding them on the basis of the speed of refilling water bottles. IIRC
there was only one bid for MT1, so it was York or no Ultimate, are you
really going to criticise the UKUA for choosing York?!
It is probably the lack of transparency about the bidding process that
leads to such complaints. Of course if it was the only bid then it
was the right decision, and had people known this then maybe there
would have been less complaints.
5. I'll ignore the complaints that have no basis on reality (do you not find
it embarassing that some of your complaints are factually incorrect/made
up?!?!)
When I type a "6" instead of a "5"... yeah maybe a little embarrassed,
but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Since you weren't party to
most of the discussion between myself and Dave (and I don't want to
cover the same ground twice), I'll stand by my comments that that
tournament did not meet the standards that I would expect from a UKU
event.
Personally (and this is MY opinion) I'd be
willing to pay double the tournament fees we curently pay to have some of
the things not currently available (and so TDs get better remuneration for
their not inconsiderable efforts!).
FWIW I totally agree. Dave could have made £10k and I wouldn't have
complained if there was nothing to complain about other than the
price. But when you play 5 1/2 hrs in a row without any breaks to
fetch water or get food, then I see the TD playing on the pitch next
to me... of course I'm going to ask questions.
Finally, I don't get paid anything for all the time and effort I spend
working on making sure the Mixed Tour runs as smoothly as possible and
answering queries, complaints, [EMAIL PROTECTED] on BD etc. I don't do it for
recognition
or thanks either (although that's always nice), but I did get a bottle of
vodka once.... In stark contrast, the Premier League, awash with cash, still
has managers & players complaining about the Xmas schedule. Dry your eyes
mate, nothing's ever perfect!
This annoys me. You chose to do this; you knew what would be coming
and you decided to do it anyway. Don't try to hide by saying "well I
don't get paid" because you always knew you'd never get paid for your
services. Since I don't know of *anyone* in ultimate who gets paid
for what they do, I think your comments above are pathetic. True
nothing is ever perfect, but without criticism, discussion and
resolution nothing would ever improve. If you didn't want the
responsibility then you shouldn't have run for the board, but you have
it so stop whinging.
Ultimate (in this country) relies on people who are willing to give up their
own time and effort for free/not very much so that people actually have
events to go to. We do our best, but there'll always be something that
doesn't go as well as we planned, but don't think we don't take that on
board and strive for things to be better next time.
Exactly - we all know this, and if it weren't for people giving you
feedback (positive or negative) then you wouldn't ever get anywhere.
Brummie
On 4/20/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hello,
Thanks to Dave for fielding all the questions/critisisms so far, even those
that are outside his responsibility as TD of the tournament. For those of
you that don't know me, I am responsible for writing the schedules for the
Mixed Tour, something I have been doing for the past 3 years or so. I'm also
a member of the UKUA Board (thanks for voting for me!).
1. Mike N - There is a method for deciding which teams are entered for MT2,
its in the Mixed Tour Rules (on the website).
2. As with anything, scheduling a tournament involves compromise. The fact
that
a) every team that wanted to got to play
b) no one complained that they got screwed by the seedings
c) no one complained the games were too short so they didn't get value for
money
makes me believe that I got it right. Which, considering the many hours I
spent working through various options, taking a variety of things into
consideration and trying as best I could to answer everyone's questions is
reasonably gratifying.
3. yes, having teams play 5 games in a row isn't ideal, but given the
alternatives it was the best option available (or have I missed the helpful,
well thought out, suggestions as to how it could be done better that always
accompany people's gripes?!). Have those people that complained about 5
games in a row also noted that those teams got a late start on Sunday and
only played two games, thereby ensuring they were as fresh as possible. This
wasn't by accident! And that's the only time this is going to happen,
because now that teams have had a fair chance of finishing in the
appropriate place, we are going to play in peer pools for the rest of the
Tour and beyond. One days sl;ight discomfort for the benefit of the next few
years, definitely worth it in my book......
4. Criteria for running a UKUA sanctioned event - when the UKUA get 4 bids
for every event they'd like to run, we can start getting to the level of
awarding them on the basis of the speed of refilling water bottles. IIRC
there was only one bid for MT1, so it was York or no Ultimate, are you
really going to criticise the UKUA for choosing York?!
5. I'll ignore the complaints that have no basis on reality (do you not find
it embarassing that some of your complaints are factually incorrect/made
up?!?!) but just point out that if you want a general improvement in the
facilities available at events you WILL have to pay more, or find a large
group of "dedicated" volunteers. Personally (and this is MY opinion) I'd be
willing to pay double the tournament fees we curently pay to have some of
the things not currently available (and so TDs get better remuneration for
their not inconsiderable efforts!).
Finally, I don't get paid anything for all the time and effort I spend
working on making sure the Mixed Tour runs as smoothly as possible and
answering queries, complaints, [EMAIL PROTECTED] on BD etc. I don't do it for
recognition
or thanks either (although that's always nice), but I did get a bottle of
vodka once.... In stark contrast, the Premier League, awash with cash, still
has managers & players complaining about the Xmas schedule. Dry your eyes
mate, nothing's ever perfect!
Ultimate (in this country) relies on people who are willing to give up their
own time and effort for free/not very much so that people actually have
events to go to. We do our best, but there'll always be something that
doesn't go as well as we planned, but don't think we don't take that on
board and strive for things to be better next time.
Jaimie
PS I helped make some of the sandwiches, for free, that people enjoyed. Glad
I got something right. ;)
