deb_ng
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Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/02 10:16
Similar thread to the Men's discussion:
Now that WAFDA is prepping to put a bid in to host Nationals 2009, the committee is seriously considering starting a premier league to cultivate elite Ultimate. Major questions for members:
1. When? Another weeknight besides Wed? Sunday morning? Sunday arvo?
2. League or Tournament structure? Play in a weekly league or play a half day tourney every few weeks?
3. Club or Hat teams? How should teams be selected? Club teams who train together to field a team or should teams be evened out via a draft system?
This feedback from the Ultimate population will help the committee determine how best to run this elite competition - what would gather most support & commitment from players to make this venture effective and sustainable.
This Premier League should indeed be played at an elite level. Whether it be Club or Hat teams, each team should train and seek to improve in order to maintain an elite level of play as you would at Nationals.
Issues: Is there enough support and commitment out there to make a Women's Premier League happen?
There are currently 60 women playing in the Wed night leagues but there was very little interest in the recent Women's league - why is this so?
Ladies - please tell the committee what would increase (or what is hindering) the interest & commitment to Women's Ultimate both at a development & elite level.
If Perth is to host Nationals 2009, WA women have a fantastic opportunity to put their best foot forward. However, the focus is very much on WA women's Ultimate development in general. As enthusiasm & commitment to it grows, fielding competitive teams at any National tournament would simply be the by-product of this growth.
Time to speak up ladies!
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savvy_nat
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Re:Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/03 16:06
It would be great to have a women's league if we can get more women involved.
From playing SUL I have noticed that females are put off playing in a women's game due to feeling that they are only beginners and not good enough. I guess they feel like it will have the competitiveness of a PUL game, but obviously not mixed, and that the game is way out of their depth. I feel this perception is a huge barrier to getting more females involved in a women's league.
In advertising a women's league - perhaps a little less emphasis should be put on the word "elite" and more on development (or come and try women's games) so as not to discourage those who are new to the sport. It would also need to encourage those players who are elite though, and I do recognise this.
I myself prefer not to play weekends, however if it was only something like once every three weeks, I'm sure it might work. Otherwise a weeknight would be ok.
Of course it would be great to have club against club type games, but i don't think Perth women's ultimate is at this stage yet - however I guess if people could make their own teams up or by hat - i think that would be a good start...
Playing during the winter would not encourage me, however I wouldn't mind starting in Spring and playing through to Christmas or something (Spring Women's Ultimate League) - then Nationals training would take over I guess in the lead up to April.
Post edited by: savvy_nat, at: 2008/05/03 16:11
Post edited by: savvy_nat, at: 2008/05/03 16:19
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sandy
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Re:Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/05 19:40
 Hi all. I think a womens league is a great idea but should not run on Wednesday nights as most of us enjoy playing in the mixed competition as well. The Tuesday night format seemed to work really well in getting people along and maybe the next step is to form balanced teams with short definitive seasons (8-10 weeks). Of course if people want to bring their own friends along to form a team that would be great too.
The main reason why I didnt play the Womens league was due to missing the first two weeks and then thinking that I wasnt really needed and being too lazy then to come along. If I had been prompted by a team captain and told that I was needed I would have come along every week. I know I'm lazy but unless I have been committed to something its easier to stay home...boring.
Soooooo, I need the exercise and dont think I can play Wednesdays any more so how about it - lets go girls. By the way I think the girls playing now are fantastic and I enjoy the challenge each week, so bring it on.
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rustonia
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Re:Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/13 20:23
As great as it would be to have a women's "premier" league, there are simply not enough "premier" women in WA to make such a league happen. I believe that before we can have and sort of elite/beginner division in Women's Ultimate there needs to be a much larger player base. Keep in mind that it is not reasonable to expect every PUL/SUL player to be available to or interested in committing to another night of Ultimate each week.
The first step to growing women's ultimate in WA is to offer a women's only competition. The level would probably be somewhere between PUL and SUL, but it would afford a welcome opportunity for those women who may not be comfortable playing with men, or who want a different scene. The offering of a women's only league/competition would have to be paired with a targeted and massive recruitment campaign. Flyers at bus stops and Unis, posters at women's gyms, contacting high schools in the area where the comp will be held. If you have something to advertise, i.e.
"4 week intro skills clinic followed by a 6 week Hat league, 10 am Saturdays at (venue)"
then it is much more encouraging to people to actually show up.
Shooting for anything elite or premier for women in WA will, I fear, scare off any of the existing players who don't feel "elite" enough and offers nothing to women who just want to dip their toes in the water.
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Bnanna
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Re:Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/13 21:53
I strongly disagree that there are not enough PREMIER women here in WA. The quality of female players is a pretty decent standard lately look no further than 16 superb female competitors who have recently return from Nationals add that to quality oozing out of SUL/PUL.
Perhaps I'm a little over protective but I believe there are just as many quality women as there are men ulti players here in WA.
I do agree that this league should not be marketed as elite, this has been discussed at committee level but not updated on this post. Consider it updated people!
The true purpose of this thread is to get some feedback from ALL WOMEN playing in the current leagues. What do they want? When do they want it? How do they want it? WAFDA want to provide an oulet for Women's Ultimate, do WA women want a women's league? This is really what this post is asking.
Until there is feedback this format will remain dormant here in the west.
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sable
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Re:Women's Premier League? - 2008/05/14 12:59
if a short term women's league was set up to encourage more women to play, without asking for a major commitment, i think more women would come out. it could be held on a night other then league (tues or thurs) and possibly do 30-40 minutes of skills to help people improve, followed by an hour long game. i think that in offering a bit of a skill session first, in a women only environment, we'll entice a few more beginners to come out. experienced players would be called upon to share their skill and help the women in WA develop overall.
i'm also keen on doing semi-regular HAT tourney's on a sunday afternoon. possibly once a month. 2-3 games of 40 mins or something short like that. it'll get people out on the field and give some girls a bit of experience in tournament play, which is ultimately what we need for nationals.
the other thing i would love to see happen is get the extremely skilled experienced women in WA to help out with some training sessions for the less skilled. could be a one off training session on a saturday afternoon or something like that. spend 3 hours with girls who've been playing a long time and have so much knowledge to share. could be as simple as improving your throws, to field sense and position, to defensive tactics. anything they've learned over the years that would help us improve our game.
i think it's high time that skilled women ulti players in WA share the love and help newbies reach higher levels!
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