****************** 1288 players served *********************

Ultimate Happenings: Issue 158 - Feb 12, 2001

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

"According to my calculations, the problem doesn't exist."

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CONTENTS:

- 2001 Summer League Registration
- President's Message - January 2001
- OCUA Disc Design Contest
- Change Of Monday 4/3 Coordinator
- CD Release Party
- Calendar Of Events

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2001 SUMMER LEAGUE REGISTRATION

Details regarding 2001 Summer League registration have been 
snail-mailed to all registered 2000 team captains, and are 
also available on the website at:

http://www.ocua.ca/leagues/summer/admin/Registration/

There are some significant changes to the registration process 
this year, most notably the institution of a pre-registration 
deposit. As a result I strongly suggest that everyone review 
the material on the website, and if you have any questions, 
consult the Open Forum or email myself or Mike Hall-Jones. 
Feedback on the new process is also greatly appreciated.

Note that in order to secure their spot in the 2001 League, 
teams should take action immediately! If you are a team 
returning to your regular night of play, we must RECEIVE your 
registration by March 15, 2001. If you are late, you will be 
put at the bottom of the waiting list - NO EXCEPTIONS. If you 
are a new team or you want to switch nights, then you should 
register ASAP in order to be placed high on the waiting list. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a typo in the OCUA address listed in 
the body of the forms. The postal code is listed as K2P 1Y5. 
It should be K2P 1Y8.

Thank you for your cooperation. We are serious about these 
changes, and so we hope you will be too. For more information 
regarding the rhyme and reason behind all this, please read my 
Presidential Message, located elsewhere in this edition.

Cheers!

Ken Lange
president@ocua.ca

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - JANUARY 2001

I know, I know... it's no longer January. But I had to give 
you all a chance to read about the changes to our summer 
league registration procedures. Right? Right?

All right, I'm just late again, and we all know it. I do hope 
that you have had a chance to look at the registration 
information, however. In my last message I indicated that we 
were primarily working to advance in three areas, and general 
league organization was one of them. I'm happy to say that 
we're off to a good start. We're close to having this year's 
calendar of events ready for release, and we're progressing 
well on providing a more comprehensive league package. This 
includes greater standardization across divisions, clearer 
league policies, and improved dissemination of information.

Revising the registration procedures is the first step in 
this important process, but some of you may be wondering Why? 
What was wrong with the way we’ve always done things? Indeed, 
in the past, we haven’t placed too many restrictions on 
registration, and it has allowed our teams a great deal of 
flexibility. We have generally been patient with payments, 
and have worked hard to allow teams time to get organized, 
and to accommodate them as best as possible. Some people see 
this as a natural extension of spirit of the game if people 
want to play, we should do our best to help them.

However, spirit of the game isn’t based on not making calls 
when violations occur it’s based on playing fairly within the 
established rules. The flexibility I mention above was 
basically due to a lack of established rules or at the very 
least adherence to the existing ones - and this was causing 
the league difficulties. Teams were pulling in and out of 
divisions, switching at the last minute, or in rare 
instances, not paying their fees. As a result, pool sizes, 
schedules, and division formats could not be determined until 
just before registration day, or in some cases, not until the 
first game day. This state of disorganization was totally 
unfair to the majority of teams who are organized well in 
advance, and who pay their fees on time.
  
The new procedures are designed to address these issues. The 
major change is that we are asking our returning teams for an 
advance deposit, which in most cases, is non-refundable. 
Asking for this increased commitment from our teams will 
allow us to gain a better idea of demand and league 
requirements at a much earlier date. This gives us improved 
control over organization within each division, and the 
nightly distribution of teams. Combine the deposit system 
with our new limits on the number of teams accepted on any 
given night, and we are in a much better position to 
proactively manage our growth, something we have wanted to do 
for some time. It also helps us in assessing and addressing 
our needs in other critical areas notably field space and 
finances.

Of course, we realize that these changes do impose some 
greater demands on our teams. But we believe that this is not 
unreasonable. Ultimate is a fantastic sport, and we all love 
to play it, so getting ourselves a little more organized 
shouldn’t be that difficult, especially when it will 
translate to improvements in the league as a whole. That 
being said, everyone should be aware that the dates and 
deadlines that we have established are hard and fast. These 
dates will not be running on ultimate time we expect you to 
meet the deadlines as stated, and to conform to all other 
league regulations. Failure to do so WILL have negative 
consequences for your team. We are taking these new 
procedures very seriously, and we hope that you will too. 

That isn’t to say that we won’t still do our best to help our 
teams whenever possible. We realize that there are sometimes 
extenuating circumstances, and if discussed with us in 
advance, we may be able to work something out, particularly 
in this the first year of a new paradigm. But be aware that 
this will definitely be the exception, not the norm. We’ve 
already set the preregistration deadline for this year back 
further than we would like, in order to give teams time to 
adjust to this new system. Our goal is to be firm, yet fair, 
and you can expect this approach to continue throughout the 
season.

In other news, we are proceeding with our investigations into 
hiring an employee. At this point, we are leaning towards 
hiring someone for the summer, or slightly longer. The 
reasons for this are twofold. First of all, hiring someone 
for the short term will give us a chance to evaluate the 
feasibility of having an employee, to determine what they can 
do for us, and what we need to provide them. After the trial 
period, we can make a more informed decision on how to 
proceed. Secondly, on a somewhat more pragmatic note, we are 
just about finished the 2001 budget, and we are facing some 
financial constraints which would make hiring a full time 
employee difficult at this stage. Look for the budget to be 
released in the next few weeks, and hopefully this will help 
to explain the situation more clearly.

