Well the 1st European Championships are behind us and we are left with great memories! The local organization did an exceptional job in pulling this off. It looked and felt big. For very little money everyone got a great player package with a beach chair (with beer holder), lots of flags around, stands for spectators, a great beach, VIP’s, parties, etc… It was the most impressive BULA tournament ever!

Soon the ECBU website (www.ecbu2008.org) will have a guestbook where people can leave links to pictures, comments, etc… Until then, here are some of my pictures on Facebook, as well as the final results:

Classification
Pos.	Open	Mixed	Masters
1	Switzerland	Germany	Germany
2	France	Spain	France
3	Belgium	Czech Rep.
4	Spain	Portugal
5	Netherland	International
6	Austria	Belgium
7	Czech Rep.	Denmark
8	Ireland

For the Spirit of the Game award, the new WFDF/BULA SOTG scoring system was used. This system gives 1 point for a normal game and 2 points for an exceptional game. The teams are rated on 8 criteria so a score of 8 is normal and a score of 16 is truly exceptional. After all the games were played, the average score per team was calculated and this was the result:

Spirit of the Game
Pos.	Open	Mixed	Masters
1	Ireland (11.5)	Portugal (11.0)	Germany (11.3)
2	Switzerland (11.4)	Germany (10.3)	France (10.0)
3	Belgium (11.4)	Belgium (9.9)
4	Czech Rep. (10.8)	Denmark (9.8)
5	Austria (10.6)	Czech Rep. (9.7)
6	Netherlands (9.2)	International (9.6)
7	Spain (9.2)	Spain (9.1)
8	France (8.7)

I want to thank all the players, organizers, the volunteers, sponsors, and the city of Le Pouliguen for making this happen. The next National Championships will be the World Championships in 2011. Next year we will send out requests for bids.

The preparations for the European Championships Beach Ultimate are going real well. It is unfortunate that there will be no women’s division this year but it is their loss. The local organizing committee is doing an amazing job arranging everything. From full media meetings with cocktails, to getting celebrities at the award ceremony. This tournament is going to feel like a real European Championships while BULA guarantees fun and a relaxed atmosphere. I can’t wait to be there and play!

In line with the WFDF change in eligibility rules, and in time for the ECBU in France, BULA has changed its rules too. The new rules are:
3.3.1 Citizens
Players are deemed to be Citizens and can automatically qualify for participation if
a) they own a passport or equivalent legal document issued by the country’s government; or
b) they have moved to the country at least four years prior to the start date of the event and spent more than 75% of those four years in the country.
3.3.2 Resident Non-Citizen
Each team can put 3 players on their roster that are deemed to be “Resident non-citizens”. These players
a) own a legal certificate of permanent residency issued by the country’s government; or
b) moved to the country at least 20 months prior to the start date of the event and spent more than 75% of those 20 months in the country.
3.3.3 Ultimate Community Member
Each team can field one player that is deemed to be an “Ultimate Community Member”. This choice is at the discretion of the National Association if they are considered to be a significant part of that Country’s ultimate community, but don’t fall under the above categories. The following may be taken into account by the National Association in making this decision:
• Residency history in that Country
• Participation in that Country’s ultimate events, especially national championships
• Past representation on National Teams
• Participation in the development of ultimate in the Country

Download the complete copy of the ECBU Team and Player Manual

The ECBU will have 5 divisions : Open, Women Mixed, Masters and Juniors.
The Fees:
Player fee: 70 €
Player fee junior: 60 €
Guest fee: 50 €
Team fee: 100 €
Team fee junior: 80 €
The player/guest fee includes : the player’s pack, the BBQ of the welcome party and the Sunday night dinner (the dinner of the Big party).
Accommodations (per day/person)
Camping 5 € (500m from the fields)
Mobil home 15 € ( for 4 and 6 people, with kitchen, are located 15 min from the fields with the free ECBU shuttle service
Apartments 20 € (from 2 to 8 people, all with a kitchen, in buildings located from 10m to 400m from the fields! But we only have spots for 85 persons. First paid first served)
Food
Breakfast: A breakfast plan is provided for 4€/day.
Lunch : There is no mid-day meal plan as everyone will be at the fields. Of course, food and drinks will be available at the player’s village on the beach.
Dinner: Thursday Night welcome BBQ and Sunday night diner are included in the player/guest fee. Dinner on your own the others days.
Timeline:
January 15 – February 15: National/team representatives notify of teams selected to play at ECBU. All team fee to be paid.
March 15: All teams to register players. Team registration closes.
March 20 – April 5: BULA seeds teams and devises tournaments format. Teams notified immediately.
April 15: All player registration closes. All players fee to be paid.
May 8 : Registration / Opening ceremony / Welcome Party with a free BBQ on the beach
May 9 – May 12 Games & Parties
Registration and Payment
The spot can only support 5 fields, so we have a maximum of 32 teams. So don’t wait February the 15th to register…
The ECBU bank account is :
Bank: Crédit Mutuel Nantes – Cathédrale
27 rue de la Marne
44000 Nantes
France
Account name : ECBU2008
Account number : 00012782301
IBAN : FR76 1574 9361 8400 0127 8230 151
Please reference your payments with this format: (CountryCode)-(DivisionID)
where CountryCode is :
Austria: A
Belgium: B
Croatia: HR
Czech Republic: CZ
Denmark: DK
Estonia: EST
France: F
Germany: DE
Great Britain: GB
Ireland: IRL
Italy: I
Latvia: LV
Lithuania: LT
Netherlands: NL
Portugal: P
Russia: RUS
Slovakia: SK
Spain: E
Switzerland: CH
And TeamCode is :
Open: OP
Women: WO
Mixed: MX
Masters: MA
Junior: JO
When registering the teams, please send an email to info@ecbu2008.org with this reference and telling us the expected number of players and guest on the teams.
The official ECBU website (www.ecbu2008.org)will being updated and soon have more detail on the accommodations.

BULA is proud to announce the 1st European Championships Beach Ultimate for national teams.
The ECBU2008 will have 4 divisions (Open, Women, Mixed, and Masters) and will be held 8-12 May in Le Pouliguen, France. The local organizing committee is the same group that has organized the Yes But Nau tournament for the last 8 years so this should be a great championship!
For more information send an email to info@ecbu2008.org. More news to follow soon.