the longest day

On Sunday I'm playing in the Longest Day Beach Ultimate Tournament on Sydney's North Narabeen beach, with some friends from Canberra. Billed as Australia's top beach tourney, I'm looking forward to it - especially the boxes of fruit that they bring in for refreshments! Beach, sun, ultimate, fruit, ocean, summer... aah.. what more could one want?
Seeing how much we enjoyed Sydney last time, Julie and I are going to make a weekend of it. We found some budget accommodation at the Quaker House in Surry Hills, so are leaving tonight. Tomorrow we will squeeze in a capoeira class with Mestre Roxinho, window shopping on the colourful Oxford street, dinner in Surry Hills and maybe some more big city excitement.
Today is also the last day of work before the Christmas break, so this is a great way to celebrate the end of the year. Woohoo!

the Ultimate YMCA national convention

I back on the Frisbee pulpit again this weekend.
(I'm assuming that to mean that my previous 'sermon' went down well.)
Australia's YMCA are having their National Convention in Canberra this weekend, including a multi-faith experience/service on Sunday morning. As the convention’s theme is ‘Active and Involved’, Gordon (who seems himself to be active and involved everywhere) thought it would be good to have a Frisbee ‘stall’ alongside the Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims.
So, after the Aboriginal smoking ceremony, and a welcome by Julia Gillard (deputy Prime Minister of Aus), delegates can pick two of the five ‘experiences’ to attend for this multi-faith service: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or Ultimate Frisbee!

Here’s my little blurb for the flyer:

Active and Involved – Ultimate Frisbee
Frisbee: (friz-bee) n. archaic – ancient fertility ritual involving graceful movements and the symbolic passing of a upturned round bowl. Accompanied by negotiations over alleged infringements or errors. Long abandoned by civilised societies.

“We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion - 'Frisbeeterians,' we'd call ourselves. When we die, we don't go to purgatory, we just land up on the roof and lie there” Ed Headrick, inventor of the Frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee is not really a faith, but it is followed and played with as much devotion as if it were. Learn about the ‘spirit of the game’, how to play, and why it’s a great devotion to have. Perfect for being ‘active and involved.’


I’m interested to see who chooses the ‘Ultimate path to enlightenment’! ;) If you want to, we’re at the National Convention Centre in Civic spreading the good news of frisbee. The program starts at 9:00 this Sunday.

BrisVegas here i come!

Tomorrow at 6am I, and 44 other Kaboom compadres, make our way from the ACT up to the fabulous BrisVegas for the 2008 Australian Ultimate Mixed Nationals tournament. 24 teams from around the country, 3 days of competition, 3 games per day... and a casino themed party on Sunday night - should be a really good time!

Canberra is sending 3 teams along to mixed nats... pretty good going for a small city. I managed to make it into the Kaboom A team - playing alongside some very talented folks. Follow the news on the mixed nats site, or look for a report on our blog. And, if you are in Brisbane (what are the chances!) look out for us in our smashing yellow shirts:BTW - I've no idea why Brisbane is fondly called BrisVegas. Canberran's don't have much idea either. Someone told me that it may be because there are a lot of neon lights in the city. I'll have a look and tell you.

Oh, and i'm also going to meet up with a high school friend of mine - Jimmy Nixon - who moved to Brisbane 8 years ago. Should be good to see what he's up to.

when faith and frisbee meet (and other high flying stories)

Things have been really busy here, with 3 jobs, Frisbee practices and a few weekend trips out of Canberra. I've still got some admin to do, and some pics to post here (of Sydney, camping at the coast, life etc) but thought I'd share a few frisbee stories quickly:

1. Last week my indoor ultimate team (the giant dwarfs) won the Indoor Winter League in Canberra. We were unbeaten in the 12 league games over the last 2 months, and on Wednesday won our semi game, and the final. It was a great re-entry to competitive ultimate, and a great way to meet new folks in Canberra. We finished with a beer at All-Bar-Nun in O'Connor, just up the road from our house, to celebrate.

