THE FAST BREAK NEWSLETTER

                                  September 2020

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Welcome everyone to our latest Club Newsletter. Saying this has been a challenging year is just a bit of an understatement, I’m hoping however that despite the difficult conditions that we have all found ourselves in you have been looking after yourself and your loved ones as best you can, and reaching out for help if needed. 

Having no Water Polo in our lives for almost 7 months and possibly another 8 or 10 weeks still to go is going to mean that staying engaged with our Club members is more important than ever. When we are able to restart training and competition, there will be additional requirements to ensure a safe environment for our members. The Committee is working hard to have good systems in place and clear communication so that when the restrictions are relaxed everyone can feel confident to be playing and involved in polo again.  

The Club was recently sucessful in obtaining some Government grants and as part of our preparation for a return to the sport we have decided to purchase a set of inflatable goals. The goals will provide us with opportunities to have training and fun games in a range of aquatic settings. 

It’s going to be a journey for all of us to rebuild our Club and our Sport and we will need your help. Please consider offering your assistance, time, energy, smarts, or help in any form as it will be gratefully accepted. 

I hope you enjoy the newsletter, please let us know if you have any ideas for topics you would like us to cover or information to be included in future editions. 

 

Stay Safe

 

Lyn

UPDATE FROM THE COMMITTEE ON CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES

 

When can we get back into the water?

The time away from our sport has made us realise how important water polo is to us.

Unfortunately, there are still more unknowns than knowns.

 

 

 

 

The Unknowns:

 

  • we don't know when we can return to train and play.  WPV is making plans but they are constrained by government restrictions
  • we don't know what our club fees will be as this will depend on the structure of the competition and our costs
  • The timing of the Australian Youth Championships (AYC) is likely to change
  • See the update from WPA.  Click here
  • We don't know what pools will be available to us for training

What we do know:

 

Firstly, we are hopeful that some sort of competition - even an informal one- can be commenced prior to the end of this year.  Once up and running, the competition is likely to spill over in 2021, with a break for Christmas.

 

Secondly, our access to pools will be more difficult going forward as schools are more nervous about the risks associated with external use of their facilities.  The committee are looking for help with managing our existing pool relationships as well as with developing new ones.

If you are keen to help, please let us know.

 

 

Thirdly, we know that the training schedule for athletes will likely be structured differently.  We will aim to have more age groups training together than we have had in the past in order to maximise our coaching and training resources as well as to foster friendships across age groups

 

Finally, when we do resume competition and training, there will be strict protocols relating to Covid-19.  We will need help from multiple volunteers to ensure compliance to our Covid-19 Plan.

 

PLAYER REGISTRATION

Water Polo Victoria will soon be sending out emails requestiong players to register for free so that we are ready to go as soon as we are given the green light by the government.  Could you please do this promptly so that we have an idea of the number of teams to enter in any competition that may be organised.  Any fees will be set when competitions and training are confirmed.

COMPETITIONS REPORT -2019/2020

The Summer (State League) Competition (Terms 3/4 2019) saw MC enter 13 teams with 8 playing off in grand finals.  This resulted in 4 premierships.  Most notably, we entered 3 teams in the U16 boys completition and finished first, second and third.  An outstanding achievement.

MSJ Sub Junior Competition (T4 2018 -T1 2019) saw MC enter 5 teams. (1 x 12U boys, 1 x 12U girls, 2 x 14U boys and 1 x 14U girls)  Grand finals were cancelled due to Covid-19.  Our 2 14U boys teams qualified for the GF.  Finals are not played in 12U but both teams performed well.

 

We had excellent participation in the Australian Youth Water Polo Championships with 3 boys teams entered and a composite U18 girls team (MC Tigers).  A number of other club members played as draft players with other clubs where we were unable to enter an MC team.

 

A tournament highlight was the gold medal won by the 14U boys team with Pavle Macic named tournament MVP!

MC AGM

Given that in a typical year we struggle to get a quorum at our AGM, we have decided to postpone until we can meet in person, hopefully prior to the end of the year.  We have applied to Consumer Affairs Victoria for and been granted an extension of time.

GOVERNMENT GRANTS

The Club has been successful in receiving 2 grants this year: A Community Sport Short term Survival package grant as well as an Active Club Grant.  Once we can be back in the pool, we will be able to put these to good use.

HELP NEEDED

As a community based sporting club, we are reliant on volunteers to help run the club.

The successes of our club over its 126 years is largely due to the involvement of players and their families in all aspects of the club management.

We are desperately calling on all members, from parents to those players who have recently left the juniors, to please consider giving back to the club.  It is a rewarding experience to be involved and a role below could be just for you!

 

  • Committe members
  • Covid officers (to take attendance at training sessions and games and ensure compliance with Covid plans
  • Social media- looking after the club's website, Facebook, instagram
  • Pool liaison
  • Coaching for juniors
  • Club registration
  • paid life guards

 

CATCHING UP WITH SOME MELBOURNE COLLEGIANS

Today we hear from Blake and Lachie Edwards 

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