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Ultimate Happenings: Issue 154 - Dec 10, 2000

OCUA Web site: http://www.ocua.ca

"The trouble with doing something right the first time is 
that nobody appreciates how difficult it was"

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CONTENTS:

- Presidential Ramblings
- President's Message, Nov/Dec 2000
- TOUR Positions Available
- Kids Ultimate League - Volunteers Needed
- New Ultimate Web Site
- Roommate Wanted Dec 15 or Jan 1
- Calendar Of Events

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PRESIDENTIAL RAMBLINGS

Well, the year 2000 has almost come to a close (wow, where 
did the time go?), and some communication from my end is long 
overdue. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Ken 
Lange, and having lost the roshambo, the Board of Directors 
has appointed me to replace Mike Harley, our president for the
past 2 years (okay, it was a little more serious than that - I
was late for the meeting and they appointed me in absentia 
*smile*). This is the first in what I hope will be monthly
updates regarding ongoing OCUA activities, issues, and plans, 
mixed in with some commentary on the state of Ottawa ultimate 
in general. This inaugural issue, as I know some of you are 
aware, was promised for November, so I'm off to a less than 
auspicious start... However, since I wasn't planning one for 
December anyway, I'm going to try to make this a very full 
issue to try to make up for it. If you're lucky, the rest 
won't be nearly this long... :)

Before I get down to business, on behalf of OCUA I would like
to express our gratitude to Mike for his service as President.
Having sat on the board during his term, I know all too well 
that while his tenure was relatively short, he did guide us 
through a very difficult time in OCUA's history, and he did 
so quite admirably. Mike literally devoted his life to 
ultimate during that time, and while that sort of commitment
shouldn't be necessary in a volunteer position, we are forever
grateful that he made the myriad of sacrifices that he did. 
His focus and sheer determination carried us through the 
monumental task of developing our land when many of us would 
have faltered, and we should all be grateful for that. Thanks 
Mike, and I hope you're enjoying a well earned rest.

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, NOV/DEC 2000

The year 2000 has been a momentous one for our organization in
many ways. It was the first full season of play at our own 
dedicated ultimate facility, the first of it's kind anywhere. 
It was another year of summer league growth, as we increased 
our size by yet another 40 teams to reach 274, maintaining our
title of largest ultimate league in the world. We made our 
first attempts at improving summer league playoffs, obtaining 
corporate sponsorship, and giving them a much greater 
"tournament" atmosphere. And speaking of tournaments, we had 
our heaviest tournament schedule yet, offering teams more 
chances to play on weekends, in a number of diverse formats.

At the same time, however, we also had more than our share of 
setbacks. The season started out on a rough note, with the wet 
weather conditions forcing us to cancel games, and challenging 
our communications methods and our volunteer administration 
efforts. It was a year of ups and downs at our new facility, as 
we learned the ropes of managing and maintaining 17 fields and 
the associated facilities, and tried to wrap up the last of the 
initial development details. And both fall and winter league 
have had their problems, as we've tried to deal with field 
issues, and a shortage of availability for the player demand.

Not surprisingly, these issues have caused some concern among 
many of our members, and undoubtedly left some of you wondering 
just where we are going. I've had plenty of discussions on the 
sidelines, received comments via email, and watched numerous 
spirited discussions on open forum, all from members concerned 
about OCUA and it's future. Fortunately, many of those 
discussions have been filled with ideas and constructive 
suggestions about how we can make things better. I think that 
in general, people remain positive, and that bodes well for our 
organization in the long run. Unfortunately, too often issues 
are discussed, suggestions are made, and then there is a 
perceived lack of action on behalf of the board.

Actually, I have to admit that in the last few years, that lack 
of action is probably more real than just perceived. It's not 
that we aren't open to suggestions. And it's not that we aren't 
worried about the issues - many of the points that arise have 
been discussed in board meetings time and time again. The fact 
of the matter is, our organization simply hasn't been in a 
position to deal with many of the issues. Despite our best 
intentions, OCUA, as an organization, has not been adequately 
prepared. You would be well within your bounds to ask why not, 
and I can respond without hesitation and with 2 simple words: 
the land.

