Witch's Hat 2007 hosted by PRIMAL has come and gone for another year. Photos will be posted in the Photo Gallery section shortly. Read about the fun and games of the weekend by clicking the 'read more' link below. See you at the PRIMAL Quiz Night!

Witch’s Hat 2007 - Hosted By: PRIMAL 

After a nasty turn in the weather conditions there was speculation on whether the tournament would go ahead, but the skies cleared up just in time for Witch’s Hat 2007. This year the event was hosted by the girls from PRIMAL and held at Halliday Park in Bayswater. The weather only scared a few players into hiding but the majority braved the VERY windy conditions and played hard all weekend.

There was a great mix of new and experienced players signing up for the competition, many taking part in their first ever hat tournament (and some even their first ever game of ultimate!) and spirit was the focus for the entire weekend. 

After being allocated their tournament T-shirts, players moved into their teams and met their team captains and team mates. Teams for the weekend were: Boo (Red), Blue Blood aka “The Pauline’s” (Blue), Occult (White), Pumpkin Love (Orange), Sunshine Chunder (Yellow) & Greenwitch (Green). The opening ceremony then kicked off Saturday’s schedule. Game One: The Sack Race. Players were cleated up and had to compete in a relay race whilst wearing child-sized potato sacks. There were tumbles and laughter all around and some unique jumping styles. Game two: Egg & Spoon Race. Another relay had players balancing an egg on a spoon while racing around a cone with penalties in place for any breakages. A chewing gum inspection of all eggs at the end of the race was conducted to make sure no teams had an unfair advantage. 

Winning teams were awarded spirit points and team bonding was well established. All team captains for the weekend were beginners and were briefed on the tournament specific rules to be ready for some Ultimate action. Bonus points were award for Hacky Points, where all players of the offensive team make contact with the disc prior to scoring. Also players could call for 2 “Witch’s Hat” points per game. A nominated player would wear a “Witch’s Hat” and if their team scored then 2 points were awarded, but if the hat wearer caught the goal the team was awarded 4 points. A combination of the two - a Hacky Hat goal - was also allowed. Pumpkin Love found this a handy inclusion allowing them to take a game in the dying moments on day one. 

Teams on a bye were not left idle. Alternative games were held in order to give teams a chance to boost their spirit totals. “Disc Jockey” had players don some lovely underwear and pass a disc between their knees to their teams while completing a short course. “Spider Legs” had some extra legs, get down and weave the obstacle course like a spider! By the end of day one, players had survived the wind and managed to stay dry and it was time to rest, enjoy a sausage sizzle and a few beverages. 

Day Two 

Sunday’s weather was much more enjoyable, the sun was shining and less fierce winds for the last of the qualifying games.  Then it was time for the play off games. Sunshine Chunder and Pumpkin Love were on equal tournament ladder points so a count back on spirit points was used to determine who would make the grand final. Pumpkin Love had one more spirit point and was set to face Occult in the final. As per tournament rules both team playing in the final were allowed to add two players to their roster, one beginner and one experienced player. The crowd cried “HAMMER” and they were not disappointed, a great display of sportsmanship and skills shown by both teams but Occult proving too strong in the end and deemed Witch’s Hat champions for 2007. 

Plenty of highlights throughout the weekend, Ross Macbeth making some massive layout grabs, Ashvin Nair dominating the end zone, Maggie Harkness catching a goal between her legs, Bryan Peet’s brilliant defense and awesome grabs in the final, Ken Summers’ smack-down defense and Gillian Stone  punishing offensive handlers with a huge hand block. 

Final Placings:

Spirit winners were the mighty green team: Greenwitch.Male MVP went to Dave Briggs of Pumpkin Love and Female MVP went to Rachael Samookler of Boo, and Ashvin Nair was voted Player of the Final. 

Big thanks to John “JD” Damiani for help setting up the fields and supplying the BBQ for the weekend. Teams looked fantastic in their bright colours, the high quality tournament T-shirts were provided by Ace Promotions. www.acepromotions.com.au (Ace Promotions also supplied PRIMAL with their team uniforms for Nationals this year). Congratulations to first time tournament organisers: Amanda “Llama” Kelly, Natalie “Giraffe” Kippin, Debbie “Otter” Ng, Catriona “Bat” Okely, Michelle “Sable” Bergeron, Gillian "Turtle" Stone and Julie Hardt. Special mention to the Witch’s Hat founding fathers, Rusty Slaughter and Waylon Parker, who trusted us to take care of their tournament this year. A huge thank you to all players who participated over the weekend for making the event a success!