Dear Ultimate friends,

Yes at last!... after last year's success we promised to organise the Xefina HAT tournament again in 2009! And here it is:
This year it will be on the holiday of Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd! The Sunday is open for some interesting and relaxing excursions in Mocambique... or just for some nice lullas/camarao and cerveja while looking at the ocean.
Due to the tide that weekend we will organise a 5 on 5 multi-surface tournament, Friday we'll play on the beach of the island of Xefina (in the bay of Maputo) and on Saturday we'll be playing at the fields of the American School (same teams and beach ultimate size fields).

The tourney is limited to 60 participants and we plan to have always 2 women/3 men in the field.
Parties... yes there will be plenty... that goes without saying in Mozambique! One party will be in the old train station of Maputo built in 1910 by Mr. Gustave Eiffel, a very inspiring venue.

If you want to be part of this year's great tournament send us an e-mail: sjoerd@mozultimate.com.

First come first serve!

Happy hucking,

Stef Stevens
www.mozultimate.com

PS There are numerous flights to Johannesburg (JNB). From JNB it is a one hour flight to Maputo (MPM) (5 flights a day South African and LAM (Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique)), you can also rent a car and drive in approx. 6 hours to Maputo, Mozambique. Don’t forget to visit the Kruger Park and see the big 5 on the way back and to swim with the dolphins, whale sharks and manta rays on the Mozambican beaches!

It is interesting to see the differences in how people feel about using Observers. As far as I know no observers have ever been used in Beach Ultimate and, as a founding principle, BULA approved tournaments and Championships will never allow for observers.

Is this logical? Not always. There are definitely situations where an observer could have made the a better call than the players. In the situation below the defensive team (SeXXXpensive with whom I play) was sure the offensive player caught the disc out of bounds. However the player called himself in. Correct? Who knows? We contested, the player maintained the call and a point was awarded.

I believe the onus is on the player. It has to do with honesty and respect. If the catcher has doubts he should send the disc back to the thrower and play on. If he truly believed that his foot was in then so be it. He/she has to make the right call.

I am glad that the WFDF took the Observers out of the rules a number of years ago. Players should be capable of having a great game, that is fun to watch, hard to play, and make their own (and the right) calls. Observers might assist in a certain part of the game, but they also take away from something that is unique. Let's be honest... in case of doubt, back to the thrower and play on! This is something unique we should work to maintain. I know it is not always easy in the heat of the game but it can be done, learned and taught!

We have good news for tournament directors: as we in previous years we got a good Discraft disc deal for all BULA approved tournaments. Tournaments can receive a 20% discount on regular price discs, plus 10 free game discs per every 100 discs ordered, and some more free gifts.

In addition, Lookfly is giving away 15 Spirit of the Game sweatbands per tournament. These sweatbands are for the team that wins the SOTG using the new SOTG scoring system that BULA and the WFDF launch last year. In return TD's have to send feedback about the system to us.

To apply, simply send us an email

Lei-Out 2009 shattered all previous tournament records on the Beach of Santa Monica with over 1,400 participants and a party at one of the most popular venues in Santa Monica.

Celebrating its Tenth year, the Santa Monica Beach Ultimate staple, Lei-Out, hit a record number participants and a record number of teams. 90 teams competed to be crowned the 2009 Champions.

The finals saw two former championship teams competing for the title again. Crazy Go Nuts University defeated defending champions Antimony becoming the second team in Lei-Out history to win Lei-Out more than once.

But the party was the talk of the town. Monsoon Cafe for the second year in a row hosted the event participants for an epic party. The party has several rooms, a VIP section for volunteers, and multiple DJs spinning tracks throughout the night.

Colt 45 was the beer sponsor and Below 42 Vodka, Fiji Water, Four Energy Drink, and Function Drinks were also represented!

Check out more about the tournament at www.leiout.com

Lei-Out just keeps getting better...!

It is always wonderful to see Beach Ultimate tournaments start anywhere on the planet, but when it is done in Africa it makes it even more special. There is so much potential for the sport there.

FEAST (Frisbee East Africa Sand Tournament) is held at Tiwi Beach, Kenya April 11-12 2009 (Easter Weekend). Organized by Nairobi Ultimate, in a few years this could be the African Paganello.

If you like to travel to interesting places and play Beach Ultimate, you will love going to Kenya. Check it out www.kenyaultimate.blogspot.com

Pass the word!

SAMBURU - Nairobi