First post after Singapore Opens - Can we groom enough players to replace ourselves?

Great Singapore Opens. Great finals. Looking at the level of play during the finals, I must admit we are still far away from these players, individually and as a team. The Philipinas trained twice a week for the national team and twice for their club. On top of that, they play league every week. That is a total of five high quality training every week. In Singapore, we can even hardly meet to play pick up. Can we be committed and follow their system? Yes, certainly, but not until every player and club put down their ego and come together to play.

Decentralising the community and forming individual club identity is great. I never deny that. But for every policy, there are weaknesses and problems. Clubs start to have their own training or even pick up in their own truf. We used to have THE 'community spirit' and every Singapore player looks forward to Tuesday and Thursday pick. With the huge pool of hard core players, one will travel all the way from the east or west to play just because, he or she knows, there is bound to have people tossing around. Fast forward to now. Tuesday and Thursday are gone. Some clubs have training that clashes with Wednesday pick up. And the stupid security does not help at all. Level of pick up starts to get lower and veterans decided to give it a miss and call for their own club training. Looking at the size of the current clubs, it is not tough to call for their own training or pick. So where is the camaraderie of the community. Aren't we part of the Ultimate Community? Can we exist without the community?

Who is stepping up to ensure that we are replaced in the community? Who is ensuring that every player who is joining Ultimate receives the correct training and play with the right values?
For every player that is playing right now, we need the same number of beginners to replace us. We cannot leave this job to the JC teachers. It is not enough. How can we ensure that these youth players continue to choose Ultimate as the sport for them to pursue in their Uni lives?

I had a hard time trying to gather people. To unite people. Everyone want to play. As every club and players look to protect their own territory, they usually forget that in this small community there exist even more. How can we reach out to more people? Can we do it without the lure of financial benefits and focus on the greater calling? If Ultimate is your passion, then ask yourself what have you done to make it better for the next generation?