Chennai Heat 2013 Feedback

Click image to see larger version

Welcome to the feedback post. Before you proceed, let me warn you that this post is going to be extremely long. Read only if you have time, patience and a sense of responsibility to make India Ultimate better.

Before I begin my criticism, I would like to take a moment to thank every person who was involved in the preparation and execution of Chennai Heat 2013. Its not just the tournament directors, committee members, party organisers or the list of volunteers but everyone else who whose names we did not hear in the “thank you list”. Being close to the organizers of the event, I know that they ran into many problems with sponsorship, especially in the 11^th hour. They had to make some decisions which did give them a bit of headache. Nevertheless, they rolled up their sleeves and worked harder to make the event successful.

Feedback begins. The next few paragraphs are my thoughts. After that, the consolidated feedback follows.

Every tournament in India should have a dedicated team to organize the event. The TD or TD’s, other members and volunteers should not be working for the tournament and playing for a team. It just doesn’t work that way. There have been many instances in the past and also in CH13 where people did not know who the volunteers were or who was keeping time or any damn thing for that matter. This is mainly because players want to run the event and play for their team. Consider this idea – going forward, give the tournament organization to a club. Let them organize the event. They don’t get to play but they get to keep a good percentage of the profits from the tournament. If this is not an option, then you HAVE to create a team that will not play.

We need to have a place called GAME CENTRAL during the tournament. This should be the official desk for all matters related to the tournament. This desk should be manned by volunteers throughout the duration of the tournament. All communications should go from here and every query should be answered from here.

Okay, we divided the tournament feedback into many sections and this is what we have.

Communications

By and large, all communication was done through Facebook which according to many is not the preferred option. The tournament website was hardly used for any form of communication.

Schedule and changes were all communicated within a span of less than 1 week to the tournament. This is totally unacceptable and should be taken seriously by all tournament directors. Going forward, schedules and pools should be released atleast 2 weeks before the tournament.

For urgent and important updates, a smarter form of communication such as SMS or phone calls should be used. The idea is to ensure that players or captains get the message.

Registrations

Registration details should be communicated well in advance. Teams should be instructed to pay to an account number before arriving for the tournament. Only registered teams (read paid money) should be considered for scheduling.

Competition

Every player is attending the tournament for a great experience on the field and I think that the competition format affected many teams.

Seeding and groupings were not effective at all. Sometimes looked very biased and beneficial to some teams. Its not UPAI’s responsibility to manage the seeding but the organizers of Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi (these are the biggest tournaments in India right now), should sit together and come up with a standard ranking system which works for all tournaments.

The number of teams should have been restricted considering that it gets too hot after 9.30am. Many teams did not have games at 9.30am or 3.30pm and some teams had many games at these times. This may not be a bias but the scheduling is sometimes insensitive. By reducing the number of teams, the game time per team could have been significantly increased. Having 3 pick-up teams and not counting scores against them is just ridiculous. Period.

Playing a kid because you don’t have women or you have lesser number of women IS NOT ACCEPTABLE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I thought the rules had clearly mentioned this and hence I don’t understand why this issue came up in the feedback. Whichever team did this, I am sorry guys, you are not fit to play a tournament. This is such a dispirited act. I cannot accept any BS explanation in this regard.

Everywhere I have played, the teams have 2 time-outs during the entire game and generally time-outs are not given during the last 5 mins or so. And what was this floating time-out I heard about? Who comes up with these ridiculous rules? Apparently time-outs ran for 2-3 minutes. This is why we need assigned volunteers for every game. These volunteers should be responsible to conduct the game, keep time and manage other administrative tasks. We cannot ask someone on the sideline to manage time because no one else did.

Spirit captain and WFDF accreditation was a great move and has been well appreciated by all teams but the organizers should also consider having observers for certain games. People standing in the sidelines have no authority to give opinions. Also the playing teams should ask them to please shut up.

Fields

The fields were not in the best form. Many teams had complaints about glass pieces and stones. Organisers should look to allocate some money to run the sand sifters before the tournament.

