From everyone at BPBA Front Office and Board we would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a safe and enjoyable break and we will see you back on court in the New Year.
Below is a recap of the year from our President, Stephen McHenry and Operations Manager, Aaron Lothian.
From Stephen McHenry – President
In December 2017 I was voted in by members as President after a few years performing the Treasurer role.
My main mantra as President was to see the development of basketball via players, coaches, referees and amenities on the Bellarine and to address our Stadium Facility extension plans to provide us much needed capacity, so our association can continue to grow.
We made the immediate appointments in January 2018 of Aaron Lothian in a full time capacity as Operations Manager and Tim Sanderson as our High Performance Development manager.
As you can see from Aaron’s Operations Manager report, Aaron has initiated and managed many improvements which have been activated during this 2018 calendar year. The very positive feedback we are receiving from players and observers is testament to the efficient work Aaron has performed to make all this happen.
Tim Sanderson has managed our Storm VLBL representative program and has been taken to a higher level of achievement with player and coach development which was reflected by the many premierships and finals appearances achieved. Tim has seen an influx of participants in our junior programs and managed the new senior programs. Our inaugural senior CBL teams were launched seamlessly and are performing well thanks to Tim’s enthusiasm and expertise. We look forward to our senior Big V teams commencing in 2019.
Barwon Basketball concept involved many meetings, planning and discussions with Basketball Geelong, Corio Bay, Surf coast, Colac and Try Boys to reach common grounds. Barwon Basketball’s creation will allow a monthly forum to see how clubs can support each other by sharing resources and assisting each other for the betterment of basketball in the region. For example, referee, coaches or player development training sessions can be co-ordinated and all associations can invite relevant people to attend the training course. Barwon Basketball will allow a common voice to communicate to local, state and federal governments on Basketball strategies in our region.
Stadium Development at Bellarine has the moral support of State Labor politician Lisa Neville. We do need an additional 3 courts built. We have received a small grant to help with preparing a feasibility report of what we need and how much it is build. Once we have this report in the new year we will again lobby governments to assist with the funding.
I would like to thank my Board for the contribution during the year and Aaron, Tim and Tyrene Kane (Competitions Manager) for their great work during the year and our support staff, officials, referees, players and sponsors. We look forward to the 2019 year and building on the fantastic improvements and momentum we have achieved in 2018.
From Aaron Lothian – Operations Manager
As we come to the end of my first year I look back and think what an amazing year it has been for Bellarine Peninsula Basketball Association.
We have achieved many positive outcomes including the following. Bellarine Storm have achieved the most VJBL titles in one year, I would like to thank Tim Sanderson and our coaching staff for all their hard work including the introduction of the Storm Academy.
This year we entered our first senior teams into the Country Basketball League(CBL), where we have had a immediate impact of the league. Thank you to Luke Beauglehall, Leigh Allen, Tim Sanderson and Brendon Matthews for their contribution towards coaching the CBL teams. Towards the end of the year we were also accepted to enter into Big V, with the negotiations with Basketball Geelong we were able to enter straight into Division One.
During the year we also were able to implement many technological advancements for the association including Glory League (a first for Victoria), new website, email newsletter and TV’s with integrated retail software. This has helped BPBA be recognised as one of the most progressive associations in the region.
Part of the re-branding for the association was to engage a new uniforms supplier with a complete redesign of the Bellarine Storm uniforms and merchandise.
Our domestic competition has seen unprecedented growth, where in the 2018/19 summer season we have reached over 250 teams for the first time. Our Aussie Hoops program has also seen significant growth where the participation has nearly doubled 2017 and we have added 2 additional programs. With the increased growth in domestic games we have trained up over 40 new referees and employed a Referee Manager to oversee the program. I would like to thank Tyrene Kane for all her hard work throughout the year in managing many changes and growth of the competition.
With all the participation growth, court capacity has become a real issue, so throughout the year we have engaged Basketball Victoria, Basketball Victoria Country and City Of Greater Geelong to help develop a Stadium Extension Plan that will mean our members have continued access to playing games and training into the future.
This year we have started a few initiatives with the inclusion of the Melbourne Untied Partnership and the introduction of the Girls Got Game event. These initiatives have provided additional value to our members and helped promote our profile in the community. We have also held the BVC Under 14 regional qualifiers which brought country teams from all over the South/West of the state to Drysdale.
We have conducted an office renovation creating more space and allowing for any future staff expansion, the association also invested in repainting the foyer, toilets and change rooms, new scoreboards and new on court seating and score benches. This has helped with additional spectator seating and improved the appearance of the stadium.
The association has put a real focus on marketing this year and we have seen very significant growth in our social media platforms and print media. This has also assisted with increased sponsorship and new assets available to sponsors.
Even with all this investment into the association we have still recorded a profit for the Financial Year, thus putting the association into a strong financial position for the future.
I would like to personal thank the Board for all their support during the year, even with some of my more progressive ideas they were always willing to give things a try.
In closing I would like to thank everyone involved in Bellarine Peninsula Basketball Association. Our players, coaches, referees, officials, supporters and sponsors, our association is better for your involvement and we trust that you will continue to support the associations initiatives in the coming year.
Congratulations to you all!
Keep up the great work.