About five years ago, OCUA made a decision. We recognized that 
we were growing much faster than our available field space, and 
that there was increasing pressure from other sports groups on 
the fields that we did have. Public awareness of our sport was 
substantially lower than the still relative obscurity that we 
experience today. Corporate sponsorship was little more than a 
pipe dream. It was apparent that no one was going to help us 
except ourselves, and so we decided that the only way to secure 
the future of our sport was to purchase land, and develop our 
own facility.

That monumental decision sent us on an odyssey, one that has 
been a long, hard ride for those of us involved along the way. 
But in the end, we did it. A small, no name organization led by 
a rag tag band of volunteers from all walks of life did the 
impossible. Thousands of hours and over half a million dollars 
later, we have a facility that we can ALL be proud of. Sure, we 
made mistakes along the way, and yes, there are still a lot of 
wrinkles to iron out. But I thought it was the right decision 
then, and I still believe that it was the right decision today. 
UP Inc. has raised the profile of our sport, and is an example 
to the entire ultimate community of what we can achieve if we 
set our minds to it.

Of course, that isn't to say it hasn't had it's drawbacks, 
which it undoubtedly has. The greatest of those has been the 
enormous demand that it has placed on our meager resources and 
manpower. Making this project happen required the concentrated 
efforts of almost the entire volunteer force. The issue has 
dominated board meetings for 3 straight years, and sometimes it 
felt as if many of us were working full time for OCUA on top of 
our regular jobs. It burned some of our volunteers out, and it 
left many of the rest of us tired. Worst of all, it meant that 
a lot of the day to day issues of actually running the leagues 
got set aside. Over the short term, this is understandable, but 
over the period of several years required for the project, it 
has had some very substantial consequences.

Five years ago, the league was growing larger, but was still 
reasonably manageable by the volunteer structure we had in 
place. Having grown to more than double that size in a few 
short years, combined with the added responsibilities of higher 
cash flow and land ownership has pushed us over the edge. OCUA 
is now approximately 3000 members strong, has a six figure 
annual budget, and stewards a rather substantial property 
asset. We've watched ourselves outgrow many aspects of our 
organization, and even though we've been aware of the problem, 
basically we haven't had the time to do anything about it. 
Which isn't to say we've been completely in stasis - we have 
made some inroads along the way. On  the whole, they've been 
baby steps in comparison to what needs to be done, and I will 
be the first to admit that we have been acting on the edge of 
effectiveness as a result.

Which isn't to say that everything is all doom and gloom. On 
the contrary, I am feeling very positive about where we are, 
for a number of reasons. First of all, we're still here. We've 
survived what has undoubtedly been the largest hurdle for our 
organization to date, and not only that, but our success 
continues to grow. And now that the bulk of development is 
complete, we can turn our attention to the league issues that 
have desperately been crying out for our attention. Finally, I 
am most optimistic about the future because even in these first 
few months I've seen new life on the board, and I can see that 
we are actually focusing on that task. We are establishing a 
direction, and I think it's a good one. Basically, we are 
attempting to pick up the pieces that we've dropped along the 
way, and get us moving again. To do this, we've decided to 
concentrate our efforts in 3 major areas.

The first is finances. As frightening as it may be, this is the 
area that has probably received the most attention throughout 
the past few years of development, but it has not been one that 
we have managed particularly well. Yes, we made sure that we 
had enough money, and that the bills would be paid. But the 
focus was on land development, and as a result other areas that 
may have required small amounts of funding for good returns 
were simply overlooked. Also, we tended to be very reactionary 
as opposed to proactive (a problem throughout OCUA). Much of 
this problem was caused by the sheer increase in scope and 
complexity of our finances, something which made volunteer 
management a challenge, despite the best efforts of our 
treasurer. As a result, we have been working hard at 
reorganizing our financial records, and intend to hire a part-
time bookkeeper to enable us to be more on top of the 
situation. We also intend to issue year end statements in 
January, and at the same time (or sometime close to it), 
release the budget for the current year. OCUA is a business 
now, and we have to start acting like one.

