The AFDA is the national sporting organisation overseeing in Australia

This Participation Plan 2017-2020 provides a framework for collaborating with our key partners through a ‘Whole of Sport’ approach to develop national strategies that are delivered locally to achieve our mission of growing and improving flying disc sports nationwide.

GROWTH

Flying Disc Sports (mainly through the

of ) has

demonstrated steady growth over the

past 5 years.

Our capacity and capabilities have been improving and we are looking to accelerate this growth, particularly at school-age level.

AFDA STRATEGIES SPIRIT OF THE GAME Invest A unique aspect of Ultimate Frisbee is that it is “self-refereed”. New Serve players learn to self-referee through ‘Spirit of the Game’, which emphasises honesty, care, respect and fairness. Scaleable

Youth led Self-refereeing integrates personal and social development into school sport. Teach What is spirit of the game? Give back http://www.afda.com/m/what-is-spirit-handout

ENTRY POINTS

For the past 40 years in Australia, most athletes have been introduced to Ultimate Frisbee as adults, particularly through university.

In the past five years, that default entry level has begun to shift to upper high school age..

This plan aims to further lower the entry-level age, by investing heavily in resources and programs aimed at school children, in particular primary school, while providing adults with increasing opportunities to participate in their local area.

INCLUSION

Through Spirit of the Game, Ultimate Frisbee has an exceptional capacity for inclusive practices to be embedded into every layer of our sport. Self-refereeing puts respect for others and fair treatment at the very centre of our sport. We support gender equity through mixed-gender play from schools through to international matches. We embrace participation regardless of ability, gender, sexual orientation, background or age. We are also committed to increasing opportunities for Indigenous people to participate through its partnership with the Indigenous Ultimate Association. The AFDA supports people with disabilities participating in Flying Disc Sports and will provide opportunities for disabled athletes and administrators.

The AFDA grew by a record 1130 new members in 2016. Membership at the end of 2016 was 7,386.

Recent strengths have included:

 More services delivered to both primary schools (after school care) and secondary schools (school sport and gala days)  Growth of participation in U18 Nationals  Separate gender introduced at Australian University Games  Establishment of U22 Nationals  Growth of existing social leagues and establishment of new leagues  Introduction of Division 2 Nationals

As well as competitions and events run for our members, the AFDA and its partners provide a large number of opportunities for non-members (both children and adults) to participate in Ultimate Frisbee.

The 2016 AusPlay survey found 26,100 adult participants and 0 child participants in flying disc sports. We have separately tracked our 2016 participation rates.

A summary of our 2016 participation is provided below.

Age group Main activities Participants

Lower Primary (ages 4-9)  Active after schools 420

Upper Primary (ages 9-12)  Active after schools 2,545

Junior High School (ages 12-15)  In-School coaching 3,057  Gala days

Senior High School (ages 15-18)  In-School Coaching 4,367  Gala days

TOTAL CHILDREN 10,389

University (ages 18-23)  Intra-mural leagues 2,500  Social leagues  Australian University Games

Adults (ages 18-99)  Social leagues 8,936  Pick-up games

TOTAL ADULTS + CHILDREN 21,825

We aim to increase participation in each category by:

 Building capabilities of coaches and administrators based on successful approaches  Developing scalable programs based on best practice  Incentivising existing players to share their skills and knowledge  Delivering high quality services to participants  Encouraging new players to get involved and grow the sport  Targeting spending where it will have greatest long-term impact  Promoting youth leadership and integrating leadership opportunities into programs

We have identified the following entry-level opportunities for people to participate in Ultimate Frisbee:

Primary school Sporting Schools (ulti-MATES), out of school hours care, school holiday programs Secondary school High school coaching, PE class, inter-school competition, gala days, after school leagues Girls & women Women only and mixed gender opportunities Adult casual Learn-to-play sessions, pick-up games (indoor and outdoor) Adult competition University leagues, social leagues

Target Objective Strategy

Primary Increase awareness, participation and  Implement Sporting Schools program, ulti-MATES school skill acquisition in primary school age  Train more community coaches to deliver ulti-MATES group  Develop and promote “Frisbee Ambassador” program for teachers to champion our sport  Provide resources and equipment to allow schools to continue to teach the program  School holiday camp program  Apply for inclusion in Sporting Schools

Secondary Increase participation of high school  Develop high school curriculum and lesson plans school students  Develop and promote “Frisbee Ambassador” program for teachers to champion our sport  Develop youth leadership resources and programs  Pitch Ultimate Frisbee as an inter-school sport  Provide coaching services to existing inter-school leagues  Increase number of gala days and provide more local opportunities  After-school league start-up program  School holiday skills and high performance camps  Apply to pilot Sporting Schools for high schools

Women Increase ratio of female participants  Develop advertising targeted at girls and women  Develop programs and promotions based on research and best practice success stories  Require true gender equity rules in mixed leagues  Entry level casual opportunities for teenage girls  Women’s learn-to-play and coaching sessions  Women-only leagues for stay-at-home mothers and carers  Promote female leadership opportunities  Seek government co-funding

Casual Create more local opportunities for  Model and promote pick-up opportunities, including casual players beach and grass  Create “drop-in” social leagues without league ladders, including indoor and grass  Apply for state government grant funding

Competition Increase size and number of  University league model and start-up program competitive leagues  Inter-varsity metro leagues in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide  Social league start-up program  Social league expansion program  Provide opportunities and capability-building for new and existing players to give back to the sport  Apply for state government grant funding

REPORTING

The AFDA will work with its partners to improve reporting on membership and participation. We plan to:

 Enhance the existing member database and event registration system  Develop a national schools database  Develop a national coach database  Improve reporting processes and forms

REVIEW

This Participation Plan will be reviewed annually by the AFDA Board as part of the budget and planning process.