Update

I’m sure that you are all as disappointed as I am about the yesterday’s announcement that the Sydney lockdown will be extended for another month. Not just for basketball, but for everything – school, friends, family.
I am so sad that by the time that this lockdown ends and we will be able to see each other again, I may need to return to Melbourne and will miss out on seeing you all.

I am trying to think of something that we can do to keep our spirits up, and to keep us connected. I haven’t forgotten about you.
But in the meantime, stay safe, follow the Public Health Order, do your school work, and be nice to your parents. That last one is REALLY important. ;)

I’ll update you when I can.
Kirst

12/7/21

Competition Update

Hi everyone! A quick update for you…..although not much to tell.

The MWBA met this morning, and obviously we can’t see competition going back next Monday. The Association is suspending the start to the season without an anticipated start date, but as soon as a date becomes available I’ll let you know.

As those of you who are students head into an online learning environment, I encourage you to use all the resources that your school makes available to you to ensure that you are still meeting your learning needs.
For our Year 12 students, I don’t know what this means for you, but best of luck!

For everyone, please do the right thing, follow the public health advice and stay home. Don’t push the limits of the Public Health Order to catch up with friends, just do what needs to be done to get us out of this. If we can keep Covid off the beaches maybe they’ll allow life here to be a bit more normal sooner.
Fingers crossed.

If you need extra help, reach out to friends via your socials, pick up the phone and make a call, and hug your pet (it helps, trust me). Get some exercise in a Covid-safe way, and look after your mental health. It’s tough, but we’ll get through.

I was so looking forward to seeing you all, and am very disappointed that our reunion has been delayed. I’m sure that it will be here before we know it though.

Love to you all. Look after yourselves, and please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.
Kirst

31/1/21

News to Share

Hi all, I hope you’re having a good weekend.
I write this with news to share. It’s a bit happy, a little sad, and actually very scary.

I was recently approached by the NBL and offered a job as the Manager of Game Day Operations, and also to assist the NBL Referee Manager in his role. This is an opportunity for me that I just can’t let pass, so I accepted it.
Unfortunately the role is Melbourne-based, so I have resigned from my permanent position with Manly.

However all is not lost.
The NBL is fully aware of my role within our Association, and has suggested that if Manly is open to it, that I continue in my role remotely from Melbourne as best I can. I have run the possibility of this past our President, office staff and senior officials, and Manly have agreed. So I will still be the Referee Manager at Manly, organising you all, sending stern emails and texts, and wagging my finger at you……….from a distance.

I am really proud of what we have achieved as a team over the last few years, and to be honest I can’t just walk away. I love you all so much, and believe that we have so much more that we can do. I want to stay a part of it. And if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we can ANYTHING via Zoom! Let’s give it a go!

The NBL have also agreed to (if it works for us all) for me to work from Sydney in the off-season, as my family will still be located here. So when there’s no NBL I will be back in Sydney running courses, helping out with grading and wagging my finger at you……..from close up .

I have spoken to Rhys, and in my absence he is going to pick up some extra supervising hours and help me out. My team of referee coaches – Creeley, Lucas, Adam and Adrian – will be instrumental in keeping things going and being my eyes and ears on the ground. And anyone who has ever done something wrong and thought I wouldn’t find out, you know better. I always find out!

So considering that the NBL season is already under way, I need to get to Melbourne!
I have committed to getting the Local Comp at Manly started, and then I leave on February 17th. In those first few weeks of the season I will also be learning my new role, so I won’t have a lot of time to continually chase your availability. If you could please get them all in ASAP so that I can get our season organised before I leave, that would be awesome!

So hence the mixed emotions. I’m extremely happy and excited to be offered such an opportunity, sad to be leaving Sydney and my family, and a little scared about what I’m about to embark on.
But remember that even though you won’t see me as often, I’ll still be “around”. You can’t get rid of me that easily.

If I don’t see you before I go, I’ll certainly see you on a Zoom at some stage, or when I come back in the off-season.
Love you all,
Kirst

25/1/21

Welcome Back for 2021!!

Hi all,
The competition staff are still trying to work through venue allocations for junior competitions, so as soon as they are done I will update the Availability Form and make it available to you.
In the meantime, here are a couple of housekeeping matters to cover off to prepare for our return.

There have not been any major changes from the end of last season, but for the few there is, please read below and also the linked documents.

