Spirit Captain

Full story on Worlds is still to come. 

Meanwhile here is my idea for a Spirit Captain. 

This came about after watching games at Worlds and thinking that a Spirit Captain could be a useful addition to the rules (and a good addition to the Spirit Timeouts they had at Worlds). I discussed it with Johnny Mac who helped write these here good words below. We are trailing this in Melbourne in our upcoming Leagues. I will post on how it goes down the track.

WHAT

Each team must nominate a Spirit Captain for the duration of the league.

WHY?

The core of Ultimate is the governing concept of Spirit Of The Game. As a self adjudicated sport, Spirit is the key that allows the competition to be conducted at any level, from social to elite play. Respect (for team mates, opponents and the rules of the game), sportsmanship, fair play and integrity are concepts of particular importance.

 The aims of this addition are:

• To increase the focus placed on Spirit by all teams
• To ensure players continue to be taught about the rules and how to play with good spirit
• To assist in establishing communication between opposing teams for the purpose of maintaining a Spirited game
• To give teams and players immediate feedback on their Spirit so that they may improve on it
• To allow team captains to remove one aspect of their role, thus allowing captains to perform other duties better, and Spirit to be upheld with a greater focus

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SPIRIT CAPTAIN:

• The tasks of the Spirit Captain are only undertaken when they are OFF THE FIELD
• The Spirit Captain should ensure they have a copy of the current WFDF and League rules with them on the sideline
• After the game they determine the Spirit Score for the opposition, discuss the level of spirit in the game with the opposing teams Spirit Captain and then share Spirit Scores with them
• The Spirit Captain may call a Spirit Timeout

WHAT A SPIRIT CAPTAIN IS NOT/DOES NOT DO:

• They do NOT get involved in discussions when they are not on the field
• They do NOT release a captain from their responsibility to ensure their team upholds the Spirit of the Game
• They do NOT replace the requirement for each player to learn and apply the rules and play with Good Spirit

WHEN THE SPIRIT CAPTAIN IS PLAYING ON THE FIELD THEY HAVE NO EXTRA RESPONSIBILITIES.

On Field they have the same responsibilities in upholding Good Spirit as every other player i.e.

• Knowing the rules (1.1.1)
• Being fair-minded and objective (1.1.2)
• Being truthful (1.1.3) 
• Explaining their viewpoint clearly and briefly (1.1.4) 
• Allowing opponents a reasonable chance to speak (1.1.5) 
• Resolving disputes as quickly as possible (1.1.6) 
• Using respectful language (1.1.7)
• Informing a team-mate if they have made a wrong or unnecessary call or caused a foul or violation (1.5.1)

SPIRIT TIMEOUT

If there is continued bad spirit in a game a Spirit Captain may call a Spirit Timeout. This can only be called in between points. During this timeout the two Spirit Captains shall discuss the level of spirit in the game, determine ways to rectify this, and then convey this discussion to their teammates. Tactical discussions are not to take place during a Spirit Timeout. Spirit Timeouts do not affect the number of Team Timeouts available. 

EXAMPLES OF THINGS A SPIRIT CAPTAIN SHOULD DO:

Scenario A: A player makes a call on the field but was unsure if it was the right call and what the consequences where to the stall count/player positioning

• After the point the Spirit Captain talks to that player and lets them know what the relevant rules are regarding that situation
  

Scenario B: The Spirit Captain notices that a player from the opposition is often not saying "Stalling" when commencing the stall count

• The Spirit Captain approaches the other teams Spirit Captain who watches this player themselves and then talks to the player about stalling correctly
  

Scenario C: There was a lengthy on field discussion where all players involved were unsure of what the appropriate outcome was in the rules

• During a team huddle the Spirit Captain tells the whole team what the relevant rules were regarding that situation
  

Scenario D: A player is immediately contesting all calls without listening to the oppositions opinion

• The Spirit Captain talks to the player on the sideline and reminds this player about the importance of playing with Good Spirit
  

SELECTING A SPIRIT CAPTAIN

In choosing a Spirit Captain, the following should be considered:

• They should have an excellent knowledge of the current rule set, and also a good understanding of its application
• They should be a senior player within the team, such that all other players will respect and listen to them if needed
• They should be able to maintain a clear, calm, objective view of the game
• They should be willing and able to approach opposing Spirit Captains and their own players, and communicate clearly and respectfully in a pressure situation.

Nationals 2008

Heads of State came 5th at Nationals – an improvement on last year and we got to the Pre-Semi. Plus there was a NZ team above us so that makes us one of the top 4 Clubs in Australia. Yeah HoS.