2. Yesterday I booked tickets to Brisbane! Mixed nationals is there on October 18-20, and I'm part of the Kaboom team from Canberra. I'm excited about playing at this level, seeing a new city, and training with the Canberra folks. I'm not sure what to expect, but we do have about 5 people who went to worlds, so we should do rather well.

3. And lastly, the headline story:

On Sunday i spoke/preached at Kippax. Gordon is a clever man, and knew that one of the few ways to get me back into a pulpit would be to ask me to speak about Ultimate. So that's what i did. They are having a series on 'What are you passionate about', and as Ultimate really is something that grounds/energises/fulfills me, i was asked to tell the congregation about it. Not having been in a pulpit for about 6 or so months, this was a real mind-bender. Was it a Sunday sermon, or a frisbee development clinic talk? It was really different not to be standing there daring to speak God's word, but yet to still be talking about 'good news', and something that i take part in religiously.

Anyway, i think it went rather well. Many of the listeners were over 50, and i guess won't be taking up the sport tomorrow. However, I did ask them what it was that made them tick, and managed to squeeze in an explanation of Examen prayer in too. After explaining what Ultimate was, I expanded on why i thought Ultimate was such a life-giving thing for me. I found 3 reasons:

i - it is a sport: It gets me out of my head, into my body. As wise man Barry quotes: 'The 3 most important spiritual questions you can ask are, 'How am i eating, how am i sleeping & am i exercising regularly?'" With Ultimate at least one of those can be answered in the affirmative.

ii - it is a team sport: the 'Ultimate community' is a great inclusive, accepting, affirming bunch of people, and a wonderful breath of irreverent fresh air at times.

iii - it's not just any sport: although 'sport' and 'community' can cover a wide range of life-giving activities, there is something special about Ultimate that sets it apart from all other sports. And... that is its philosophy of "the Spirit of the Game." Read about it here and here and see for yourself. Just fabulous.

So, that was my frisbee sermon. To round it off, here's a quote from Ed Headrick, the inventor of the Frisbee:

We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion - 'Frisbeeterians,' we'd call ourselves. When we die, we don't go to purgatory, we just land up on the roof and lie there.

haha! I know, i'm an unashamed frisbee addict (and evangelist). But it is such good news, and so life-giving, that i'm excited to tell others.

SA at Worlds - follow the action

"Worlds" has been on this week, and the SA team have been giving it all against some stiff opposition. They lost their crucial match against Italy today which means they didn't make it to the top bracket. Tough luck guys. There are still 4 games remaining, so follow the division schedule, and SA's stats, on the World's website. However, for the real story (with pictures), be sure to read Steve (and others') great commentary on the SA blog.
Good luck for the next stage of the tournament team! (and kudos to Mike Weston for what sounds like an awesome layout score against the Swiss on Sunday. Wish i could have seen it!)

Some good frisbee news

After the sad frisbee news of missing worlds and nursing my ankle, here's some good news. Last night the indoor winter league started here in Canberra. I signed up a while back, and thought i'd give it a try. I haven't run or played frisbee in two months, and was wary as to how my ankle would perform. I bandaged it up nicely, put on an aircast, and it held up surprisingly well. There were a whole bunch of aspects that contributed to a smooth return to my favourite pastime: the court we played on at the AIS was a sprung floor, i was able to wear cushioned shoes, the games were only 30 mins long, and the small court means less running. I came home really energised from the run around, and from meeting cool new frisbee folks - a great change from the boring job applications that usually colour my day.

(PS> The Canberra Ultimate crowd are running some frisbee development clinics on Monday nights from next week... i know about 8 people in this city, and have convinced 4 to come along! What a frisbee-evangelist i am.
PPS> Julie has expressed an interest to come along. I've told her that i love her just as she is - ultimate player or not- but she, of her own volition, wants to learn and play too! Hooray!)

sad frisbee news...

