What tournaments will these eligibility rules apply to?

These rules would apply to All-Ireland Club Championships. Currently this is mixed and open divisions but they will also be applied to the proposed beach and indoor championships.

Why are the IFDA seeking to introduce these rules?

These aren't any old tournaments. These are our national championships to find the best teams in the Irish ultimate community. It is only right that in tournaments such as these that teams consist of those that are part of the Irish community and not blow-ins that have no connection to Irish ultimate.

This isn't a problem, why fix a problem that isn't there?

Like the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Its better to address this now rather than reacting to a problem down the road.

Why are you stopping my team-mate from playing in All-Irelands?

If your team-mate has been actively involved in your team, training and competing in tournaments, but don't necessarily meet the criteria then an exemption can be sought under section 2.4. Those that have shown themselves to be active members of your club will be permitted to play.

Why are you stopping my team mate from playing with us?

We aren't. If your team mate has an active history within your club then there is nothing preventing them from playing. What we are trying to do is stop teams from flying in ringers from overseas.

Is this not excluding Northern Irish players?

Not at all. While the rules refer to Irish citizenship this is a simple way of covering 90% of players in Ireland. Differentiating between UK citizens from Northern Ireland and those in Mainland Britain is tricky. However Northern Ireland players are covered by sections 2.2 and 2.3 since they are either full time residents on the island of Ireland or were born on the island of Ireland.

Whats so bad about playing against foreign players? Won't it make us better players?

Yes, playing against foreign teams and players make us better players - but there is a time and a place for playing foreign players and there comes a time to test those skills against your peers. That is the purpose of having a national championships.

This isn't done in any other sports, why do it for ultimate?

Other sports have much stricter rostering rules than ultimate. There isn't the free movement between teams and countries that exists in ultimate. Under those rostering rules, other sports do enforce their own eligibility rules.

Well they don't exist for any other ultimate tournaments, why have them for All-Irelands?

They do exist. Schools and college tournaments are only open to school and college students. Womens tournaments are only open to women. National team competitions are only open to citizens, and long term residents, of a country. The European Ultimate Federation are also improving their eligibility rules regarding participation in the EUCS. Clearly ours will not be the first ultimate competitions to have eligibility rules.

Who are you to make these rules?

Hi! We're the IFDA! You voted us in last October!