How many bids exactly?

There is controversy brewing between Ultimate Canada and Ontario with regards to C4UC. This past weekend OUC was held with the tournament format arranged to send 8 teams to Nationals. This was based upon the website which at the time indicated 8 bids for Ontario.

Following the tournament the bids were reallocated with Ontario now receiving 7 bids. This has ignited criticism from Ultimate Canada members in Ontario for a few reasons with the primary one being that bids for the regions should have been determined prior to regionals. No doubt Ultimate Canada shall take this into consideration in the future but the damage has been done and it is significant.

Ultimate organizations have typically enjoyed a comfortable lack of scrutiny but that is changing rapidly. Events such as this undermine credibility and bring into question the value that organizations provide. With the growth of local leagues, which brings easier access to competitive Ultimate, the National and Provincial/State Organizations rely upon the goodwill and trust of competitive players who wish to participate in their tournaments. Once trust is lost players shall have second thoughts about whether it is worth for them to participate in the system as it exists.

This controversy, though, may be second to something I find more troubling. While the direct impact is to Ontario there are few, if any, voices from non-Ontario players. The bid re-allocation and process affects all players that participated in the series and while today the axe falls on Ontario tomorrow it could be any other province/region. I hope it’s a one time issue it would be heartening to see others in our community voice their support. When they do it’ll be an important reminder to Ontario that we need to do the same.

I should note, this is not an issue about how many bids a province has but rather knowing the parameters of competition in advance. The players, to whom the sport belongs, deserve that.

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