Also on the financial front, the 2000 financial statement 
should be available in early March. Due to the delay of a 
number of capital projects at UP Inc, we expect to show a 
rather healthy surplus at year end. Most of this money has 
already been committed for operations leading up to 
registration, but I am happy to report that prior to the new 
year the Board approved the first UP Inc. share buy back of 
50 shares, for the year 2000. Current plans also allow for 
100 shares to be bought back this year, and for buy backs to 
continue each year until OCUA has 100% ownership. 
Shareholders should watch for details on an upcoming 
shareholders meeting, and procedures for share buy back to be 
released soon.

Well, that’s about it for now. If you have any feedback, 
particularly on the new registration process, we’d love to 
hear it. Feel free to send me an email, and I will share your 
comments with the rest of the board. 

Cheers!

Ken Lange
president@ocua.ca 

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OCUA DISC DESIGN CONTEST

Well, it's time for another new OCUA disc this spring, and as 
usual we are looking for the talented artists in our midst to 
help us out with a design.  What are we looking for? Well, 
something cool, of course! :) We don't want to constrain your 
imaginations - think about ultimate in Ottawa, what makes it 
great, and come up with a design following the technical 
guidelines included below. All we ask is that the following 
elements be somehow incorporated into the design:

- Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association (OCUA)
- Official Game Disc
- www.ocua.ca
- 613-860-OCUA

The following elements might also be useful, but are not a 
high priority:

- Box 120 410 Bank St. Ottawa ON K2P 1Y8
- info@ocua.ca

Winning design will receive $100 and a free disc as a token 
of our appreciation.

Deadline for submissions: Feb 19, 2001

Mail artwork to:
 OCUA
 PO Box 120
 410 Bank Street
 Ottawa, ON K2P 1Y8 

Or email to:
 president@ocua.ca

Thinking of submitting a design? Need more details? Please 
contact Ken at the above email address, or by phone (h:821-
2183), so we have an idea of what kind of interest we are 
getting in this.  Thanks!

DESIGN CHECKLIST

- Avoid large solid areas.
- Use black ink.
- Artwork size:
  Artwork should be 6 3/4 inch for the 175 gram ultrastar[tm].
  Any artwork from 5-8 inches is fine. The closer you are to
  6 3/4 inches the better. Please use 8 1/2" x 11" size paper.
- Two color designs:
  Each color of your design must be on a separate piece of
  paper, both should be in black ink.
- Registration marks:
  For two color designs use registration marks. The easiest
  registration mark is an "x" (on both pieces of paper in the
  same place). Put the x's in at least three of the corners
  (not inside the design but outside the design). Registration
  marks allow us to take your artwork apart and line it up
  exactly the way you want it.
- Separation between colors.
  1/32 of an inch (2.25 pts on computer) is the closest two
  colors should be. Most colors will not print over each other
  and the separation allows for some movement between the
  colors. When you put your two pieces of artwork together,
  either on a light table or up against a window (use the
  registration marks to put them together), you should see at
  the closest points a small crack of light between the colors.

TYPES OF PAPER

White paper:
  We prefer all artwork to be on white paper. When creating
  your artwork use a high quality, bleed proof paper if 
  possible. Any paper is acceptable if when you draw on it 
  your black lines are clean. If your lines bleed or blur 
  try another quality paper.

Tracing paper:
  Works well as an overlay for two color art.

Acetate & mylar:
  Are ok if you have the right pens to draw on them. If you
  have a choice we prefer white paper or tracing paper.

Photocopies:
  Are acceptable. Use a high quality copy machine. Make sure
  the copied art is dark black and the background is white.

Photocopy transparencies:
  Do not use. The lines have a tendency to flake off.

Photostats, pmts, photo positives:
  Are all acceptable. If your artwork is already on white or
  tracing paper you don't have to go to the trouble of 
  getting these done.

Photo negatives:
  Not acceptable.

Computer output:
  Artwork from a laser, ink jet, or linotronic printer works
  well. art on paper or transparencies is fine, but paper is
  preferred.

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CHANGE OF MONDAY 4/3 COORDINATOR

Michael Stanton is no longer the coordinator for Monday 4/3 
Tiers 6, 7 & 8.

Please direct any questions regarding teams in those tiers to 
the appropriate person (Summer League Coordinator?).

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CD RELEASE PARTY

Friday, March 2, 2001
Barrymore's Music Hall
w/ Lister and Loose Colours
Hosted by Johnny Vegas

Doors open at 8pm, Loose Colours at 9pm.
Tickets: $7 at the door, $5 in advance
(available in advance through band members and at the Aloha 
Room, 323 Bank Street.)

Ottawa-based funkband DADDY COOL & THE GROOVE BUG is pleased 
to announce the release of their first full-length CD.

The CD features many crowd favorites such as "We Want You (on 
the Dance Floor)", "Drivin'", and "Funk Wars", and introduces 
several never-been-performed-before songs written especially 
for the CD.

You can visit www.groovebug.com for more details.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

 2001/02/23-25 : Carnival Tournament (Trinidad & Tobago)
 2001/02/24-25 : "Matterhorn Matt" Ult. Tournament (Ott., ON)
 2001/05/5-6   : Toronto Ultimate Tournament (Toronto, ON)
 2001/06/2-3   : Gender Blender (Fergus, ON)
 2001/06/16    : 10th annual Beach Tourney (Ottawa, ON)
 2001/06/30    : Pre-Canada Day Camp Out Party (Ottawa, ON)
 2001/07/28-29 : Parlee Beach (Shediac, NB)
 2001/08/16-19 : Nationals (Edmonton, AB)
 2001/08/??    : Catch 'n Release, Halifax
 2001/09/29    : Ottawa 'Plaid Jacket' Open Disc Golf Tourney
 2001/??/??    : Layout For Life (Ottawa, ON)
 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/??/??-?? : Unknown Legends (Hamilton, ON)

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

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