Many spectators were very close to the sidelines. Going forward, it may be good to have two lines at a 3 meter separation just to keep the crowd away.

Facilities

All teams were happy with the availability of water, ice, physio and first aid although some teams did not know that the physio was around. Portable toilets would have been a boon for the women.

Merchandise reaching the fields on the last day was such a bad idea. Efforts should have been made to get it on the first day. This all ties up to ensuring that registration is done atleast 2 weeks before the tournament so that the organizers can get everything sorted out much earlier.

For CH2014, we definitely need to provide sunscreen.

Food

This is where the organizers scored a lot. Bananas were good. The next step is hydration fluids. The tie-up with CFG for discount food coupons was an awesome idea. We need more!

Social

No concerns about the party as well. Everyone loved the party for the atmosphere and food. Although a few think that the price was slightly on the higher side, I still think it was a fab effort from the party organizers.

Travel and Acco

Apart from parking problems which are strictly not in our hands there was nothing much.

Overall

Chennai Heat 2013 gets an overall score of 7.8 on 10 which is very good. Can we say that people have been very generous with their scores? Haha. I am not undermining the efforts taken by the organizers but we have a long way to go.

Why do we still have to play 7 on 7 when the international standard for beach ultimate is 5 on 5 with a 3-2 ratio? Choosing this option would give us more fields and shorter games. The number of games per team would increase as well. Sooner, we will be able to have Open and Mixed divisions if we choose 5 on 5. On the other side, with soaring temperatures in the south, next year’s Heat may definitely need a supply of sand socks.

Chennai Heat 2013 - Predictions

The cat is out of the bag now. You should get a better version of the above picture on the tournament facebook page.

First look comments - I am not sure what even distribution of seeding means. Also, there needs to be a mention of what benchmarks have been used to come up with the seeding. In my opinion, every team needs a ranking before the tournament and after the tournament. The criteria for allocating teams is sensible but can be contested for logic.

When you look at the pools, the results of pool-play just stand out in front of you without any reason for a second look.

All the teams against A1-F1 respectively are going to top their pools comfortably. The only pool games that would be worth a watch for the spectators are Flywild vs DoD and Spinergy vs Falcons. I must mention that the games between 3 and 4 numbered teams in all pools would be interesting in a way that you can never predict the outcome.

If we have 3 pools at the end of pool-play, then Gold pool will have Stall7, Flywild, L2F, Spinergy, Blitz, Airborne. Now that's 6 done with 2 more slots remaining. DoD has a very good chance of making the 7th spot. The last spot will be a fight between Chakraa and Falcons. I would give that last spot to Chakraa because of the home advantage they have but still be doubtful about the points difference they can make with the other teams in their pool. Which gives Falcons a good chance to make it to Gold. Fringe Flickers are capable of throwing a surprise but they have never done that yet so I wouldn't place my bets on them.

With a minimum of 4 Chennai teams in Gold pool, there will be enough pressure on the other teams to even get to semi-finals. L2F has not been very successful on beach for a very long time. Spinergy has reached semis but crumpled as well. L2F and Spinergy have a good chance to move up in Gold if they play teams like Airborne, DoD, Chakraa and Falcons. Blitz, Flywild and Stall7 are going to give a menacing blow to anyone playing against them. I am not sure if Blitz still has a problem with their women ratio but if that's sorted out, then there is no stopping them at all. This also means that if neither of these three teams meet in the first round of Gold, then there is only spot left in the semis between 5 other teams.

In the end, the finals of Chennai Heat 2013 will be a repeat of the last year. With no doubt, Stall7 will win this edition of the Heat making it three in a row - a record that any other team can only dream of achieving on beach.

Flywild and Blitz are great teams as well and deserve credit for being fantastic teams, but they have a panic / choke button hidden somewhere. When they see their opponents score, they switch on automatically and its only downhill from there.

Like it or not, its going to be a Chennai domination all through.

