Dear All, After following the interesting discussion on tour divisions, mixed events and saturation of the calender i would like to throw in some suggestions.
Firstly, i believe that separating the Tour into two divsions should be avoided in principle. I can remember when i first started what a thrill it was watching and learning from the best teams in the country - it is a valuable part of the tournament experience for those that are new to the game. As i say, i disaggree in principle but am not blind to the impracticalities of hosting a 40+ tournament and don't have any better solutions than those suggested. Onlt that we perhaps could use a 'winter league' style qualification before the outdoor season. Keeping the Tour and Mixed tour separate is imperitive: making players choose between mixed and open would be damaging to both mixed ultimate and the progress of womens ultimate in this country. It would also push the team numbers in the open division higher still. The efforts of Nancy Stebbing and Co. should not be dismissed and those that wish to play in both divisions will just have to appreciate their hectic Ultimate Calender. The Uk is one of the few nations that play indoors, the US play outdoor all year round so it seems strange that here in the UK we allocate 5 months of the Ultimate calender to it. A simple solution to the saturation of the Outdoor calender would be to increase the length of the season as their is no real reason why we can't play all year round. Starting the Tour in March( or even February) would open up the ultimate calender so that the tour didn't dominate the season. It would also encourage more students to play outdoors as there would be more outdoor non-tour events during term time. This may demand a small sacrifice to the shmindoor season but as many will agree, it shouldn't hold back the growth of ultimate in the country. May i also suggest that to allow easier scheduling of large tour tournaments that we aim to hold them over bank holiday weekends and make them a three day event? Chris Berry (Un Poco Loco) ....waiting to be beaten down from all angels by smindoor lovers everywhere!!! "I married Miss Right," conceded Harry. "I just didn�t know her first name was Always." _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
