The road to Kaohsiung

AFDA held its selection camp for the 2009 Australian World Games team in Sydney this weekend. The Australian team will be announced in a couple of weeks, and will compete at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in July.

Here are a collection of thoughts from the weekend:

• Crikey, I'm sore
• The Aussie elite scene looks young. At 29, I was the second oldest male at the camp.
• I believe the Australian scene is due for reinvention of offences. The offensive structures players use by default are not ideal: we don't gain enough yards per cut, and don't scare the defenders with numerous threats. Currently, making space relies on serendipity and the presence of those rare "space-thinking" players.
  
• The wristy backhand is king. It is quick release, it can be thrown at a range of release points, it's ideal for using in a throw and go, and if you don't have one you can't hit as many cutters.
• I liked the way our coaches started the camp with benchmarking of throwing, agility and sprinting. It revealed a few positive surprises to them, provided variety amidst the scrimmages, fostered competition, and set the tone for a focussed, accountable weekend.
• Australian ultimate has really benefited from the value put on support staff. The players could focus purely on playing, when we had four selectors, two coaches, two managers and two assistants working to organise the fields, activities, food, rehydration, education and uniforms. Thank you Support Staff! We have made huge gains since my first Worlds campaign in 2000.