Chennai Heat 2013 - Pools teaser

Excessive hullabaloo from my side over the last few days and many facebook posts by others did give a wake up call to the organizers of Chennai Heat 2013 to bring out that piece of classified information - The Seedings. I was so irritated that at some point I was even thinking of getting someone from WikiLeaks to help me break into the TD's mailbox.

UPAI - this one is for you guys to address in upcoming tournaments. 23 teams had registered for Chennai Heat by 12th Sep or something. Why does it take TD's such a long time to release information about pools? Pools for tournaments are definitely independent of schedules. I understand that it may take time to fix the fields and the slots but the pools can come out within 10 days of registration. We definitely need a booklet called Tournament Guidelines and I will author that. Mind it.

So, here are the pools. Well, not really. I am not supposed to reveal anything until the TD announces the same. I had a sneak peak into what is going to come out and here is what I have to say.

It looks like there will be 6 pools with 4 teams in each. In effect, three games before you step onto the next stage. I would have preferred a bigger pool which also means that you get to face-off against many more competitive teams but in this case, you will be moved to your comfort zone on day 2. From then on, it becomes a smart play for many teams, especially the ones that just missed the bus for the gold pool - to keep their head above the water and maintain the lead against the smaller teams.

Anyways, the predictions are still to come by. Ciao until then.

USHA BUO 2013 - Predictions

With the seedings out, its now time to have a quick look at the pools and the games that follow. Here it is

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C
Learning to Fly	Stall 7	Spinergy
Blitzkrieg	Chakraa	DoD
Storm Chasers	Airborne Chicken Pox	Cat Dogs
Shurikens	Falcons	Fly Wild
Dishqiya	Dhokla Biryani	Fringe Flickers
Blue Rays	Discreed	Flying Spirits
Spin Doctors	Discotech	Airborne Small Pox
Airbenders	Air Traffic Control	Spin Offs

With 8 teams in every pool, it is going to be a lot of games per team before they get divided into Gold, Silver and Fun (that's how the organizers decided to call the last pool). The first two days of pool games is not going to be easy at all and I am sure we will be in for a few surprises.

If things go by the way my brain is thinking right now, here is what we can expect from every pool.

Pool A will be topped by Learning to Fly (nothing different. Same team, maybe a few new additions. They should sail through, especially considering its grass and they have been quite consistent on grass). It will be a good fight for Storm Chasers with Shurikens in the same pool (if the people I used to know  in Shurikens are still around I mean). If they get their act together, then team Blitz has a chance too. Dishqiya is a good contender as well considering that they have worked together as team for sometime now.

Pool B will be topped by Stall 7 (but for a few X-Men characters missing from their roster, the college team has come a long way and should sustain their run), followed by a good fight for the next few places between the following teams: Airborne Chicken Pox (guessing this is their A team as there is a small pox somewhere down the line. Airborne performed well at Kodai when I was there and at the Heat last year. They should do well this time around too);  Falcons (the young boys of Bangalore give most of the teams a hard time) and Chakraa (a team that I know closely and has been doing reasonably well)

Pool C will be topped by Fly Wild (runner up at Chennai Heat. These guys should be on fire this time around), followed by Spinergy and DoD. Cat Dogs are going to have a tough time in this pool with 3 other strong teams.

The Gold Pool would probably look like this, in no particular order or ranking

Learning to Fly

Stall 7

Fly Wild

Spinergy

Storm Chasers (the design of Pool A makes it easy for them)

There will be a sort of scramble for the next 3 places. An educated guess would be DoD, Airborne Chicken Pox and Chakraa, but we cannot leave out the Falcons who have the capability to create an upset. Watch out for the games these teams play as they could go either ways. Interesting that out of the five teams mentioned above, three are in one pool. Which sort of gives DoD an easy entry to the Gold Pool unless the Cat Dogs throw a surprise party. I decided to leave Blitz out of this equation because their performance hasn't been consistent beyond Chennai Heat.

