They’re a mixed team of public servants, consultants, scientists and even a vet and they’re aiming to win the national ultimate frisbee title in Canberra on Sunday. The Burley Griffins, ranging in age from 23 to 36, are contesting their third Australian mixed nationals at Dickson playing fields. The team isn’t taking the usually social game lightly, having had selection trials and weekly training session since July. “We had open sessions for the first month or so and then selections [trials] for the squad,” said Burley Griffins coach, Warrick Shepherd. “In terms of the Burley Griffins we just had one training [session] a week but most of us are playing frisbee two to three times a week.” Shepherd believes the ACT team has a good balance of both male and female players. “What makes a good frisbee player? Good throwing skills, especially when it’s windy, athletic skills, so speed and agility as well as the experience and knowledge of how frisbee works,” Shepherd said. “You might not have to be the fittest player but if you’re experienced and know what you’re doing on the field you can just be as effective as someone who is fast and less experienced.” Frisbee is a growing sport in Canberra. “It’s a fast paced, fun, active sport. Its very social,” Shepherd said. “There’s opportunity for people who’ve never played before all the way to representing your country and everything in between. Canberra has a good mix of all that. There’s a very strong community in Canberra and around the country. Lots of friendly people.” There are 24 teams fighting for the Australian crown, with the final to be played on Sunday at 1.30pm at Dickson.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
White green with excitement
The World Cup started this morning and while the excitement in Australia might be a bit low, Raiders prop Brett “the leprechaun” White says it’s bubbling in the United Kingdom. White is playing for Ireland, qualifying through his family heritage. White and the Irish team were special guests at Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Thursday morning. They went to the director’s dinner before kick-off and the function MC was spruiking the World Cup. “I’ve been to an English Premier League game before, but never like that,” White said. “We were in the dinner and then had seats right on halfway above the players’ tunnel at Old Trafford. They even had World Cup brochures on the table.”
Deigan feels need for speed
Speed and golf aren’t usually lumped together, but Canberra golfer and runner Virginia Deigan is in the United States trying to win a speed golf amateur world title. Never heard of speed golf? That’s ok, neither had we. Capital Golf Club member Deigan gave us the run-down before the world championships at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon. Players go through 18 holes carrying as many clubs as they can. They run between shots and their 18-hole round is timed. The player with the lowest score and quickest time wins. Deigan only carries five clubs with her in the round. “I’ve been playing for about 12 months,” Deigan said. “You don’t get a chance to dwell on the bad shots, you just have to be reactive and use intuition. It’s exhilarating and really tests you.” Deigan does her practice in the mornings and evenings to avoid getting strange looks and the golfing crowd. “You can run through 18 holes and be at your desk by 9am.” Deigan’s best round is 84 shots in 61 minutes and 10 seconds. She’s hoping to beat that this weekend. Her handicap is 13 and her best five-kilometre time is 23 minutes, but the course in Oregon is 900 metres longer than she’s used to. Deigan is trying to recruit more Australian players to the sport. For more information, visit www.speedgolfaustralia.com.au.
White aids ARU cost-cutting
The Australian Rugby Union is on a cost-cutting mission to try to ease the pressure on the cash-strapped code. It’s a little known fact that the ARU bean counters would have let out a sigh of relief when Jake White quit the final two years of his contract with the ACT Brumbies. White’s contract was being topped up by the ARU. Despite this, the ARU overlooked the World Cup-winning coach for the Wallabies job. Had White stayed in Canberra, the ARU would have continued paying him as well as new Test coach Ewen McKenzie. The ARU will slash Test-match player payments by $3000 from next year. Meanwhile, the Brumbies will know who their new coach is this week after Laurie Fisher and Stephen Larkham were interviewed last week and the board met on Friday. Meanwhile, White was supposed to be the special guest at the Queanbeyan Whites’ gentlemans lunch on November 15. White has been replaced by commentator Gordon Bray.
Easts tribute for Brown
The Easts rugby union community came together on Friday to pay respects to Owen Brown, the man who kept the club afloat during its darkest days. Brown lost his battle with cancer on October 18. He was the Easts president and many at the club credit him with keeping them in the John I Dent competition in the past few years. Easts struggled to win games a couple of years ago, occasionally beaten by 100 points. They were on the brink of a collapse and struggled financially. But Brown fought and worked to keep them out of trouble and Easts are starting to fight back on the field. His son Matt is the captain of the club’s second grade team. He started his rugby career with Majura before moving to Easts. Players from the club formed a guard of honour at his funeral to pay tribute to his family and his hard work for the club which often when unnoticed.
1.2m reasons to smile
GIO will be the new naming-rights partner for Canberra Stadium in a deal which will inject more than $1.2million to the upgrade and maintenance of the venue over the next four years. It’s understood the GIO deal is worth between $300,000 and $350,000 per year. Canberra energy provider ActewAGL was close to a deal with Canberra Stadium back in 2003. At one point it’s believed the asking price was more than $800,000. But the global financial crisis has hit businesses hard. The GIO injection will help keep Canberra Stadium up to industry standards while the government decides on plans for a new rectangular venue.
Stars shine for suburbia
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Sam Stosur, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova … the stars of international tennis could be playing for a Canberra suburb this summer. The Australian Open Blitz visited Kaleen Primary School on Friday to launch the unique initiative, which involves towns collecting points by completing online challenges. Over 250 towns across Australia will be awarded a main draw player [128 men and 128 women], with a coin toss at the Official Draw of Australian Open 2014 determining which leading town has the top male or female player. Points will be awarded for every challenge completed – the more points you earn, the greater your chances of scoring some of the major AO Blitz prizes up for grabs. All the public has to do is take up the challenges featured at www.aoblitz.com.au.