VENUE ENTRY
NBISC now has a Service NSW QR Code at the venue for everyone to sign in on when they enter. I ask every person who is 16 or older to please sign in using the QR Code. There are codes at the front door, on every bench, and at the end of Courts 1 and 3 near the rosters so there is no excuse to not sign in.
I will also create a form/link that anyone (including U16s) will be able to access on their phone or on one of the iPads at the front desk. I don’t care which you sign in under, but sign in when you enter the venue. Doing so keeps you and our community safe.

We are working with the external venues to determine if they have their own QR Codes or if we will have to supply one. I will advise the referees that will affect once we actually know which venues we will have.

SPECTATORS
At this stage we are looking at coming back with no spectators. Juniors will be allowed a coach, scorer and “manager” for the purposes of supervision, and seniors will be allowed a coach.
If restrictions ease later this week, we will approaching NBISC to allow the spectators in, but I don’t think that they will allow it.
Either way, this is is something that will be monitored by the Venue Supervisors so is not your issue, but I thought that you’d like to know.

COMPETITION BYLAWS
This document addresses some changes to and the reinforcement of some competition ByLaws. Please read make yourself familiar with them and feel free to ask me any questions.

TIMING RULES
No change, but I have linked the grid here for you anyway.

SIGNING PLAYERS IN ON THE SCORE SHEET
This document outlines the procedures that I would like EVERYONE to take when signing players in. Please make sure that you follow them correctly. It affects our contact tracing processes and eligibility for finals for players.

REFEREE ROOM
Access to the upstairs ref’s room is dependent on the government easing restrictions to 1 person per 2 sqm, and NBISC allowing us to use the venue under that guidance. I’ll keep you posted.

And that’s it for now. Shoot me an email if you have any questions.

KDF

25/11/20

Are you interested in reffing BNSW Junior Metro League (or “Junior Reps”)

At the start of the season I asked you all on your availability form to indicate whether you may be interested in reffing Junior Representative basketball in the future. A few of you did indicate as such, and I will be in contact with you individually about this, but I am throwing it out there again to see who may be interested in extending their officiating skills to include “Junior Reps”?

I will hold an information session at some stage, but to work out if I can hold it in person or via Zoom, I need to know how many people may be interested in attending a session.

I’ll give you a brief run down of what is expected in reffing reps……
BNSW has restructured a few things in 2021 (I’m not 100% sure of them all), and this year the junior competition won’t start until May.

Manly enters 16 junior boys and girls teams into the BSNW Metro Junior League – 2 in each age group (12s, 14s, 16s & 18s) – and we as a club are required to provide a minimum of 16 appropriately-qualified referees to support the our teams in the League. This includes during pre-season grading games and finals.
Obviously we need to supply referees from all levels, and will provide training to ensure that referees are appropriately qualified.

But for you personally, if you love basketball, love to be involved in the game, are interested in reffing at a higher level and being a part of the bigger picture of basketball, maybe this is something worth considering?

There is a qualification process for referees, and part of that is to attend an Action Day where referees run a fitness test, and participate in on-court clinics. These will be held in February at Penrith and Bansktown. We usually car-pool and go as a group, so parents don’t have to drive their kids out there, and support each other as we learn new things and meet new people on this first step into state-level officiating.

We as a group are planning some fitness training and higher-level rules and education sessions before February to ensure that everyone is well-prepared, and we will continue that through to May. I am planning on linking this in with Norths, Hornsby and Inner West, so we develop bonds with other referees in the program as well.
(Side note: As we develop into the State system the Association we belong to becomes less relevant. We are all refs, and see ourselves as all one team no matter where we are from.)

This is why I need to know now who may be interested. There’s planning to be done.

You can follow this link to FAQ page for you to read – some stuff may be slightly incorrect as I don’t know the complete details of the league changes, but it pretty much is. If you would like more information or to see if you may be suitable, please drop me an email, or speak to myself, Rhys Boreham, Lachlan Creeley, or Adam Bond when you next see us.
Also feel free to ask our current refs in the system for their experiences on Rep. I’m sure that Lucas, Jake Ashby, Ashton, Dane, Bella or Ardyn would love to have a chat with you.

In case you missed it, my email is kirsten.deforest@manlybasketball.com.au
Let me know your thoughts. Maybe not this year, but in the future??
Let’s chat.
Kirst