February 2012

Prez Corner

For the very first time in Scoober history, we have chosen a theme!  And that theme is:   Women in Ultimate.  The article titled Women Against the Wind, is a no holds barred look at the female experience playing coed Ultimate in Austin.  It was written by frequent Scoober contributor, Jean Gaetan, with lots of input from several local female players.  Colleen Conrad also contributes an excellent article, Hey Sista:  The Real Beauty of Women’s Ultimate, espousing the unique joy of playing women’s Ultimate.  The last article, by Gary Breaux, Where’s All the Ultimate Women At?, discusses interesting strategies for increasing the number of women playing Ultimate. 

As you will read in Colleen’s article, Ultimate is really about friendship, community, and fun.  That’s how Ultimate got me hooked, too.  When I first started playing pick-up on Friday nights at the Intramural Fields, the leadership worked diligently to ensure that every person that came out was supported….and that they got their hands on the disc, too.  Winning was not the goal.  The goal was to spread the fun of Ultimate by being inclusive and extending friendship, community, and thrill of the game, to everyone that showed up…especially the women.

I am an old man and I still play.  I know that it’s because people make room for me to play, and for that I feel blessed.

Austin Ultimate has room for more women, too.  To that end, I have an idea.... 

Here is my pitch:  UPLA needs a female volunteer to join the board with the single purpose of growing the number of women in Austin Ultimate. 

Look around.  Talk to your friends.  If you are thinking you have time, you believe in more women playing, and love Ultimate, UPLA wants you!  Have no doubt: you can do it and your help will make a difference!  If you are not that person, do you have a recommendation?  Start that conversation! 

One idea UPLA is currently moving forward with is Women's Only Intro Pick-up.  See more info in the Upcoming Events.

More women playing Ultimate doesn’t just mean more balanced teams in league, it means more fun, more friends and more opportunities for everyone.  We need you to make it happen.

It's a big issue, but with lots of important content!  Enjoy and thanks for reading,

Big Paul