Here are my thoughts on National 2008:

Fields
Everyone getting a fair go is a great thing, but at a frisbee tournament like Nationals, the emphasis should be on the best teams and the most important games. It seams that every team got a chance to play on the stadium field – which was in magnificent condition – however I don’t think this should have been the case. HoS were forced to battle against I Beam in the Pre Semi on a paddock of mud, while games of less importance were played in the stadium and on fields 3-5 (the only good fields not in the stadium). The NZ v Chilly Pre Semi was moved to a better field that was free at the time, but there were no free fields for us to move to. Preference should be given to the most important games at nationals when considering who plays on the good field. This could be achieved in the draw by simply identifying before hand which games are the most significant and stating that these game will be played on the best fields available.

HoS v I Beam - Pre Semi

Spirit – HoS v FU
So it seems most people at the tournie heard about this game. I don’t want to cast aspersions on teams here, just look at some of the issues. But to give some context to those who haven’t heard: It was the number 1 seed v 4 seed to go top of our pool and avoid Fakulti in the next Pool. It was a very close game with the lead seesawing. It got to 14-14 – double game point. HoS threw what they believed to be the game winning goal several times only to find that a foul/travel/pick had been called. I make no comment about whether these calls were correct or not – I didn’t have best perspective. However FU eventually went on to score a goal to “win” the game and HoS was heartbroken.

The issue here I believe is regarding the perception of making different calls at the crunch points than you do during any other point. There had not been an extravagant amount of calls prior to the last couple of points and I would say it had been played in fairly good spirit to that point. This discrepancy between the majority of the game and the final crucial point is what concerns me. When two teams play they establish a framework for how that game is to be played – is it a bit more physical than usual – will all travels be called or only ones that have a significant effect – ie to break the mark or get off a huck?.

Sometimes there are expectations to this – ie a good team playing a not so good team – sometimes the good team won’t bother making some calls early in the game when they know that the result of the call won’t significantly affect the outcome. However for high level games between good teams (especially at Nationals) I think that calls should be made regardless of context. You see similar issues arise in AFL – umpires will make calls early in the game regarding holding the ball or pushes in the back and teams, fans and commentators expect them to be consistent throughout the whole game.

A tone is usually set early in the game and identifies for each team how the rules will be enforced for that game. When the crunch times come – I believe that this tone should be maintained. Teams should make the same calls on Double Game Point that they would have made on the first point – circumstances shouldn’t change how you enforce the rules of the game.

Personal Highlights
I think I played the best in both games against Chilly. I felt like I could get the disc either short or long at will and when the disc went up – I bought it down. If you use your body position well you should always catch a disc that is thrown so that you are in between the disc and your defender. The layout D on the endzone line on Luke was clearly the standout moment for me – I got the best compliment on D I have ever gotten – someone said they thought it was Macca who got the D!!!! Other highlights for the weekend were the series of layout catches I got when I was cutting back under and the throw was either headed straight for the ground or missed its intended target. Once the disc hit my hand – it stayed there. Again I got to toe the line and fall flat on my face to catch a few wayward passes – I think I have a great track record for this – practise makes perfect. The key is to quickly establish where the line is – set your feet – and then focus on the disc.


Throwing Decisions
Having identified that poor throwing decisions was a major weakness in my game I think that I had a very successful weekend in attempting to control this. There were several times where I received the disc up field and could have tried to throw an iffy pass for the score but I just stopped and turned to engage my dump. And when I did choose to throw it long – most of the time it worked – or at least it was a good option. This shows to me the benefit in trying to identify your weaknesses and then doing something about it – if you don’t loose focus on this goal you can improve your game. It just takes time.


WUGC selection fallout
I had been fairly philosophical about not making the mixed team for WUGC but one moment brought up the most passion I have ever felt on a frisbee field that made me aware how much it hurt not to make the team. Against FU I was being marked by Adam Mortimer (a selector of the mixed team) and Wood had the disc. I cut long for his IO backhand which he delivered and I got up and took the catch for the score. The fact that Wood – who also didn’t make the team – had thrown it and that it was a catch over a selector just set me on fire. It wasn’t anything against Adam specifically and it wasn’t that it was an amazing catch (I would think I should always take catches over Adam if it is thrown to my advantage) but it just bought up this amazingly intense feeling: “hey – I got cut but FUCK I was good enough to make that team”. I was completely overwhelmed and ran up to Wood screaming some nonsense and gave him a huge high 10. It was our way of saying: “look what you missed out on”. I never knew that I can have such an intense feeling – hopefully I can get it again but for a more positive reason!