It’s about time I let my blog in on some sad news… After nationals I was chosen as part of the SA team to go to Worlds in Vancouver in August. Worlds! Like where all the best ultimate players in the world go. I started training and strategising and all. BUT, in my last game in Cape Town, I hurt my ankle rather badly (read: torn ligament). Pants! I had hoped that I would recover in a few weeks, but it’s been 6 and I still can’t run properly. So, last week I had to call the captains and cancel. Big downer.
There’s not much I can do about it, but I would have given my left ankle to play at Worlds. Quite a few of the players all started playing with me about 4 years ago, and I would have loved to play alongside them. All I can do now is wish them luck, and make sure I fix my ankle and play in all the tournaments I can here in Aus. Hopefully I’ll stay in shape and in 4 years time I’ll still be good enough for the SA team. That is debatable though, as there are some really skilled young players coming up through the LoveLife program and schools’ leagues. Good news for SA ultimate, but bad news for (what will be) and old fogey like me in 4 years time. We shall see!
Good luck to the rest of the team… they leave in under a month for Canada.

Goaltimate

I helped start, and played, in SA's first ever game of Goaltimate yesterday!
Woohoo!

and...

Nationals:-
...we lost in the semi-final to my old Joburg team. Drat.
...we were unbeaten in the 6 pool matches though, and i was very happy with how i played. Had a great hammer throw to score against Khaya, and a full length layout score against Disc-functional.
Read the report in the local press here, as well as a podcast with my captain (Brent) and others on the state of Ultimate in SA.
Next up is Worlds in Vancouver in August. We are sending two teams and if i can find the cash i'll be playing for the open team at Worlds. That would be awesome!


CPE:-
If it took more than a week for me to blog about ultimate, then i must be really busy with CPE! I am. It's manic, hard and uncomfortable, but still very good. We had our Mid-term Evaluations last week, and it's amazing to see how far we have all come in 6 weeks.
This weekend i didn't get to rest either, as i was doing a Coma-Care course - how to care for and communicate with patients in comas. Pretty intense! For the rest of CPE one of my wards will now be the neurosurgery ward and the neurosurgery ICU. Wish me luck as i 'chaplain' comatose patients!
It's a pity i don't have time to write up some of my experiences here, as they really are stretching and messy and alive. Maybe i'll take a 2 week holiday when i'm done and let you in on the adventure that is CPE at Groote Schuur.

For now though, it's back to work. I've got a verbatim to write for tomorrow, as well as the daily CPE reflections. Expect a bit of silence on this blog for the next few weeks.

Ultimate Frisbee Nationals

Is happening tomorrow!
More details here.

If you are in CT, come by Bergvliet on Sat or Sun this weekend and watch the best (and only) teams in SA compete for the SA National title. There is even a Maputo team coming through. My team are the current champs (Cape Disc Doctors) ... will we be able to retain our title?
This is THE chance to come and see what Ultimate is about (and even join us for the 80's themed party tomorrow night).

Soooo looking forward to it. We've been practicing most of this year, and had a carbo-loading pasta party last night. Good times!

Monday's links: designing love

Keeping in line with my new exposure to the design world via Design Indaba (just got back from a briefing at the CTICC), as well as Thursday’s Valentines day spending spree, here are today’s links:

1. Bad fonts, style over content, margins too wide? Watch out bloggers and designers, the design police may be after you with their bright red signs telling to get your game together. Design Police: "Bringing bad design to justice".

2. Tired of the sentimental, false Valentine’s poetry? Post Secret's Sunday Secrets this week are all about love. As always, the secrets are bare honesty that will make you gasp, sigh and sometimes smile. Post Secret is a great site if you haven’t seen it before. People send in anonymous secrets in on homemade postcards.

3. I’ve been stressing about transport here in CT, wondering if I should get a fixie bicycle, splash out on a scooter, or just stay with public transport. My current wheels look nice, but aren’t that practical. If dreams came true, THIS is my dream 2 wheel transport. Beautiful, aint it? Pity they don't deliver in SA.

4. Lastly, how could i forget Ultimate - Ultimate Frisbee made no.2 on Men's Health's Cool summer sports list. Check it out. No.1 (Parkour) is a sport i've also dreamed of taking up.

