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           U L T I M A T E   H A P P E N I N G S            
                 Issue 248 - March 18, 2003                  

******************* 2666 players served ********************

      OCUA - The largest ultimate league in the world!      
            (328 teams and 3800 members in 2002)            

                    http://www.ocua.ca/                    

"The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate 
themselves." ---Mike Ditka 

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CONTENTS:

- The Field Crisis And Kids League - You Can Help!
- Youth Ultimate 2003 Season
- Calendar Of Events

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THE FIELD CRISIS AND KIDS LEAGUE - YOU CAN HELP!

As you are all aware, we are facing a shortage of fields, 
and are working with the city to try to address the problem.  
Unfortunately, we are working from a bit of a disadvantage 
with respect to other sports in a number of areas. We're not 
a mainstream sport, we're not a nationally recognized sport, 
and most importantly, we have a limited youth component. 
While participating in many public consultations on sports 
field allocations and strategies, city staff have made it 
more than clear that preference for allocations will go to 
sports with a strong youth participation. The validity of 
this approach can be debated, but regardless of one's 
thoughts on the matter, it is apparent that this is the 
current mandate, and as such, we have to do our best to work 
with it.

While this is somewhat problematic given our current 
demographics, it does mesh well with our long term plans. It 
has long been OCUA's desire to further youth ultimate, as we 
know this is where the future of our sport lies. We started 
our kids league 2 years ago, and have had great success with 
it. But so far, it has been carried by the hard work and 
perseverance of a few individuals. If we are to move 
forward, we need more of our members to get involved. We are 
hoping to possibly expand our current kids league to a 
greater geographic area, and want to get a high 
school/juniors program underway. We're looking for the 
following:

KIDS LEAGUE: Volunteers to help direct/administer the 
program, as well as coaches for the kids (we need lots of 
the latter). The current league runs on Thursday nights from 
May 15 to Jul. 31, but if we expand to other regions of the 
city, we may add additional nights (unlikely at this late 
date).  The focus is on teaching rudimentary ultimate & disc 
skills with an emphasis on spirit of the game. The league is 
for kids 9-15. For more details, contact Karen Lange at 
kids@ocua.ca

JUNIORS PROGRAM: Volunteers to help direct/administer the 
program. We want to get a regular league started, as well as 
tournaments, and support for juniors competitive teams.  As 
this will primarily be high school based, teachers would be 
particularly valuable. This is very much in the early stages 
right now, so we can't provide too many details at the 
moment.  Interested individuals should contact Nick Roberts 
at gm@ocua.ca

This is a great opportunity for members to help out the 
kids, our field situation, and our sport in general, so 
please volunteer your time! It will make a real difference!

Cheers!
Ken Lange
president@ocua.ca

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YOUTH ULTIMATE 2003 SEASON

Know someone between the ages of 9 and 15? Let them know 
that they can now register for the 2003 Youth Ultimate 
league. The league will once again run on Thursday nights 
from 6pm to 8pm from May 15 to July 31. Field locations are 
at UPI.

Details including the registration forms are available at 
www.ocua.ca

Questions? Contact Karen Lange at kids@ocua.ca

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

03/22/2003  : March Meltdown Tournament (RA Center, Ottawa)
04/06/2003  : Ready For Spring Indoor Scrimmage (Carleton U)
04/24/2003  : Captain's Meeting (Nepean Sportsplex A, 18:30)

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Ultimate Happenings is an e-mail newsletter for the
Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association (http://www.ocua.ca).

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