Rules – Ground Strip
Awhile back I woke up in the middle of the night with a rule conundrum: a D player lays out for the D and after he hits the ground he is no longer holding the disc. The D player claims it was a ground strip, but the O players say they just let go of the disc after they landed – double turnover. This would be a contested turnover – but where would the disc go back to? The O player who threw the disc that got D’d? Surely not! The D player? That was where the last undisputed possession was – both teams agree that the D player had possession – they just disagree HOW they came to be dispossessed. I told this to a few people on Thurday night of Nationals and they all said – pah – it will never happen. It happened twice the next day!

I was on the sideline when it happened in a HoS game and while I don’t approve of sideline players interjecting into the play unnecessarily – I felt I had to make a comment here. One of the opposing players was claiming that it was a turnover regardless of whether it was a ground strip or not. I am happy for players to discuss their views on what happened in a play but not what the rules are when they are clearly wrong. Eventually the discussion was resolved and the other team accepted Macca’s word that he was ground stripped and another HoS player put the disc into play. However had it still been contested the disc would simply have had to go back to Macca to put the disc into play.

Rules – asking for and following advice
When I am involved in a potential foul situation I make a point to ask my teammates what they thought happened. You can rarely tell exactly what happened when you are involved and focussed purely on the disc. Other people can have a much better view and can provide valuable advice about what happened. If they say they don’t think it was a foul – I don’t call it. If they say it didn’t affect – I don’t call it. Likewise if one of my teammates is unsure of a call (to contest or make a call themselves) and I have an opinion I will tell them – even if it goes against my team. We are ALL responsible for the rules. Too many times at Nationals I saw teams look away when an incorrect call was made and not overrule them or other players not listen when they were told by team mates there was no call at all. Always remember Rule 1.5.1:

1.5. The following actions are considered good spirit:
1.5.1. Informing a teammate immediately if they have made a wrong or unnecessary call or caused a foul or violation.

Photos from Roger Barnes: http://frisbee.mindsocket.com.au/

Heads of State win Southern Regionals!

A little late as usual I know, but what can you do?

Sorry to spoil the suspense of this post in the title, but Heads of State won Southern Regionals (which you probably already knew) (and they will be number 1 seed at Nationals!) (which you probably also already knew).

This was the 2nd tournament win for Hos (HoS won Junior Nats back in 2006)

Despite feeling quite sick before the tournie, personally this was one of my best tournies ever. Notable notes from the Weekend:

Play as a Team:

This was the best I have seen HoS play as a team. Somehow we realised early in the weekend that just hucking was not going to work on O, so we played some of the most effective O I have ever been involved in. Risky long shots were rarely taken and we were extremely patient on O. If we can replicate this at Nationals we will be hard to stop on O.

Use Your Body!

I cannot over emphasise how important it is to use your body to maintain position when going for the disc. If you are between your defender and the likely catchable endpoint of a throw – you should catch it every time. And if you do this well you can even catch it without having to jump - as a two handed pancake catch with both feet on the ground. I did this several times at Regionals and all it involves is NOT running as fast as you can to where the disc will be catchable (this only applies if you are ahead of your defender). As you get closer to the catchable point, slow down and don’t let your defender past you. Usually they are watching the disc, so will run right into you – brace for this contact – then – for me at least – they bounce backwards and I move closer to the disc where I catch it with ease. If this is confusing – don’t worry – I think I will make a whole post just about body positioning one day.

Toe The Line Part 2

They had tape for the lines which was quite interesting. Unfortunately they weren’t tight enough so sometimes the line moved a fair away in/out of bounds. I much preferred NOT having the endzone line taped though – I think it’s too risky that people could trip over it. Anyway, at one point against Chilly I toed the line on a throw that was going out the back and Wheelie called me out. I was confident that I had kept my toe down on the ground and his argument was that I had touched the tape BEFORE I had caught the disc. I obviously couldn’t tell which had happened first but was certain that the two events – catching the disc and touching the tape – had happened very close to each other. My discussion with Wheelie revolved around how he could tell what had happened first? As he was right next to me when I took the catch he couldn’t possibly have been looking at both my feet and the catch at the same time. Therefore I felt it was inconclusive and the disc should go back – which it did. From my previous experience with toeing the line (see Ultitalk profile pic) I knew that people are very bad at judging when a player catches it relative to when their foot crosses line (or moves for a travel call). Therefore I think it’s fair that in such close calls if no one was in a goes enough position to see both things AT THE SAME TIME – that the disc should go back. To Wheelies credit the discussion was had very amicable and was resolved quite well.