To that end, our second area of improvement is in actual league 
operation. Our members have made it clear that they want better 
organization, standardization, and advance notice of changes, 
and that's exactly where we intend to go. Details on 
registration for next year will be forthcoming early in the new 
year. Registration will take place sooner in order to allow us 
to finalize teams and generate schedules in advance, and 
division sizes will be capped to help us manage our still 
difficult field situation.  We plan to make the league formats 
more standardized - round robin formats, playoff schemes, 
methods of standings determination, SOTG ratings are all areas 
that we are looking into. In addition, we intend to come up 
with coordinated plans for the delivery of fall and winter 
leagues, in hopes that we can more satisfactorily meet your 
needs. All in all, it's our opinion that you as members pay 
good money to play in the league, and you deserve a quality 
product. I don't think this is an area that we will be able to 
completely change overnight, but there will definitely be 
changes next year, and we look forward to your feedback. 

Finally, our third prong of attack is investigation into a paid 
employee. Over the past few years it has become obvious that 
with the size of the league and the workload involved, we are 
definitely at the point where having someone who is actually 
paid to do OCUA business would be a great help, if not a 
necessity. At present we are unsure as to what approach we plan 
to take here - full-time vs. part-time, summer student vs. year 
round, actual job description, etc.. There is a lot of 
investigation to be done, and while it is already undergoing, 
it will be some time before I can give you an update of where 
we are leaning.

So, that's a high level overview of where we're at, and where 
we're headed. We have to get more organized, and we have to 
make changes to the way we operate. We have to become more 
business-like; we have no choice. If we don't, we won't 
survive. Our size and responsibilities have been forcing our 
hand on this for some time, and now it's time to address the 
issue. The key is to move in that direction while still 
maintaining the unique character and spirit that is ultimate. 
We as a board understand that, and are confident that we can 
succeed. But we need your help, particularly in terms of 
letting us know what you think, so we can make sure we are 
moving the league where it wants to go. One formal way to do 
that is to answer the online survey which will be coming out on 
the web site in the next few weeks, and I encourage you all to 
do so. But I (and the rest of the board) are also happy to talk 
about the issues and hear your views directly. Feel free to 
come up to any of us on the sideline and have a chat, state 
your views on the web site's Open Forum, or personally drop us 
a line or an email. It may take us a while to get back to you, 
but we always appreciate hearing what you have to say, assuming 
it's constructive, and doesn't involve our mothers... ;)

Cheers!

Ken Lange
OCUA President
president@ocua.ca

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TOUR POSITIONS AVAILABLE

TOUR, OCUA's newsletter, is currently looking for an editor and 
staff to create the 2001 issue.  For any further information 
concerning TOUR and these positions please contact Steve 
Seabrook sseabrook@sympatico.ca

TOUR Editor-in-Chief:

OCUA is looking for volunteer to be the new Editor for TOUR 
magazine.  The responsibilities include managing a committee of 
writers and graphic designers who will assist in the creation 
of the magazine.

Duties
1)  plan the stories, photos
2)  coordinate with ad sales
3)  edit all submissions
4)  coordinate design
5)  lias with board rep
6)  hire a publisher
7)  create a publishing schedule
8)  recruit staff

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Graphic Designer:

OCUA is looking for volunteers to assist in the design/creation 
of TOUR. Responsibilities include design and layout of stories, 
photos, etc in the magazine.

Duties:
1)  create a template for standard design of the pages
2)  layout TOUR!

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Story Editors:

OCUA is looking for volunteers to assist in the editing of 
stories for TOUR.  Responsibilities include reading stories 
with a critical eye for grammar and spelling.

