I meant to send this yesterday, I replied instead. Anyway I really hope this was a joke, Here is what I had to say:
As a B-Tour player, this is very patronising to those of us 'lower down'. The splitting of the tour allowed the structure to be different, it wasn't (I hope) supposed to give the B tour worse venues because we are not worth it. Those of us in the B tour also want nice flat pitches and venues with good facilities. We are not all poor students who cannot afford to stay in hotels (although we should, where possible, provide for those that can't afford to stay in hotels) or pay tournament fees. If you want Ultimate to 'develop to the point where we are up there with the North Americans' you cannot put people off by patronising them when they are just getting started or by making disparaging remarks about those lower down than you, everyone who plays ultimate at any level started off worse than everyone who played at any tour event; something that should not be forgotten. I don't think the difference between the two tours is as different as suggested. At the nationals there were a few shocks that resulted in B tour teams crossing over with A tour teams. We played one of those teams who were in the top 12 (we ended up 25th I think) and it was a close game, they only won the second half 7-6. Considering the structure of the tour this year, I don't think (apart from the nationals) that you would have played a B tour team. I take this sport '*serious*'ly, as do others in the B tour, but some of us choose to play for the teams closest to us, we do not know have any well rehearsed songs, although an after game call is in no way detrimental to the game, in fact the rules (which we do know by the way) state that 'Highly competitive play is encouraged but never at the expense of mutual respect between players'; something else that should be remembered. Also, a lot of people get in to this sport for the social aspect (especially at university) and then develop in to '*serious*' players when they are ready. Do we really want to remove this aspect from the sport; if there is a party you do not have to go! Splitting the venues of the A & B tours does not bother me as long as the same effort is put in to both and requirements are met for each. What I don't want to see, and what would be bad for the sport, is 16 teams in the country playing in good conditions at nice locations whilst the others don't. The differences are not as significant as made out, everyone wants to play in good conditions and almost everyone (even us lowly B tour players) want the sport to develop. Sorry to rant, but this made me angry, Alex Livingstone Lords Of The Ring -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 26 August 2004 17:25 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BD] Tour Structure etc I agree with what Rob Alpen (apart from the mixed game in this country going into decline!) and Rob Mitchell said. What is the point in splitting the Tour if everyone is going to be playing on the same pitches? What the split allows us to do is recognise that there are significant differences between Ultimate being played by the top 4/8/16, and those lower down. As an A-Tour player, I want the main focus of any tournament bid to be the conditions in which I play Ultimate i.e. flat, level, and correctly sized pitches, water at all the pitches, all the time, plenty of space to warm up and down, shelter, plenty of game discs, appropriate catering etc, and I would also like a score/time-keeper at every pitch. I am willing to pay however much this costs, and lets be honest, for most *serious* Ultimate players, tournament fees are a fraction of the overall cost of playing Ultimate. What I do not care about is whether there is a party, whether everyone in the country who has picked up a disc is there, and I certainly do not want teams in fancy dress or who feel the need to sing me a well-rehearsed song after the game, even though they do not know the rules! I want all this because I play Ultimate as a sport, and want the game in this country to develop to the point where we are up there with the North Americans, which we will not be able to do with everyone at the same event. I recognise that not everyone feels the same way, and that these things are not mutually exclusive, but splitting the Tour allows the emphasis to be different and the needs of the participants to be met. Easy, Jaimie Cross General Secretary #7 LeedsLeedsLeeds 078767 51813 __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zion.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Neil White Sent: 28 August 2004 12:22 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BD] Toga Clad Water Carriers Hi BD >>1) Water: We pay juniors to run around all day filling up containers >>so they can afford to go to worlds How about we take this a step further. Get the toga wearing teams to be water/high carb sustenance carriers for the better teams (top 16). That way they can earn their place to play alongside such greatness and help the sport at the same time. Neil --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zion.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zion.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