Definition of a Catch

Against Karma, K was going for a disc in the endzone right near the sideline. He attempted to do a greatest, but stuffed it up – his foot was down when he made contact with the disc – then he jumped and tried to throw the disc back infield but the disc went straight to the ground. Some Karma players claimed it was still a goal which I disputed. The rules define a catch as: “Sustained contact with, and control of, a non-spinning disc”. My feeling was that he didn’t actually have control of the disc, but Piers overruled me and it was deemed a goal (we were leading by a few goals at the time and were 1 point away from points cap).

Later I had a chat with Pottsy about it and his feeling was that it was actually a goal – so who am I to argue? What this means is that if you are making a tough catch in the endzone, as soon as you make ground contact after catching the disc – you can throw it away to avoid being ground stripped! And it’s still a goal!

IO Backhand

I threw my most memorable Inside Out Backhand ever. I had gotten the disc in power position on the right hand side and Doobie was cutting long between two defenders. I ripped this IO backhand with a lot of force that curled around perfectly for Doobie to run onto. As soon as I threw it I got that horrible feeling in my stomach that it was the wrong decision, but then he caught it and I felt fantastic! Anytime I needed to smile in the days following that tournie, all I had to do was think of that throw :-) That’s why I love this game.

D tussles

I had some nice man on man D tussles with Freise and John Liddi, neither time I got a block, but I’m certain I made their lives a lot harder. The reason I was able to play such hard D was mostly because of Owen heckling me from the sideline. He was yelling at me non stop and I just wanted to shut him up – but no matter how hard I thought I was running he kept yelling at me to run harder – so I did. This inspired me partly because Owen was one of the Worlds selectors and being better on D was one of the things I was told I needed to wok on. It was amazing how much difference it made though and I hope I keep getting hassled like that and performing, but also that I remember to hassle other people to get similar results from them.

Stop Checking The Disc!!!

It amazes me how often I see players checking the disc unnecessarily, even at high level games. The rules about checking the disc are very clear:

9. Putting the Disc into Play

9.1. Putting the disc into play means that the offensive player in
possession of the disc establishes a pivot point (typically their foot) at the point on the Field of Play as specified.

9.2. If no Check is required, the disc may be put into play immediately.

11. The Check

11.1. Whenever play stops during a point for a time-out, foul, disputed possession, violation, safety stoppage or injury stoppage, play is restarted with a Check.

So in the following situations you DO NOT HAVE TO CHECK THE DISC:

• The disc is on the ground after a turnover
• The disc is in the endzone after a turnover and you are bringing it up to the endzone line
• There is a turnover and the disc has gone out of bounds
• Momentum takes you out of bounds after catching the disc
• Momentum takes you into the endzone after catching the disc
• A brick or middle is called after the pull

In these situations all you need to do is establish a pivot point at the appropriate point and you are away. The number of times I have been able to get a quick pass away because the d isn’t ready or is waiting for me to check the disc is amazing. And the number of times I have seen free passes not taken while a player holds out the disc for the d to touch is more amazing still.

Basically, when there is a call – you need to check the disc – otherwise start playing!

This goes for when you are marking too. Don’t wait for the thrower to hold out the disc and then tap it in to see them get an easy break throw off. As soon as they have a pivot point, have that mark set up and start stalling them.

Doing this is not being bad spirited – it is knowing and obeying the rules – which is good spirit. If more people started playing by the rules, more people will be able to learn what the REAL rules are!

Time Outs

So WFDF came out with new rules late last year: new rules

The new rules are in a much better format and clarify some good points.

However in my opinion they have left the most annoying rule in there.

Rule 14.1.8. says that it is a Turnover if you call a Timeout when there are none remaining. I believe this rule goes against the Spirit of the Game and is too extreme.

There is NO WAY that a team should be penalised because they can't count!

I propose that 14.1.8. be removed and that the following rule be inserted:

19.5. If the thrower calls a Team Time Out when their team has no
remaining Team Time Outs then no Time Out shall be taken and play shall
be resumed as soon as possible. All players on the field must return to
the location they were in when the Time Out call was made and remain
there until play restarts. The marker shall add two (2) seconds to the
stall count before restarting play with a check (if the additional two
(2) seconds result in the stall count coming in on Stalling 11 or 12
then a Stall Violation has occurred as per 14.1.7.).

I think this is a much more appropriate way to address this issue.