Not that it's necessarily applicable to all clubs (i.e. those with very few women), but presumably having the entirety (more or less) of the mixed season within university term time would enable heavily student dependent teams to enter thir tour? and the atmosphere of that tour could (perhaps) be even more suited to those who aren't yet "hooked"? Those who haven't been hooked completely by the mixed season will then sign up with glee for the rest of the Open season.
If having a low number of female players is the problem, this can only encourage female player recruitment, which must surely be a good thing? Tim On 7/12/06, Steve G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I'd like to second Possum's comment on the Open Tour starting late and how it affects University based teams. Flyght Club are largely based on two Universities here. At Tour 1 since 2002 we have had no trouble taking 2 and sometimes 3 teams to Tour 1. This year if it weren't for Possum and his UTB friends we would have missed Tour 1B. With Tour 1 in April we were able to build up the Tour to the Universities and get them involved early, build that team spirit and keep it going all summer. This time they've all gone home already. It's kind of put a damper on our ability to transition the University beginners into the outdoor season. On 12/07/06, Darroch Reid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > Here is my perspective about season length, which is > unlikely to be normative, but should be accurate for the > Birmingham context. > I have found that the timing of the Open Tour, in relation > to University terms, has had a much greater impact on > attendance than the length of the season. > UTB has always been a team that relies on a combination of > open players and students, and has never been at a point > where UTB would function without student input. > At Tours 1 & 3 we were able to take 2 teams, but when we > got promoted for Tour 4, we weren't able to get teams to > different venues due to transport. > Last year, we were able to gain some momentum with the > students, so that by the time their terms finished they > were already interested in the Tours, and willing to travel > from home towns to attend. This momentum did wane over the > Tour, but not because of the number of events. > This year we have been unable to enter any teams to Tours 1 > & 2, and are unlikely to get one to Tour 3 at this point. > This I believe (for UTB) has been because the Open Tour > started around graduation time. > > I do think that the splitting of Mixed and Open Tours has > helped players concentrate on each season, and has had > benefits for the Mixed Tour. > I think that for teams that don't rely on students, the > timing of the Open Season is less critical, but for teams > that do, it appears to have been detrimental, at least to > me/UTB. I'm not looking for a change, just commenting. > > Personally, I take the Open Tour seriously, whether I am in > the A-Tour or B-Tour and would prefer 4 B Tours. I prefer > the longer games and did appreciate the 90min+cap games of > Saturday BTour1. These will no doubt be back again for > Tour2, but for Tour1 this should be balanced with the > desire for fairness through increasing the number of games, > and potentially having occasional back-to-back games. > > As to the comments about back-to-back games, I feel that > BTour teams are able to cope with the odd 1 or 2. FC2 > played their best game of the weekend by beating BPF2 in > our/their 4th game in a row. > > Possum > > p.s. It's clear that for Ultimate in Birmingham to improve > we need to go and promote the sport. If you have any tips > and advice, please send them me. Thanks. > > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Just for the record, it wasn't for the GB/Top 8 players > > that the Tour was > > decreased from 4 to 3 this year. The reasons I seem to > > remember were: > > > > 1. The players who play both Mixed and Open/Women's > > Tour. If they attended > > all 4 Tours and Nationals for each division, that was 10 > > weekends of > > everyone's summer given up completely to 'required' > > ultimate tournaments. A > > lot of people thought that was too much. If you disagree > > with this point, > > then look at the numbers. Open Tour 1 had 48 teams but > > this decreased > > consistently throughout the season and there was only 31 > > teams at Tour 4. > > Same with Mixed Tour and Women's Tour. Both Mixed and > > Open Nationals were > > undersubscribed too. Mixed Nationals didn't even have 16 > > teams and Open > > Nationals (despite being the seeding tournament for the > > Tour) couldn't fill > > 32 spots. The UKUA made a reasonble decision based on > > these facts and > > shortened both seasons. > > > > 2. To give non-UKUA events higher profile and take some > > of the burden away > > from the UKUA volunteers. If people feel like they > > aren't getting enough > > tournaments through the year, there are still plenty of > > tournaments to play > > in or room in the calendar to host your own. The UKUA > > shouldn't be > > responsible for nearly every tournament in the summer > > calendar. Not even > > every 'competitive' one IMHO. > > > > Now I've addressed that point, I'll step back away from > > the rest of the > > discussion. > > > > Aura > > > > womens(at)ukultimate.com > > > > > > Ben Heywood writes: > > > > > Earlier today, a couple of people mentioned a Tour > > qualifier, though > > > referring to it as Tour 0 seems to have led to some > > confusion. > > > > > > My idea, which a couple of people seem to have picked > > up on already, is as > > > follows. (Let the record show, by the way, that I > > suggested this a year > > > ago, not just as a response to the Tour 1B problems...) > > > > > > > > The top teams wanted only three tours for reasons of > > exhaustion. Most > > > people I know from lower teams were quite happy with > > four. We can use this > > > to our advantage by running the first tournament (Tour > > 0, Tour Qualifier, > > > something like that) without the top 8 teams from the > > previous year. > > > Everybody from 9th downwards plays in a tournament > > which then has 8 A-tour > > > spots available. This will give us a much better chance > > of having the best > > > 16 teams at tour one, without forcing the GB players to > > play too often. > > > > > > Advantages: > > > > > > - Teams like Fire 2 could miss nationals for squad > > reasons without then > > > making a mockery of the B tour the next year. > > > - Newly formed teams with real talent could get > > straight into the A tour > > > for tour one. > > > - The above means that there's a fair chance for teams > > who should be > > > ranked around 15th to 18th to actually get promoted at > > the actual B tour > > > one. With the current system, the likelihood of some > > really good misseeded > > > teams taking the promotion spots makes that tough. Last > > year, Discuits > > > didn't get promoted until tour 2, but ended up ninth. > > > - The teams who want more tour experience will get it, > > and those who want > > > just three a year will get that (if they're good > > enough). > > > > > > Difficulties: > > > - It's a bugger to schedule in such a way that the > > right 8 teams qualify > > > (octuple elimination anyone?). Nevertheless, it would > > be a great deal > > > fairer than the current system where a good new team > > must spend a minimum > > > of 1/3 of the season in the wrong tour. > > > > > > Can someone convince me this is a bad idea? > > > > > > Benji > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > BritDisc mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://mailman.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc > > > Staying informed - > > http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > BritDisc mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mailman.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc > > Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp > > > > > ----- > Fight back spam! Download the Blue Frog. > http://www.bluesecurity.com/register/s?user=ZGFycm9jaF9yZWlkMTUzNg%3D%3D > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. 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