Layout June 2004, Volume 1

 
TUC members, welcome to the first edition of LAYOUT - the new voice of the Toronto Ultimate Club. You can look forward to catching this newsletter, updating you on current and ongoing Ultimate events at the middle and end of each month. As well as when there are special announcements and last minute changes for TUC sponsored events.  We at TUC are very excited to bring you this new forum in an HTML format; allowing us to provide you with great photos, links, and much more. For those of you who have not elected to receive HTML this will come to you in a text format. We hope you are enjoying your Ultimate season thus far along with your new look.
 
TUC Season Opener Bash

Click on the link above to find out about the TUC Season Opener Bash!!!  This is one party you do not want to miss. Besides great fun, a new Wham-o 175 gram UPA approved discs will be given away FREE to all TUC members. Snooze and you'll lose.

Field Announcement

Please note the following fields will no longer be used for league games due to poor conditions: Annunciation, St. Josephat, and Marshall McLuhan. Thank you to all members who provided field feedback to their nightly convenor.
Friday Night Pick-up

Friday night pick-up is in full swing at Sunnybrook Park. Pick-up starts at 6:30 pm and is free for all TUC members. We encourage both new and returning members to come out and toss the disc.

For more information, contact
friday@tuc.org.

Letter from the TUC Board to the Toronto Ultimate Membership
 

 


To clarify some members' questions:


1)      The number of games scheduled to be played this Summer are the same number as last year. The first week originally planned to begin this year was an initiative to try to provide more 'scheduled' play for the league. As we acquired permits for fields, it became evident that some of the permits did not take effect until May 24th, the actual week we began, both this year and last year. All captains were informed that for the fields which permits had begun the week earlier, practices or pickup games could be played with guaranteed availability - something we didn't have last year.


2)      The Individual Membership Fee of $65 did not increase from last year. It is composed of $40 for league operations and $25 directly applied to the TUC Future Field Fund. The only increase was $275 to the Summer League Team Fee, the league that requires the significant proportion of the League's annual fees.


3)      TUC events such as clinics or tournaments will have priority registration dates to allow TUC members to sign up before non-TUC participants. After that date, if the registration is not full, then the event will be opened to the public as well as TUC members.


4)      The BBS is not the official communication channel of the TUC administration. Steps are being taken to better ensure that communication from the League is found within the TUC website in appropriate pages, and also through the publication PiePlate, and also through LAYOUT (formerly InToUCh).


5)      The registration process was hindered by software problems on the part of the firm outsourced to provide the service. Every effort to investigate, test, and run trials for registration was made prior to contracting the firm. Both successful testing results and assurances from the firm, supported the League's decision to adopt the process. Issues requiring enormous time consumption on the part of the GM, last year, and new complications with credit card companies dictated that the size of the League had grown too large to execute registration in-house. In person registration in the past few years were attended by fewer than 50 members, so the cost of holding in-person registration was not a good use of members' fees. 


6)      Moderation of the BBS is overseen by the Communications Director, with consultation by other Executive members and the Board of Directors. The BBS is a forum for TUC members to converse about any topic (primarily ultimate related) so long as the topic/post is: i) not offensive (if deemed by committee) to the general membership; b) not promoting another ultimate league within the geographical region of Toronto; c) not promoting another ultimate event that conflicts with the date of a TUC event; d) not soliciting to sell merchandise without prior approval from the Communications Director; e) not blatantly slanderous to other members or other ultimate organizations. TUC management reads all BBS postings as one source of our members' opinions, and where appropriate will utilize these opinions in affecting decisions for the management of the Club. The BBS is NOT the source for responses and announcements from the League. A posting may appear to direct users of the BBS to the location of the official information in our website.


7)      If a member wishes to post information about an event (ultimate related or not), another ultimate league or organization, or a solicitation of any kind, the particulars must be provided to the Communications Director for approval prior to posting. Each individual post will be given a fair and complete review by either/both the Executive and the Board to determine if it is in the general best interests of the membership. If a member knowingly or unknowingly posts a non-approved event/organization/solicitation, the post will be removed and that member contacted to review the particulars, after which, the topic will be re-posted if it does not contravene guidelines to protect members and the League. We are currently working on a guideline form to be used for members wanting to post such topics.