Duties:
1)  edit stories for TOUR

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Writers:

OCUA is looking for volunteers to write stories for TOUR 
magazine. Responsibilities include...writing!  Do you have an 
interesting story about tournaments, skill improvement, disc 
golf or any other disc related idea.  Type in to your computer 
and email it to the editor at tour@ocua.ca

For any further information concerning TOUR and these positions 
please contact Steve Seabrook sseabrook@sympatico.ca

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KID'S ULTIMATE LEAGUE - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Looking for an opportunity to get involved? I am looking for 
volunteers to help me put together and run a kid's ultimate 
league this summer. I need people willing to help with 
organizing and people who would be willing to be coaches. If 
you are interested, I am holding a kick-off meeting Tuesday, 
January 9, 6:30 @ Broadway's (junction of Prince of Wales and 
Fisher). If you are interested and cannot attend the meeting or 
just want to know more, feel free to email me at 
klange@nortelnetworks.com.

Thanks,
Karen Lange

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NEW ULTIMATE WEB SITE

PickupUltimate.com is a new web site where anyone can register 
or find pickup ultimate games across the US.  You can also 
register your ultimate disc team, club, organization,  etc. You 
and your team or regular pickup players can set up a team email 
list to keep in touch about weather conditions, who is 
going/not going to show up, etc.

www.pickupultimate.com is a not for profit site that went live 
Nov. 2000. It is a brand new member of the UPA.  The pickup 
game database is updated in real time and old games determined 
to be outdated or no longer exist are easily purged with the 
"bogus button".  Find out all the details on the web site.

We encourage you to check it out today to register your new or 
existing pickup ultimate game so other players can find a 
pickup game in the area. Help one of the world's greatest 
alternative sports grow and flourish!

If you have any questions, comments  or feedback, please email 
shock or gaz at thedudes@pickupultimate.com.

Thank you and keep playing ultimate.

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ROOMMATE WANTED DEC 15 OR JAN 1

Westboro area (Between Holland and Island Park Drive). One 
bedroom available in 2 bedroom duplex. There is a deck (off the 
room that is available) a yard, laundry, and parking is 
available.

It's a 2 minute walk to Tunney's Pasture which offers excellent 
OC Transpo bus service. 2 minutes to Queensway. Minutes from 
Ottawa River Parkway. $8 Cab ride from downtown. Very central 
and convenient.

Rent is $442.50/mo. The only utilities on top of that is 
electricity which is on average $7.50/mo in total and cable 
$10/mo.

Male or female...just have to be easy going.

Interested, please call Tammy at 612-6303 or e-mail me at 
tjeanveaux@firstcellular.ca

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

2001/02/23-25 : Carnival Tournament (Trinidad & Tobago)
2001/05/5-6   : Toronto Ultimate Tournament (Toronto, ON)
2001/06/16    : 10th annual Beach Tourney (Ottawa, ON)
2001/06/30    : Pre-Canada Day Camp Out Party (Ottawa, ON)
2001/07/2-3   : Gender Blender (Fergus, ON)
2001/08/16-19 : Nationals (Edmonton, AB)
2001/??/??    : Layout For Life (Ottawa, ON)
2001/??/??    : Ottawa 'Plaid Jacket' Open Disc Golf Tourney
2001/??/??    : Women's Hat Tourney (Ottawa)
2001/??/??-?? : Fr'equinox (Co-ed, Ottawa ON)
2001/??/??-?? : Montreal Jazz Tournament (Montreal, QC)
2001/??/??-?? : No Borders (Ottawa, ON)
2001/??/??-?? : OCUA playoffs (divisions to be announced)
2001/??/??-?? : Parlee Beach (Shediac, NB)
2001/??/??-?? : Unknown Legends (Hamilton, ON)

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Ultimate Happenings is an e-mail newsletter for the
Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association.

If you want to subscribe send an e-mail to uh@ocua.ca
with the subject "Subscribe Ultimate Happenings".

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please email uh@ocua.ca for pricing and guidelines.

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