Recently, Ultimate Victoria ran the Ultimate Frisbee segment of the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Conference (better known as ACHPER). The two-day conference for PE Teachers throughout Victoria was held at Monash University, Clayton campus. The Ultimate Frisbee session ran on the second day and was a great success with over twenty teachers from both regional and metropolitan schools attending the session.

Dan explains the backhand

The session included a brief introduction to the sport and then touched on many of the fundamentals of the game including preferred techniques for catching and throwing a disc. Many teachers commented on the Spirit of the Game aspect of the sport citing that it is a new and interesting concept when compared to modern mainstream sports (Ultimate Frisbee is a self-refereed sport that is played under the concept of Spirit of the Game where players are trusted to play fairly and honestly). Spirit of the Game is a great element of Ultimate Frisbee that can help to develop sportsmanship as well as provide many opportunities for conflict resolution in a competitive environment.

Steve Campbell talks tactics

Inclusion in the ACHPER conference is a great thing for the continued development of the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. Teachers who attended the session should now feel confident to teach many important aspects of the game. All teachers were provided with drills for a school team to practice, as well as shown other Frisbee games that can be used in a school class.

We look forward to returning to the ACHPER conference in November 2009. We are aiming to run multiple sessions in 2009 to avoid clashes with other sessions. If you are a Victorian PE teacher, we hope to see you there next year!