Enjoy. It's back to work for me.

exciting times ahead

I was very pleased recently to see this email in my inbox from the ‘powers that be’ of Cape Town Ultimate. Looks like there are exciting plans ahead to grow this great sport here in the mother city:

Hi fantastic ultimate players

We have been busy thinking, strategising and throwing forehands about how to harness the momentum in Ultimate at the moment. The starting of the Cape Town league two years ago was a great throw foreward, but now it is time to take Cape Town Ultimate to the next level.

Here is our two year strategy. Our goal - 50 competitive teams by January 2010. Read our strategy to see how we plan to achieve this attainable goal! A strategy is a good start, but it needs people to make it happen. Right now, we have a committed, but small group of players who run CPT ultimate. For us to evolve CPT ultimate to have 50 competitive teams, we need to give back to our amazing sport. If we all gave 1 hour a week, we have 2 virtual people working full time.

So read our strategy and decide how you'd like to contribute. If you are keen, but not sure how, then chat to me or Neal even if you only have 1 hour a month!

Brent

Woohoo! I’m waiting to see if the document can be put up on the CT ultimate website, so that you can all have a read and get excited. We already have LoveLife rolling out the game in all parts of the country (and have just secured a mold to make cheap discs here in SA), so it looks like interesting times for SA ultimate.

Keep the discs flying!

"We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion-'Frisbeeterians,' we'd call ourselves. When we die, we don't go to purgatory, we just land up on the roof and lie there."

Ed Headrick, inventor of the Frisbee

disc diving

Ariel and I had a bit of fun on Clifton beach on Sunday afternoon throwing our bodies after a piece of plastic:
Thanks to Whitney and Sarah of Team Afrika for the pics.
(click image to enlarge and experience full awesomeness of aerial manoeuvres by us)

I tried a similar stunt during our league game last night. The only difference was that this time i wasn't landing in soft beach sand. Needless to say, I now have a pretty roastie to show for my efforts.

Hat tournament!

I am an unashamed Ultimate Frisbee addict. Yes, it gets a bit much at times, but I’m cool with that. It is a most healthy addiction that gets me out of my head, back into my body. I also get to hang out with cool people. Tonight is therefore only a mild evening out, listening to a friend’s guitar concert in Rondebosch, because tomorrow (at 8:30) I need to be on the field for my first Tournament since being back in SA. Can’t wait! Hooray for flying plastic discs.


UPDATE: read about the tourney and see cool pics on the new CT ultimate site here.

Ultimate frisbee helps the fight against AIDS!

Those close to me often playfully ridicule my addiction to Ultimate Frisbee. As a youth pastor I often joked about being more excited telling people about Ultimate than Jesus. However, for two years it was, in a sense, my saving grace. Even today, a run around on the Frisbee field keeps me grounded and clears my head. Well, my faith in the sport seems to have been well founded. I’ve just found this article that shows how LoveLife (a major youth HIV/Aids organisation) wants to use Ultimate as their flagship sport development project:

Johannesburg – 9th July 07 -
Many regard a Frisbee as similar domain to 'beach bat and ball', or the mouth of a Golden retriever, but Lovelife are taking this mere piece of plastic a lot more seriously.
They are training over 6000 youth to play 'Ultimate Frisbee' in 2007 as part of their major sport campaign to combat HIV/AIDS.
Max Pichulik, Development Officer for Ultimate Frisbee in SA says, "This could be a major weapon in HIV/AIDS prevention and the promotion of health to youth in South Africa."

Download the full article here, and keep those discs flying!!
PS. On that note - Jozi Ultimate has started a Sunday game that should be very competitive. Tomorrow at 3 at Sandton Sports Club. I'm looking forward playing with my old teammates.

update x2

Sunday 11pm: Well, we're back after a wonderful weekend. The Chick-Fil-A Championship match ended up being the best game of the tournament, and maybe even the best game ever since Union started hosting the tournament. The brave men and woman of Columbia almost made seminary ultimate history by upstaging another Princeton team in the final. In the end we just lost 6-5. It was a wonderful game and a memorable weekend. Adam has a game report, and a picture or two. I hope to find one of the valiant 9 soon and post it here. Anyway, good times had by all (apart from the 9 hour drive each way).
Saturday 4pm: Hey... I'm sneaking a bit of internet in the beautiful Union PCSE library. CTS won our three pool games, and we are playing Princeton in the championship match at 5! Woohoo!
On a sadder note though, SA doesn't seem to be doing too well in the cricket against New Zealand. It's at times like these that I always say, "Pants!".
Time to warm up.

