Happy Friday to all Wildcats,

I am pleased to share good news! Basketball has some dates ahead of it from which we can plan to hit the floorboards again!

Key dates of the restart:
- Players under the age of 18 are allowed to do competitive training and play matches from Monday June 22nd.

- Players aged 18 and over can train with contact from Monday July 13th (this is still a guide, not yet approved by State Government).

- Players aged 18 and over can compete from Monday July 20th (this is still a guide, not yet approved by State Government).

Program start dates:
- Cub Squad/Kinder Club -Monday July 20th

- EDJBA (Saturday Domestic) will have training begin Monday July 13th, with Round 1 on Saturday July 18th

- VJBL (Friday Night) have been assigned a 45 minute training, week beginning Monday 22nd June. First game back will be Friday July 17th

- Senior Domestic return to games will be Monday July 20th. We aim to offer returning teams a training session where possible beforehand to help the return to the court in a safe manner.

Before I go too far, the Eltham Wildcats, the EDJBA and Basketball Victoria itself were all shocked, surprised, but very pleased to have the announcement on Sunday 14th June made that ‘Community Sport,’ was able to return from Monday June 22nd. However I’ve often in my updates referred to basketball as being more comparable to a local gym, rather than the footballs, lacrosse, netball and other outdoor sports in our area. It is for this reason, that sadly all school sites and majority of the local indoor facilities across Victoria are not going to be accessible for a couple of weeks yet. I’ve explained in the past, we have Joint Use Agreements in place at Eltham High School and Montmorency Secondary College and it is for that reason, we’re able to start accessing facilities under strict regulations and through the school holiday period. But the other school sites are all closed. As I said in my last update, the aquatics of our local Eltham Leisure Centre opened just over a week after they were allowed to, as they finalised the safety procedures required. This is comparable to basketball in indoor facilities. The simple way to explain it, is that the State Government makes an announcement, but those on the ground themselves don’t know the announcement is coming, nor do we know what the restrictions are going to be. As a result some time is taken to get things right.

I will provide an update on key programs below, but as with everything in this process, it is fluid, there are a lot of questions in which it generates, but I will continue to be as communicative and transparent with the information as I can be.

What happens next week?
We have access to only Eltham HS and Montmorency SC stadiums for the week beginning Monday 22nd June and do so under very strict conditions. Some of these conditions include:

A maximum of just 14 people (10 players, 2 coaches, a Team Manager and 1 Parent Rep) allowed in an enclosed space (pod). As such only court 1 and court 2 at Eltham HS is being used, whilst only court 1 at Montmorency SC.
45 minute training, with 20 minute break between team trainings.
Teams only entering stadium 5 minutes before training begins, must leave within 5 minutes of conclusion of training.
Strict methods in entering and exiting the venue
Bio Safety Officers have undertaken online training and be in attendance.
Signage, decals, sanitiser and wipes all available to help and be used.
We are utilising this week as a trial for our staff and volunteers so that we are ready for when everyone is ready to return in Term 3. As the only teams announced and ready (and already have competed together) are our Junior Championship teams, those in the U12-U18 age groups for boys and girls are filling those trainings. These teams have maxed out the capacity of the three courts.

Saturday Domestic:
In preparation back in mid-March, our teams had been 80% put together. Since that time, 16 people have decided to step away from playing the Winter season for a variety of reasons. We are starting to work with our Junior Domestic program now about finalising those teams, allocating trainings and getting finalised for the start of competition in Term 3. We anticipate that teams will be announced on the evening of Wednesday of the second week of school holidays. As you can appreciate our team will be working around the clock on short notice now to put these teams together and be ready to go.

Games are likely to be 2 × 15 minute halves run on a 50 minute time schedule. This is to allow the Bio-Safety Officer at each game to clean the high touch areas in between matches. The details of this will be finalised in due course. You can expect a 9 or 10 game season with the potential for the 10th round or Grand Final games to be played on the Saturday following the last week of school -19th September. This is different to normal.

It will be different, I can’t give you too much detail other than what I have at this point, but the positive is; we’re coming back! The Wildcats motto through this has been ‘returning the kids to the court safely, as quickly as possible.’ We deliberately have ‘safely’ included. We are only taking the court with the procedures in place to ensure our participants can do so safely.

The Eltham Wildcats do recognise all junior domestic players have missed a whole term and your registration payment reflects that. As I write to you less than 48 hours since we were given the green light, I don’t have figures for you on how much we will roll forward into the following season. But we are aware of it and working toward the best strategy to achieve that for you.

Junior Championship:
I have been a little more pessimistic regarding the possibility of VJBL returning quickly; but I can admit when I am wrong. There are still some hurdles to overcome, but a month ago, I couldn’t see how Junior Championship would return in July, so in another month’s time, the world will be different again! Tipoff is planned, everyone from U12-U18 has been given their initial training session.

Of note here and I have referenced it in every communication piece; there will be an invoice sent out in order to participate in this program. Back in mid-March we elected not to send the invoice as we normally would given the uncertain nature. Again, we are less than 48 hours since getting the green light, so I can’t put a figure on it, but it is likely to be in the $100-$150 range to participate in the final section of the season. The VJBL are working on strategies for no cash payments upon the return at the door also, which I am sure you agree is long overdue.

Senior Domestic:
Connor Matthews will link in with you shortly. Thank you so much for the incredible responses to the survey we put out. A big focus over this downtime from the team has been how we can make Senior Domestic basketball something more. How can we make it feel special. You’ve come through with some fantastic ideas, some of which were new to our team, some of which we’d had pencilled in. As referred to earlier, we have concerns after four months of suddenly having bodies moving laterally, sprinting, jumping and twisting. As such, we are keen to try and provide some opportunities (free of charge) to have your team come in and have a light run, some shooting and get some general movements before hitting the competitive court again. We feel this is in the best interests of the participants of our competitions.

Summary:
We aren’t through this yet! If our last 40 hours or so are anything to go by, the hard work has really just begun. As I said earlier, the aim of this is to provide information, but I know it also creates questions. This is why our staff are on hand and we’re here to help you and your basketball experience. Please feel free to contact me or any of our staff via email/phone and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.

However the good news is basketball is back and the plans for the return are well underway. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. This period ahead is going to require more patience, it is going to require some creativity at times, but also some tolerance and understanding, but we all have the same aim to see participants across our club back on the basketball courts and enjoying sport again.

Greg Jeffers
Chief Executive Officer

On behalf of President Peter Meehan and the staff and General Committee of the Eltham Wildcats Basketball Club.

Thank you to all our sponsors

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