SPIN Winter 2006 regional roundup

	REGIONAL ROUNDUP
	Victoria Penticton Prince George Burnaby Vancouver
	By the last count on the BCDSS website there are 22 Ultimate leagues in this disc-crazed province. From around the province, here are some updates:
	Victoria Pickup continues to be on Sundays at Landsdowne (Shelbourne and Hilliside) at 12:30 as it has been for the past 12 years. We have also been having pickup on Mon and Wed evenings at UVIC under the lights. Anyone moving to town and wanting to stay in the local loop should email the following and join our web list: request@mailman.baremetal.com or check out our site www.vups.bc.ca Pumpkin was another big success this year and our co-tournament directors Mike Hofmann and John Zimmerman did a great job handling all the details. BCDSS and VUPS recently sent Mike Hofmann to Montreal for the National League's conference which will result in some new direction for next summer's league with Mike now agreeing to run things next summer. Dave P
	Penticton PUFF (Penticton Ultimate Frisbee Federation) has officially been in existence for one year, but unofficially has been hosting the PUFF Bluff for 3 years now. The co-ed ultimate tournament is usually held in June but this year may be moved to October. Pick up happens once a week and with this year's numbers, a 4 team league will be possible in 2006. The two beginner clinics per year that PUFF has hosted seem to be paying off! Interested in playing in Penticton? Contact Carol Flynn carol.flynn@penticton.ca.
	Prince George Prince George Ultimate has had a successful 2005 with participation in 3 out-of-town tournaments, something that has not happened in at least 6 years. We even began experimenting with some Fricket (cups) and Goaltimate while boosting our player base. We are entering our 2nd season of indoor ultimate with a 4 team league with spirit nights every 4th week to keep things lively. We play nearly every Sunday. Playing slots are full, but visitors wishing to drop in can be accommodated if they call Greg at 250-564-5191 or thejonuk@shaw.ca. View our website at www.pgultimate.bc.ca to view the latest on Prince George Ultimate.
	Burnaby Dave Cowley, BCDSS treasurer, past editor of SPIN (responsible for the revival) and the Burnaby coordinator, is one of the recipients of the BCDSS member of the year awards. One of the many reasons he received the award is for starting a vibrant new league in the Lower Mainland. Not only has he provided a venue for Burnaby ultimate players, this new league will help alleviate the field crunch in Vancouver and provide options for club teams. SPIN would like to congratulate Dave on his award and thank him for all his work!
	Burnaby Ultimate League Update We're just about to start our Winter League, and as far as I know we're the only league in the country to offer a true outdoor winter league. We'll be running for 8 weeks (until the end of January), and currently have about 33 players registered (including some of the RoughRider ladies). Our winter league is being run at Byrne Creek HS on Monday nights 6-8, and drop-ins are welcome ($5). Okay, I know the last paragraph said we were about to start our Winter League, but in actual fact as you read this we're half way through our "Spring" League which finishes up at the end of March. In April we'll be running a series of clinics presented by the Roughriders on Monday nights. It's actually a series, so you need to commit to all four clinics, check the website later this week for full details. We'll also be starting beginner clinics and pick-up on our regular grass fields at Burnaby Lake all Thursdays in April. The plan for 2006 is posted on the home page of the website (http://www.bcdss.bc.ca/~burnaby/), but here's a preview: Monday: Women's league; Tuesday: Team League; Thursday: Hat League. We're still investigating the potential for a juniors league. We will be hosting our first tournament (April 15th), the Corporate Challenge will be in Burnaby this year (May 13th), and we're still looking at hosting the BC Ultimate Championships. Big dreams in Burnaby, come and play next time you're in town. The "little league that can" sent me to the CUPA sponsored CLC (Canadian League Conference) in Montreal which was a very good experience, and now the whole country is envious of our fields. All provinces with the exception of PEI had representatives at the conference, and it was pretty amazing to hear some of the successes and problems that have happened and been overcome. With the help of some of the SFU Clam (www.sfuclam.org) Burnaby Ultimate put on a session for 10 secondary PE teachers in Burnaby, where we covered the basics of the game, Spirit of the Game, and several drills that help build the skills necessary to play Ultimate. Each teacher that participated received a binder full of teaching resources and a disc. The response was overwhelmingly positive. We're hopeful that this year we will see several Ultimate teams in the high schools in Burnaby, further we're committed to helping make it happen! I'd like to specifically thank: Carlo Giuliani, Thomas Billingsley, Ian Ho, Tanya Neville and Sean Hughes for their help with the demonstrations. I'd also like to thank Tammy Wirick for making the whole thing possible! So that's probably enough self-aggrandizing, hope you're all enjoying disc sports wherever you get to play, David Cowley (Burnaby Coord)
	Vancouver The Vancouver Ultimate League (VUL) would like to announce their Board of Directors for 2006: President - Carolyn Lefebvre, Vice-President - Stephanie Chow, Treasurer - Jenna Newman, Secretary - Mercedes Heyduk. Members at Large - Art Hawkins, Iain Lancaster, Ed Burnet. The Board of Directors held another annual retreat on January 27-28 where we met to discuss 2006 Board initiatives and long-term planning. Some of the issues discussed were field shortages, coordinator hire process, mentors, spirit, rules, juniors and the interim touring team proposal. Please send any feedback you have to board@vul.bc.ca. We'd love to hear from you. Upcoming events for 2006: Summer League sign-up starts this week (visit www.vul.bc.ca for more details), and stay tuned for job postings for our new League Coordinator.