Where have I been?

Twenty twelve was an interesting year with many major changes.  Things were busy and have gotten even busier but I suspect I should make the time to write about things that I may know a bit more about.  I think I’ve also been spurred on by the series of articles by Lou Burruss over at SkyD .  I’ve had conversations about exactly the things that he has mentioned over the past few years by all of the movers and shakers.  I’m privileged in that I know many people and they’re candid with me and I’m not going to betray that trust.  At the same time I’m going to voice my opinion more freely simply because of a number of changes in the past year.

Firstly, I’ve been terribly busy because I work at a startup.  More importantly I founded it and that seems like the route my life is going to continue to go:  working at high levels in startups and/or founding them.  It’s a fairly low paying, high stress, and very exciting life and I love it.  In many ways it shares many of the challenges that those who play our sport face.  Do you spend the money to do what you love or do you give up some of your freedom to live a more comfortable life?  I prefer to have lived.  In any case, that keeps me busy and up late at night working away.  I still play Ultimate but when I’m not on the field I’m on my phone catching up and on the computer at the hotel.

Secondly, I resigned from the Ultimate Canada board after three years.  I was terribly busy and I could not dedicate the time needed to represent Ontario adequately.  The landscape in Canada is changing and it seems like there will be better representation from all provinces and leagues at the National level.  It’s a big change and one that we should be proud of.  Canada is the second largest Ultimate nation (population wise) and to give every player a voice through their league and/or PSO at the national level is something we should be proud of.  More needs to be done to educate league players and to connect them to our national teams.  There’s a big divide and that’s something I will also address through this site.  It’s a larger concern, though, and I think you will play the biggest part in educating and informing others.

Thirdly, I resigned from the Waterloo Organization of Disc Sports after ten years.  I was the last remaining board member and was the third member at the kitchen table when Daniel Gelinas (now overseas in an undisclosed location) and Mike Whitton (now in Ottawa) founded WODS.  During my years there we grew from a small four team league to one of the largest in Canada, games year around, dedicated Ultimate fields provided by the city, a high school program, and many successful competitive programs.  I saw players go from a throwing clinic to play at CUC inside of two years.  I saw players play in our leagues and then go to play on our National teams.  I did my small part as a director, website admin, tournament director, events director, and general all around status quo disturber simply to push for more.  I fought against shrinking the size of the board because our volunteer structure wasn’t (and still isn’t) in place but I saw the number of volunteers grow.  After ten years I simply didn’t have the time to step up when needed especially when others were willing to step up and do more.

Stepping away from many things has allowed me to focus energies in other areas and I’ll keep on doing that.  It’s also allowed me to focus on my health a bit more (nothing serious) and I’ll address that in the future as well.  I’ve enjoyed it all and look forward to the future.

comments powered by Disqus