Indoor-pendence Day Posted by Hayden Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:52:00 GMT

On Sunday 16 teams from around the lower North Island commandeered the TSB Bank Arena at Queen’s Wharf for the annual Indoor-pendence Day Ultimate Frisbee tournament. This was a development tournament specifically aimed at newer players to the very social game of ultimate frisbee. Meaning it was ideal to re-assemble a rag-tag team to join in the fun.

Ultimate frisbee has similar rules to American football and netball but is a very social, non-contact sport often played with mixed teams. There are no referees; the game is controlled by the players themselves. Outdoor can be played 5 or 7 a-side, but indoor is played with 4 on court at once. Indoor uses a basketball court’s markings with the keys becoming the "zone". Like American football, a point is scored by the disc to a player in the zone.

This was the second outing for The Naked Trainer and Friends although, with the absence of The Naked Trainer himself (he was off doing something energetic), the team should possibly have been called "Friends". The first outing was at the 3rd Annual Wellington Beach Handball Open.

The team’s experience level was quite varied; from A-grade players to having absolutely no idea how the game worked when the first game got underway. Nick, Bekah, Mara, Andy, Brennan, Rachel and I had all played before, but Kim and Jen hadn’t at all, not that that stopped them from quickly picking it up and making some nice saves.

We were outclassed in our earlier games; losing to Vic Tigercats, Slipped Disc and KidsNeedShoes. We managed to hold our own in our last three games, beating They Call me Jane (That’s not my Name), Monkey Jr and Dirty Creature. So not a bad effort really.

As usual, everyone had a good time. Big thanks to Wellington Disc Sports and Victoria University Flying Disc Club, and to Nick Pannu in particular, for putting on a great tournament!

If you are interested in joining The Naked Trainer and Friends for our next social sports outing you can email me directly at hayden@thenakedtrainer.net.

Update:

The final team standings were:

1. Virus
2. Vic Firecats
3. Cedric’s Crewsaders
4. Orange Horsemen
5. Vic Tigercats
6. Slipped Disc
7. MUCOUS
8. Heavenly Creature
9. The Naked Trainer and Friends
10. Dirty Creature
11. Monkey Jr.
12. KidsNeedShoes
13. They call me Jane, That’s not my name
14. Pizzaz
15. Unnamed Crew
16. Saints

P.S:

I’d also like to thank the MasterCard Roadshow team and All Black Joe Rokocoko for signing a rugby ball for my younger cousin!