Richmond VA

This weekend is the long awaited 'inter-seminary ultimate frisbee tournament'. At times it has also been known by the title 'The Calvin Bowl'. There will be four or five Presby seminaries meeting at Union PCSE in Richmond for this monumental encounter. CTS hopes to overthrow Princeton Seminary, the current champions. Maybe my loosing streak (0 and 12 last time i checked) will stop, and we will be victorious. Update to follow on Sunday!

Here's a great apt quote that i quite enjoy:

"We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion-'Frisbeeterians,' we'd call ourselves. When we die, we don't go to purgatory, we just land up on the roof and lie there."

Ed Headrick, inventor of the Frisbee

cricket or frisbee?

YES! I found a place that is showing the World Cup Cricket! It's a neat little pub in Little5. Just in time for the crucial SA- Australia game tomorrow morning! There are two problems though:
1. Spring league Ultimate is starting this week, and i have games tomorrow at 10:00 and 11:30. Urgh - cricket or frisbee? Tough one!
2. If I decide to go watch SA get some revenge over the Aussies, I can't go alone. I'm not sure if my friends here love me enough to spend 6 hours watching a strange game. Any takers, wonderful Atlanta people? I'll explain the rules, i promise!

Anyways, at least i now have a place to watch. Reading a live scorecard on the internet just doesn't conjure up the same excitement.

recapping time

Yeah i know... where have I been?

Around! Time to recap the last two weeks which passed by really fast. Too fast in fact that I couldn't write about my journeyings, and I even missed my lent add/fast for a week. I'm doing the opposite of a fast this year: adding something instead of giving something up. But back to the silence:
Thesis: A lot of late nights, coffee at Java monkey and hours in front of the computer = thesis. And... i finished it! Handed in my first draft on Thursday to my adviser. I'm waiting to see what he thinks, I hope there wont be too many changes required. I actually enjoyed writing it and thinking about some guidelines for being church. Moltmann's ideas on the church are waaaay better and relevant than Rick's Purpose Driven Church stuff. And Peter Berger has some neat insights about marginal situations. Good stuff. Glad i got to come here and research some of my questions. Next deadline: 15 April: Final printing.
Ultimate: Then, as usual, there was a LOT of frisbee. Even though I'm on a record 12 game loosing streak, I'm not giving up just yet. Frostbreaker was a great experience. Gainesville, Florida reminded me of White River where my Oupa lives. The weather was great, the frisbee was fun, and our team (Death and Taxes) was the best worst team there. I taught the guys Freeze-master and Shoe-master, and they enjoyed these games so much they invented Pants-master. If you know the -master games, the new one is self explanatory. If not, ask me. Included in the weekend were an Irish pub, a keg on the field, Mexican food, the 'Yeehah' game, WaHo, sunshine, 2x great 5hr conversations in the car, and plenty of laughs all the time.
This weekend was Terminus. Again, we lost all of our games. This time the weather was awful! Freezing cold and strong wind. Not the best frisbee conditions at all. I was really impressed by a young team from Philly - Amp. They won Terminus, and their spirit on the field was very inspiring. 'Good on yer mate'!

Umm... yeah that's about it. Class and frisbee! There were a whole lot of other things going on, not least to mention some thoughts on next year, a St Patrick's day celebration on top of a building in downtown ATL, SA beating Holland in the cricket, and the spring blossoms that continue to look beautiful, but more of that later. For now, i need to find some supper.

ultimaaaaate...

Off to Gainesville Florida to play some Ultimate and give my brain a rest. Frostbreaker - '72 hour revenge therapy' they say. I need it!
See you later... alligator. (haha - get it? Gainesville is the home of University of Florida who are also called the Gators. Enough.. i'm off)