Hello players, coaches, team managers, and families,
Warm Welcome
On behalf of the club’s new committee, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you to St Christophers Junior Basketball Club for the 2022/2023 summer season. If you were with the club previously, welcome back! To the new players and families, we extend a special welcome to our Saints family and hope you enjoy becoming part of our family and community.
Summer Season Begins
Summer season started this week with teams training and our first grading games being played this weekend. I am proud to confirm we have grown from 50 teams to 56 teams this season with 20 girls’ teams and 36 boys’ teams. We currently have 436 registered players; it is great to see so many kids involved with our great sport of basketball and part of our club.
New Committee
The club held an AGM in August, and a new committee was voted in with some existing members returning, and some new members joining! The timing was not ideal, given season setup was underway, adding some challenges to the transition to a new committee. The new committee is looking forward to representing our members and bringing some new and fresh ideas and initiatives to the club.
As the committee members settle into their roles, we will provide more information. We have two vacant positions on the committee, Equipment Coordinator and Communications Officer, if you are interested in taking on one of these roles or contributing to the club in any way, please make contact.
Behind the scenes, various activities are being discussed including the issue of coach’s equipment, we know that our coaches need bags and equipment and are looking at the best way to do this. The club has been without an equipment coordinator for some time!
Active Participation and Contribution
Our club is a community-based club, self-supporting, entirely run by members who donate their time to benefit all members. I encourage our members to support the committee and to participate and help in every and any way you can, it takes a lot of work to operate the club and the more people actively engaged and participating, the better our club will be.
Our committee wants to ensure our club is a family-friendly club with a great culture, and to this end, we are passionate about involving all families. We encourage you to step forward, being actively engaged with your child’s basketball is extremely rewarding. What can you do to help the club while enhancing your enjoyment and experience?
Outgoing Committee Members
I would like to say a big thank you to the departing committee members who despite reduced numbers were able to keep the club running and have contributed countless hours to the club over the years. You have been the backbone of our club and we thank you sincerely for your time, effort, and commitment to ensuring many children have been able to play basketball with our club.
Good Sportsmanship
We expect our members whether players, coaches, or spectators to be examples of good sportsmanship. We have codes of conduct and the KBA Participant’s Behaviour Policy to provide guidance on expected behaviours. Please remember that your actions reflect not only upon yourself but also upon the team and our club. When we all adhere to the codes and guidelines, basketball will be enjoyable for all involved and we will create a positive and safe environment for our children, referees, and coaches.
If controlling your behaviour is an issue, remain outside the venue – get a coffee, catch up on emails, go for a walk – let our children enjoy basketball.
We do not want to see our members on the foul register, and we do not want to spend our time investigating and following up on issues raised about the behaviour of our members. This time can be better spent working on initiatives that all our members can benefit from!
Play hard, play fair, play like a Saint! (Coach and spectate like a Saint too!)
Referees
Providing referees for games is a significant challenge to all community sports, and basketball and the KBA are no different. If players, coaches, and spectators feel it is reasonable to abuse and intimidate referees, particularly junior referees, it will continue to be difficult to find people willing to pick up the whistle. Several of the current referees are young players from our club, our club has always been well-represented in the referee branch and we want this to continue. If you think you can referee better, enrol to referee, you may find it is harder than it appears from the sidelines!
Communication
The club uses TeamApp for communications and our website includes news items and information and resources. You will also find the club on Facebook and Instagram. If you have any stories from your team or photos that you would like to share, please send them to us so the rest of the club knows what is happening in your team! We would especially love some photos of our new teams and changed teams!
While some teams have set up WhatsApp groups for their families, others use teamapp chat. To use the latter, all must be logged into our teamapp.
Wishing you an enjoyable start to the summer season and we look forward to seeing you out on the courts!
Anthony Palmieri
President SCJBC
E: president@stchristophersjbc.
M: 0488 221 378
