AUC 1998

26th/27th September 1998

We were only a few months old, yet on the weekend on 26th/27th September, we went to our first University Championships. These were the first Australian University Championships for ultimate, and were held ANU in Canberra. Whilst we didn't win, we gained a lot of experience and came away with plenty of stories to tell.

The following is the report from NSWFDA Universities Coordinator, Martin Laird:

Congratulations to the University of Sydney, inaugural Australian
University Champions!

Congrats also to LaTrobe University, Bendigo, for winning the Spirit of
the Game award.

Last weekend's University Championships held at ANU in Canberra was
without a doubt the best organised tournament I have ever been to, and
almost certainly the most fun. Not only did we have soft, lined fields,
but we had scorers with scoreboards and official timekeepers at each and
every game! The parties were all great fun and went off without a glitch
(as far as we could tell anyway), and the food was in general very good.
The entire ANU club put in an enormous effort to make sure this tournament
was one of the best of the year, and all thanks to them and of course
Leon Smith for it.

But of course the best thing about the tournament was the competition. Ten
universities from all over the eastern states and ACT, each with their own
uniforms, was an incredible sight. The level of competition was amazing,
especially from some of the less experienced teams.

For those interested, I've gone on to write a bit about each team below.
It's pretty lengthy, so for those not interested I'll summarise the
results beforehand. But first, I'd like to quickly thank a few people whom
I forgot to thank at the presentation dinner: it's always hard to remember
everyone, but this was a glaring omission, and I can only blame the few
beers and bottle of champagne that I drank for forgetting.
Firstly, Jonathan Potts and Nicole Shepherd, for their work as
universities coordinators in 96, in setting up and running several uni
clubs and in helping to organise the (unofficial) Uni Champs 96 in
Wollongong.
But mostly to Piers Truter, who has done an enormous for
univerties over the past few years, particularly in laying the groundwork
for Ultimate's acceptance by the ASC and AUS, and also in getting Ultimate
into next year's Eastern Conference Games. Thanks guys.

Results of 1998 AUUFC (some of you on frisbee-nsw have seen this)
1 Sydney Uni (def. UNSW in final)
2 UNSW
3 ANU
4 Macquarie Uni
5 Queensland Uni
6 Wollongong
7 UTS (def LaTrobe in Plate final)
8 LaTrobe Bendigo
9 Newcastle Uni
10 Canberra Uni

Spirit of the Game: LaTrobe Bendigo.

Green and Gold team. This is the somewhat honorific Australian
Universities Ultimate Team, selected based on performance at AUC:

Genevieve Healey UQ
Bernard Siu Mac U
Brian Petteys USyd
Tania King Mac U
Scott O'Brien Mac U
Duncan Keenan UNSW
Alysia Hennessey USyd
Andrew Pennington UNSW
Leon Smith ANU
Craig Turnbull UNSW
Chris Stephens USyd
Peta Klemm LaTrobe
Martin Laird UNSW
Scott Butler USyd
Nicole Shires UCan
Elke Sorhus UTS
Dave O'Brien USyd

Congratulations to all selected, and thanks to the selectors: Tom B, Dave
OB, Nikki S. and Elke.

A not so quick summary of the teams and results:
Sydney Uni were, as expected, awesome. They had no difficulty getting
through the early rounds, and despite a loss to UNSW in the crossover
matches they backed up to win the final convincingly (16-9?). With 5
players selected for the Green and Gold team they had more than any other
Uni.

UNSW, and what can I say without being too biased! We had a great time,
and played some great games, with the win over USyd in the crossovers a
highlight. Undefeated until the final, wish we could have gone all the
way, but Sydney were too good. A great team to play with and worthy rivals
to Sydney.

ANU were something of a surprise package at 3rd, but proved that home
ground advantage and plenty of heart count in Ultimate as much as other
sports. Highlight must have been the win over Mac Uni to take third, and
it was great to see ANU breaking up the Sydney dominance, as well as doing
so well after putting in so much work. Well done guys!

Mac Uni came in fourth, and were definitely the loudest cheerers during
the final, and had the best uniforms and music of the tournament! Took it
to us (10-8) in our first game, they were never taken lightly, and had
three players selected in the Green and Gold team.

the University of Queensland had a shocker run down to Canberra, their car
breaking down in Sydney, but were determined to win the party no matter
what (how could it be otherwise with the Gen and the Jens at the helm?).
As defending champs, they were clearly a bit weaker than last year but
still performed admirably, going down by only 3 (10-7) in our preliminary
game. It was fantastic to see UQ make the effort to come all the way, and
to see them enjoy themselves so much. Bodes well for nationals next year!

Wollongong are actually one of the oldest non Sydney clubs, and despite
being as intense as some of the other clubs (one oft heir players
played the whole tournament in bare feet!) their experience showed in
their results. Must have has a scare when they went from 11-7 against
Bendigo to 12-10, but they held on to make the top pool. Hope to see the
Gong at more tournaments in the future, as there is enormous potential
there.

UTS came in at seventh, winning the Plate Division final against Bendigo.
Clearly the weaker of the Sydney unis at the moment, no doubt UTS will
improve very quickly as its players gain experience in the Sydney Ultimate
League. The Plate Final was something of a fairytale: UTS came back from
a seemingly unassailable Bendigo lead to win 18-17 (I think). Well done
UTS, it was great to see such a high level of play and potential, not to
mention enjoyment and spirit, in the Plate division. I don't think any
other team showed so much pleasure at scoring a point against us!

LaTrobe at Bendigo, as the only Victorian team, were one of the most
outstanding teams of the tournament. Despite never having been to a
tournament before (although they had hosted a small one themselves), and
despite being two hours away from the Melbourne league (though they make
the trip every league!) the level of play was outstanding. They came back
from 11-7 to 12-11 against Wollongong, only just missing out on the top
division when Wollongong scored the final point. They had the Plate
division almost sewn up until UTS decided to rewrite the books. Despite
these setbacks, Bendigo consistently cheered impressive play from the
other teams, especially when they scored an impressive point, and were
always great fun to be around at the parties. They also had the amazing
distinction to have the least experienced player selected for the Green
and Gold team, Peta Klemm, who has been playing since March this year! The
Bendigo team also had the only mascot of the tournament, a 6' chook!

Newcastle Uni, in the short history of their club (about 6 months) have
already come a long way. With a greater starting membership than any other
club in Australia, this uni has enormous drive and potential.
Unfortunately Newcastle were missing several of their better players this
weekend, but still performed very well. Despite none of their players
being 'experienced' they pulled out some great plays, and appeared to
enjoy the tournament fully. No doubt Newcastle will be a force to be
reckoned with in future years!

I guess there always has to be a final team, and this year Canberra Uni
was it. Definitely the least experienced team at the Championships, this
was the one team that had never played at any tournament before. Still,
under the fearless leadership of Nikki Shires, the Canberra Uni team
fought each of their games hard, and with a few more tournaments under
their belt they will certainly win a few games at next year's
Championships.

So once again, thanks enormously to Leon and all of the ANU people for an
awesome tournament. Thanks also to the University organisers who all put
in so much time getting their teams together and keeping their clubs
running. I hope this tournament made it all worthwhile. See you all again
at UWS Macarthur next year!

Martin Laird

The 1998 AUC Team.