The All Ireland Open Championships is this weekend (21st-22nd August), in Belfast! If you're not playing already, why not come down, spectate, and see some of the best Ultimate on the island of Ireland.

The tournament is being held at Shorts FC Playing Fields, near Belfast City Airport, and will feature some of the best Ultimate club teams in Ireland. There are further details on the All Ireland Championships website or on the IFDA website.

There are a couple of important meetings coming up, mostly to do with some slightly significant changes to the BU Constitution, but also to discuss the development of Ultimate in Belfast.

First off, there is a general/development meeting on Thursday 15th July, 7pm, in the Starbucks on Lower Lisburn Road (near the City Hospital). This meeting is open to anyone interested in Ultimate in

Want to learn how to play Ultimate? We're running a number of training sessions specifically aimed at new players. So if you're completely new, or even if you've played a little bit before, these are the ideal sessions for you. If you've played before, you're still welcome to come along.

The sessions start this Saturday and will run fortnightly throughout July. They'll start around 11am and will be in the playing field on Stranmillis Embankment (beside the PEC).

The initial schedule for Summer League is out. You can find it on the Summer League website here: http://summerleague.belfastultimate.org/schedule

There are likely to be changes to the schedule over the next couple of weeks, so team captains, please check it regularly and make sure your team know when they are playing.

Don't have a team to play for in Summer League. Don't worry. Sign-up as a pick-up player and we'll sort you out with a team. Just fill in the form on the pick-up players sign-up page and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Simples!

August is looking like a busy month as far as Ultimate in Belfast is concerned, with each weekend taken up with one sort of tournament or another.

31st July/1st August

Starting the month off, even before it's begun, is UKUA Regionals on 31st July/1st August. BUG is looking to send a team, probably to the north England regional tournament in Sheffield. If you want to play for BUG, get your name down on the google group thread: http://groups.google.com/group/belfastultimate/browse_thread/thread/2e56...
and start coming along to training regularly.

7th August

Belfast Ultimate Summer League is coming soon, to a Belfast near you.

We're still putting together a number of the nuts and bolts, so we don't have all the details yet.

We can say that the format will be similar to previous years, with 5-a-side, 40 minute games. But we're also introducing a loose mixed rule this year, to encourage and to get more women playing. Teams will be expected to play with a 4:1 gender split (or higher) if possible. This means that although it won't be absolutely essential to have women on your team, it will be advantageous.

Bad news. BU winter training at Ballysillian has finished. But good news. It's being replaced with training at Ballysillian.

The current Friday evening sessions on Ballysillian Leisure Centre's 3G pitch are being extended another 4 weeks by a new series of training sessions. Same time, same place.

The cost for the 4 training sessions is either £10 for all four, or £4 per evening. Everyone is welcome, for intermediate players up.

The first ever Happy One Day Event (HODE) is happening on the morning of 6th March 2010 in Jordanstown, University of Ulster. It's a hat tournament (teams are picked out of a hat) open to anyone to attend, whether just started or experienced.

The tournament will take place on the indoor 3G pitch at Jordanstown. It's a synthetic pitch, so astroturf boots, or something similar is recommended. Start time is 10:00am sharp and will finish around 12:00pm. The cost is £2 per player.

Do you want to improve your ultimate this winter? This could be the only way to do it in Belfast.

Training is planned for 10 Fridays from 8-10PM at Ballysillan Leisure Centre on a third generation floodlit pitch. The training is supported by a grant from Belfast City Council; the cost will be £20 for the 20 hours of training. It starts Friday 15 January 2010.

If you want to sign up, and agree to paying the fee, join the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=268589966202