As there is not much information about the Gold Pool match-ups, in the end its mostly going to be a final between Stall 7 and Learning to Fly and I am expecting the host team to continue their winning streak.

PS: These are completely my thoughts from the information I have. I will be only happy if more rabbits are pulled out of the hats.

Mumbai Storm Chasers

WOW, Ultimate scene in India IS really getting bigger and better. Check out the news video on the Mumbai Team. These guys will be here in Chennai over the weekend for the tournament.

The ET Madras Plus Coverage: Today

THE NEW BEE IN TOWN!

This bee is buzzing. And has people leaping into the air with excitement. Ultimate Frisbee is here!

Deepti Sivakumar

Come sunrise; the Elliot's beach springs to life with people. There are the aspiring cricketers, the joggers, yoga practitioners, laughter club members, the bluegreen health concoction vendors… Amidst these groups, there is one more. One that has people cheering excitedly. Ultimate Frisbee. As even a quick internet search will tell you, the sport is mostly called Ultimate since frisbee is a trademark brand name for the discs.

Chennai Ultimate Frisbee (CUF) is a group of individuals who are passionate and committed to the cause of turning unsuspecting beachgoers into Ultimate addicts. For the uninitiated, it is a lot like playing rugby or American football as far as the game-objective is concerned. Teams have to score points by passing the disc between its members in the opposing end zone. But unlike rugby or football, Ultimate is a nocontact team sport, which means if you have a broken nose, you can have no grudges.

Though Ultimate's origins can be traced all the way to North America, the sport is gaining popularity in many parts of India too, courtesy the people who fly to the US for education, and expatriates. Ultimate is only about four-years-old in India, but the national teams are already gearing up for one of its biggest tournaments. On November 29 and 30, Chennai will play host to around eleven teams; ten from across India and one from Sri Lanka. "There have been national tournaments before, but participation from ten national teams makes this Ultimate Frisbee's biggest so far," says Narayan Krishnan, one of the founders of CUF.

What's interesting about this game is that even at the international competitions, there are no referees; the game is self-refereed.

Ultimate is a sport that believes in fostering the player's sportsmanship over everything else. That explains the total absence of sledging or heckling on the Ultimate grounds. "We will win because we are better than the other team in skill, speed and stamina; and not because we can cheat, bully, sledge, trip or push them around," explains one of the Ultimate pamphlets. "Sometimes people get too caught up in the competition and they forget the spirit of the game. We're just a bunch of people who have got together for the love of the sport," trails off Manu Karan, CUF's pillar of support.

The CUF members meet four times a week to practise their dives, catches and throws. But besides that, they also teach Ultimate to children from the underprivileged sections of the society. In fact, in cities like Ahmedabad, Ultimate is being adopted by NGOs as a method to inculcate confidence, teamwork and leadership qualities among different communities. As a sport, Ultimate is associated more with the sheer joy of playing more than the "win at all costs" spirit, and the focus is more on team work and camaraderie between the players.

The fitness angle cannot be ignored too. Ultimate goes a long way in giving the players something to look forward to, at the end of the day. "Most of us have full-time jobs; some of us are techies, some business analysts. But the work-home-work rut is a little difficult to break away from, once you get sucked in. Ultimate is my breakaway from the rut, even if it means waking up earlier on the weekends," says Manu. For some, the game is that last push one needs to make or break a habit. Muthuraman, an Ultimate lover, can't wait for the tournament to begin. "Ultimate helps me take my health seriously," he says.

Currently, CUF has around 35 members. "Newbies come over weekends to watch us play and some of them become regulars," says Manu, but he does add that the awareness levels are still low. For a game completely devoid of on-field cursing, Ultimate is surprisingly competitive, and even after the game is over, you can always catch the players practising their catches and throws. What's also unique about Ultimate is that it's unisex. Regardless of your age, sex, height and weight, you can play. Go on, be a part of the frisbee experience!

PS: By the way, the man leaping in the air to catch the disc was a photography trick!