Good morning everyone
http://www.nswvolleyball.com/contact-us/covid-19-updates/474-covid-19-update-24-03-2020
I genuinely hope this finds you and your families all safe, healthy and in as good spirits as can be expected.
It’s a challenging and emotional time for our community, and I want to acknowledge that for many, there are certainly much bigger concerns than Volleyball.
With so much uncertainty at this time, this note is designed to help provide as much clarity as we can for our NSW Volleyball community and share with you how we will be navigating COVID-19 to ensure our sport can survive and thrive beyond the pandemic.
Volleyball NSW (VNSW) Office Operations • Our team is safe and well. We are all working from home and planning how our competitions and events can adjust over the coming months as things develop.
We are brainstorming ideas and new ways to serve our community. Stay tuned.
COVID Crisis Management Group
• The Board has established the COVID Crisis Management Group to examine ongoing guidance from relevant authorities and provide balanced, educated recommendations for our sport in NSW.
- The Group will meet weekly (or as needed if things significantly change) to discuss the crisis and to guide our parameters for competitions and events moving forward, ensuring we are ready to launch activity as soon as it’s safe and practical for all.
- If you have any questions, concerns or feedback you’d like to submit to the Group, please do so through me so that it can be tabled and reviewed as part of discussions at the next meeting.
- A public statement will be made and distributed as an outcome to every meeting.
Sydney Volleyball League
• Arguably our biggest program we run annually is Sydney Volleyball League (SVL). This program sees the congregation of a huge amount of numbers of players in 16 weeks of competition. At this time, no formal decision has been made around the delivery/timing of SVL 2020 with further discussion to be had in the coming weeks.
- We accept it is extremely unlikely that SVL 2020 can proceed as planned due to access to venues to train and run the competition. Current advice from the Office of Sport indicates the COVID-19 crisis will continue for a number of months.
- With this in mind, all existing deadlines for entries, nominations, teams lists etc are now postponed. Communication on next steps will be provided in the coming weeks.
Other VNSW Events
• Other VNSW events like State Cups, Schools Cups etc are at the moment all on hold.
Australian Junior Volleyball Championships (AJVC)
• Similar to SVL, the AJVC program is now on hold. We are very hopeful this program will still be able to go ahead albeit with significant changes to the event preparation.
- At this time, we encourage any athlete who is considering trailing for a team to ensure they stay fit and healthy through this crisis and further information will become available as soon as possible.
Volleyball Australia (VA) Events
• Similar to VNSW, VA is also reviewing activity.
- VA has made no formal statement regarding their events at this time.
- We will continue to work with them and ensure all information is passed on as soon as we have it.
VNSW Annual General Meeting (AGM)
• The VNSW AGM is a legal requirement and will proceed as planned on the 22nd April.
- It will be held via a video conference call (Zoom). It will NOT be physically attended.
- Further information will be provided in the coming weeks and we encourage all affiliates to ensure they remain available for this as previously planned.
Affiliation and Membership
• Volleyball NSW and its playing community will get through this crisis. We may not know when, but we will all get back on court and play again as soon as possible.
- We are looking at ensuring the financial implications are as limited as possible for the greater organisation.
- To ensure we are all back up and running as quickly as possible (when it is safe to do so), we are encouraging all affiliates and members who are financially secure, to continue to sign up. By doing this, it ensures that we remain legally structured with affiliates and we have the income needed to retain operational expenses like staff, equipment, venue bookings etc.
- As a community, by coming together and working through this with the limited resources we have gives us the best opportunity to come out the other side in the best position possible to get back on court.
Insurance
• Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance will renew on the 1st April and we will be sending this information out to clubs as soon as we have this.
- Personal Accident Insurance will remain in place for registered members participating in VNSW approved activities/events/competitions. Its important to know that having a pepper in the backyard or going for a run throughout this crisis is not considered an approved volleyball activity so please make sure your own insurance is current for your own benefit.
All in all, the world as we know it is very different now and will be for the foreseeable future. This is a challenge for all of humanity and us as a Volleyball community.
Please look after yourself and your families at this time, please reach out if you have any questions and please feel free to let us know your ideas on how to activate our community at this time.
We are all in this together and we are looking forward to delivering the game that we all love to you once again as soon as possible.
Stay safe.
Baz Wedmaier
General Manager
Volleyball NSW