Message From The President - Doug Hilton

The Bushfires, just a few suburbs away, have left an indelible mark on all Victorians. We have been deeply affected by the loss of life and it has been sheeted home to us all that it was pure luck that Warrandyte was not directly affected. The bushfire tragedy has also galvanized us to help in any way we can. The members of Warrandyte Basketball Association have been enormously generous.

At Redbacks registration day last Saturday, we raised $1610.80. I have to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Heather Caruana, Simone Caruana, Peter Curry, Anne Edsell, Breana Edsell, Madeleine Edsell, Jacqui Howes, Courtney Howes, Fiona Joy, Neville Joy, Maggie McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Catherine McDonald, Ashlee O’Brien, Jenni O’Brien, Lisa Saunders, Casey Taylor, Liam Taylor, Maddi Taylor and Maddi Trewella (our chief spruiker).

This group of volunteers obtained donations from local suppliers, set up stands, cut up onions, cooked sausages and onions, cooled the drinks, manned the stand, painted faces and walked the bucket around the stadium during breaks, often standing in the one place till the person they were eyeballing had no choice but to reach for their wallet and make a donation.

Also a HUGE THANKS to Kellie Taylor for organising the roster and overseeing the stand and selling sausages and drinks, and also to Michael Flynn for being our chief BBQer. We extend our thanks to Victory Supa IGA Warrandyte who donated the sausages and Leo's Hot Bread Warrandyte who donated approximately 14 loaves of bread.

Also, we were absolutely bowled over by the generosity of the players and organisers of the Greyburn Cup, the senior men’s competition played on Wednesday night at the High School, who have donated $5000! This was matched, on behalf of all Warrandyte Redbacks and Venom families, by a $5000 donation from our own Association. A cheque for $11,610.80 will be forwarded to the Red Cross. Well done to the WBA community.

I would also like to apologise to Redbacks players, coaches, referees and parents for the confusion that reigned on Saturday 7th February. We were placed in an invidious position by the EDJBA who gave responsibility to coaches of competing teams to come to agreement on whether to cancel games. We had major problems contacting our own and opposing teams and as a consequence we had many families, who should have been concentrating on their fire plans, distracted by basketball.

In addition, we had many teams who felt compelled to play under grossly unsatisfactory, and frankly dangerous, conditions. By 1.30 pm we took a unilateral decision to shut our stadiums. If we had our time over, we would have attempted to contact all teams on Friday evening and told them NOT to play, even if this risked fines and other penalties.

Again, please accept my apology for the mayhem on the day and for any stress caused to players and families. Please also be rest assured, we have raised the issue with EDJBA in the strongest possible terms and will work towards a complete revision of the policy concerning days of high temperature and fire risk.

See you courtside, Doug Hilton.




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