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OCUA SOS! Save Our Sod!

Ultimate at the Sod Farm is in serious need of your support! 
Every 3 years, the land must be rezoned in order for us to be 
able to play Ultimate there. This year there is opposition to 
us being able to keep our 16 fields. The loss of these fields 
will have a major impact felt throughout the entire league.

It is essential that you as an Ultimate player or supporter 
of Ultimate get involved. Here is what you can do to help:

1)  E-mail the form letter (at the bottom of this e-mail) to 
    your City Councillor, Copy it to Bob Chiarelli (the Mayor 
    of Ottawa), and Copy it to Ken Lange (the President of 
    OCUA)
2)  Phone your City Councillor
3)  Mail the form letter to your City Councillor and Bob 
    Chiarelli
4)  Attend a City of Ottawa Meeting on August 9th at 9:30am
5)  Encourage teammates, friends and family (that live in the 
    New City of Ottawa) to do steps 1-4.

To find out who your City Councillor is, click on the 
following link:

http://city.ottawa.on.ca/city_council/index_en.shtml

To E-mail
Cut and Paste the letter below. Make sure to address it to 
your Councillor as well as president@ocua.ca and 
Bob.Chiarelli@city.ottawa.on.ca . Also make sure to include 
your name and address at the bottom of the letter and to only 
include the form letter, not the instructions. Please send 
only 1 e-mail on your behalf and do not send e-mails under 
fake aliases. Also, please contact ONLY your councillor and 
the mayor - do not contact them all.  Also, although e- 
mailing does show your support, please mail the letter as 
well, this will get more attention. It's worth the $0.47 
investment!

To Phone
Phone numbers can also be found at the website mentioned 
above. If you do not feel comfortable talking to someone in 
person then call after hours and leave a voice message.

To Mail
Simply print out a copy of the form letter below (after 
filling in the details) and mail it to your councillor (the 
details are on the website). Remember that a mailed letter is 
going to receive more attention than simply sending an e-
mail.

To Attend the Meeting
Show up to the following, if you have any questions contact 
Chris Zwierzchowski (below). You will not be required to 
speak at the meeting, as OCUA will designate a person or 
persons to speak on our behalf. We have specific points we 
want to make, and want to make sure that we don't try the 
patience of council by having numerous people speak. However, 
without people at this meeting it will look as though the 
league is not serious about this issue.  Your mere presence 
will say a lot.

Planning and Development Committee Meeting For OZP2001-0064
Meeting Date: Thursday 9 August 2001
Meeting Location: Champlain Room, City Hall
Meeting Time: 09:30 am
Contact: Chris Zwierzchowski (580-2424, Ext. 21359)

You as an Ultimate player MUST GET INVOLVED. Without these 
fields we will lose 128 teams next season. The Board of 
Directors will be keeping track of which teams get most 
involved with this initiative, so be sure to CC 
president@ocua.ca on all of your e-mails.

We cannot stress enough the importance of your participation 
or the damage that apathy on the part of players will have on 
our future use of the fields.

If you have any questions on how to go about completing steps 
1-4 please contact rezonequestions@ocua.ca

Thanks,
Ken Lange
President
Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association

FORM LETTER
cut here!!!!!
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Name of Councillor
Address


Date


Dear Councillor:

As a member of the Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association 
(OCUA) I am writing to express support for the continued 
zoning of the west half of the north half of lot twenty-nine, 
concession one, township of Gloucester, City of Ottawa (File 
# OZP2001-0064), to allow the land to be used for the sport 
of Ultimate.  

This land is owned by Mr. Ken Gordon of Manotick, and OCUA 
has rented the land from Mr. Jes Petersen of Manotick, since 
1994.  The land is used for Ultimate, a non-contact, co-ed 
field sport played by two teams. The object of the game is 
for a team to pass a frisbee from player to player, all the 
way up the field, and catch the disc in their end-zone, which 
scores a point.  The most important part of Ultimate is "The 
Spirit of the Game", which describes the respect that every 
player in the game has for the rules and their fellow 
players.  No referees exist; instead, the players themselves 
officiate.  

OCUA, consisting of over 3,500 members, is a not-for-profit 
organization whose primary mandate is to organize and promote 
the growth of the sport of Ultimate in the Ottawa-Carleton 
region.  OCUA is the largest Ultimate league in the world, 
and volunteers handle the majority of the work of the 
Association.

OCUA manages summer, fall and winter Ultimate leagues.  The 
summer league has seen significant growth over the past ten 
years, increasing from 32 teams in 1991 to 312 teams in 2001.  
The Association has taken significant actions to ensure that 
the sport of Ultimate continues to grow and contributes to 
the quality of life of our membership and the community. For 
example, in 1994, OCUA entered into the agreement to rent the 
land on Spratt Road, referred to as the Sod Farm, when it 
became apparent that city fields would be unable to meet the 
needs of this rapidly growing sport. The Sod Farm now hosts 
one-third of the summer league's games.  In 1998, when it was 
apparent that this rapid growth would continue, OCUA 
purchased 100 acres of land in Manotick Station and developed 
a nineteen field ultimate park, referred to as Ultimate Parks 
Incorporated (UPI).

The development of the Sod Farm and UPI was driven by the 
lack of sports fields in Ottawa, and this activity has helped 
to alleviate a sports field crisis.  As well, the development 
of the ultimate league and fields has generated significant 
economic benefits for the local community, including the 
renting of fields, hiring of local contractors and 
businesses, and hiring a contractor to oversee the league and 
fields. 

In addition, the organization is committed to working with 
the community to ensure our facilities are mutually 
beneficial and enjoyed by all. To that end, OCUA has 
encouraged the use of the Sod Farm for community purposes. 
For example, these sports fields have been used by: 
elementary and high schools for ultimate tournaments; the 
"Kids League", an initiative to promote the sport of ultimate 
among Ottawa children; and the Association to host 
tournaments that raise money for charities (e.g. the Heart 
and Stroke Foundation, Cancer Research Society, The Door).  

OCUA has worked with the local business community in 
supporting these charities.  The high-tech business community 
continuously seeks linkages with OCUA in order to gain access 
to our membership, which is highly skilled and well paid.  A 
significant percentage of the membership is employed in 
Ottawa's high-tech sector, and a recent survey indicated that 
the average Ultimate player in Ottawa earns $55,000 per year.

OCUA is a proactive organization that has devoted 
considerable effort and time to ensure that their membership 
have access to adequate sports fields. This commitment to the 
continued development of ultimate deserves to be matched by a 
continued commitment from the City of Ottawa.  If the Sod 
Farm zoning is not re-amended, the OCUA summer league will 
have to be cut by 128 teams (approximately 1500 players).

At the Ottawa 20/20 Smart Growth Summit, guest speaker Dr. 
Richard Florida, Director of the Center for Economic 
Development at Carnegie Mellon University, put forth a list 
of questions to be asked to assess a city's quality of life.  
One of the questions was: "Does your city have an Ultimate 
League?"  I am proud to respond that the City of Ottawa has 
the largest Ultimate league in the world, and that I am a 
member of that league.  With your support of this zoning re-
amendment, I can continue to be a member of this league.

In closing, I would like to reiterate my support for Ottawa's 
Ultimate league by asking you to support the continued zoning 
of the Sod Farm (off Spratt Road) for the sport of Ultimate.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look 
forward to receiving a reply stating your position on this 
issue.

Sincerely,



Your name
Address
Telephone Number
Email address

c.c.:   Mr. Bob Chiarelli (Bob.Chiarelli@city.ottawa.on.ca)
        Mr. Ken Lange (president@ocua.ca)


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