8)      If you have a question or concern regarding the Club, please direct the communication to the most appropriate first-person. With 3000+ members, the General Manager is easily inundated with hundreds of emails and phone calls on a daily basis. With all the administrative responsibilities the General Manager is required to carry out, it is practically impossible to respond in a timely manner to questions and requests. This snowballs with every day, with the end result being members not having had answers or communication response. Please consider who would be the best person to deal with a question and direct it to him/her. For example, if you have a question about your league division (i.e. Monday B), then contact your Monday League Convenor. Failing that first-line person providing an satisfactory answer, then redirect your inquiry to the overall League Convenor. If you are still in search of a satisfactory answer, then contact the General Manager. Lastly, if your question is still alive and kicking, please contact a member of the Board. We ask that you please be understanding that your email is not the only one, and it may not be answered because it is not considered worthwhile. In fact, it is very important as it is a voice of our membership, but with all the League management, except the GM, being volunteers sometimes an answer may not be returned as timely as a firm with a full-time customer service department.


9)      Weather and Cancellations:  As most of you are aware, the General Manager of the league will make a decision at 3pm on whether games need to be cancelled, and this will be posted on the website (or a message is available at 416-426-7432).  This will take out most of the guess-work for members and is designed to respect everyone's personal and work time. Canceling games will be avoided at all costs - however, at times it must be done to ensure the safety of our players, the quality of the fields, our control over field permits and our relationship with those giving permits. Teams may not exercise their own discretion about playing if the GM cancels the games, meaning you don't decide to play on a rainy field just because the two captains agree to ignore the rules. Similarly, if games are on as planned but weather conditions change suddenly that would lead to field damage - the league insists that captains call off their game and inform the league convenor. If games have been cancelled, but there is a possibility that weather changes for the better by game time, then it is up to the captains to contact each other to see if they want to come up with a game plan for this. However, if one team does not want to have a contingency plan, then they will not be assessed a default when games have been cancelled. We have planned for cancellations in field allocations, so working with the league it is likely all our games can be rescheduled.  Thank you in advance for respecting this policy - it is in place to avoid confusion, wasted time, and to protect our players and the fields. A more explanative version is available elsewhere on the main website.

On behalf of the TUC Administration, we would like to extend a hearty welcome to all members, new and returning, for the 2004 Summer League. We are very excited about the upcoming season; with new changes and initiatives to improve the functionality of the League and increase the quality of the services provided. As this is the first year of significant changes to the operation of the League, these improvements will not come without unforeseen hurdles, to which we will try to remedy as effectively as possible. We thank you in for your patience and understanding as we go through the year. As well, there may be some hurdles which could have been foreseen, had the League had the personnel to analyze and predict all potential problems. The league is non-profit and utilizes its membership fees to maintain the yearly operation of all services. The driving force behind all decisions is: what is best for the majority of members, will it provide a benefit or service to the members, does it have high value for the cost; does it better ultimate with respect to the sustainability of the league; and other similar criteria - all geared towards making it better for the members.

 

 

 

Mid-Season
Tourney


This year the Mid-Season tourney will be held at a new location - Sunnybrook Park Sports Fields - on the weekend of July 17th & 18th. TUC is excited to annouce that we will be hosting 40 teams in a single Toronto location. Please go to Mid-Season for more information.

Please see the calendar of events on the TUC website for all other tournament information.

Swag Alert

Now available at the TUC office NEW official Toronto Ultimate swag. All swag will be made available for purchase at any TUC sponsored tournaments.


Your Input

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about LAYOUT please email Lisa Belanger at secretary@tuc.org.

Diamond Beach

TUC has acquired Diamond Beach, a private sports facility in the cities west end at Etobicoke Centennial Park. This facility offers 2 lush playing fields, available to our members at NO COST between the hours of 6:30 - 11:00 pm every Saturday thru to October 2004. Not only will your team be able to take advantage of this fabulous opportunity but Diamond Beach also houses a restaurant//bar with indoor/outdoor patio at reasonable prices for great food and drinks. Contact admin@tuc.org for more information or if you're interested in booking time.


Special offer for TUC members. Click here for more info.


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