Welcome to 2018 – Raiders Basketball Registration will open Mon, 15 Jan 2018!
To our Parents, Guardians and especially our Members,
Welcome to the 2018 season which this year will begin on the weekend of 23-24 March, the week prior to Easter with only one week of grading, followed by the season proper starting on the weekend of 6-7 Apr prior to the school holidays.
Our club has continued to grow with almost 500 members last year and 55 teams across all competitions, up 10% again over the previous year. Importantly we saw our first growth in our girls’ membership that continues to be key ambition for the club.
With this growth there are continuing challenges in provision of uniforms and equipment, team selections, finding sufficient training facilities, coaches and managers, as well as committee volunteers, with everyone having busy lives, while ensuring we enhance our coaching and training standards for all levels of players.
The purpose of this letter is to introduce you to some of the changes for the 2018 season, as well as key dates. Importantly, you should be aware of the following:
• There will be changes to Raiders team selection policies with respect to grading of U14’s and above. • We will launch our new uniform for ALL teams in 2018. • WE will launch new Raiders apparel for 2018. • There will be an increase in Raiders Fees from $140 to $180 per child. Hawks membership fees will remain at $140 per child. • Hawks grading and playing details. • A request for new committee members.
I have attached our draft Raiders 2018 Calendar that includes our important dates, as well as Hawks WABL dates, to ensure everyone has access to key dates for the year. The first event will be our on-line registration process that will open on Monday, 15 Jan.
Selection trials will be on Saturday, 10th Feb and Sunday, 11th Feb (we will confirm final dates and times shortly), for which selected U14, U16 and U18 boys and girls should attend, with a special trial session for U12 girls (from 9-12 year old girls who may want to be graded for U12’s) – this was introduced last year due to a loss of many of our best girls during transitions from U12’s to U14’s to other clubs and significantly increased our girls intake last year. Note also that these selection trials are also being used to select Newman Senior High School teams in partnership with Matt Connell in the PE department, thus the early dates.
Changes to Team Selections & Grading Process
Given the increase in our numbers to 500 members, and the difficulty in grading our U14U18 mid and lower-level sides through a 1-2hr trial, we have decided to trial a new system in 2018.
For this we will focus on only grading the top 3 divisions, with pre-nominated sides being preferred for mid and lower level grades.
All players who played in U14’s through U18’s Division 1 through Division 3 last year will be listed for grading. Any other player who wants to be graded is encouraged to attend
the trials Newman Holy Rosary Raiders Basketball Club (NHRRBC) Association (Raiders) grading.
Pre-nominated teams for these higher grades will not be accepted.
Any players who played in lower grades may opt to create a team in which all players must be aware of their nomination and include a coach and manager (same as for U12 boys and below today).
We will look to continue to grade all of our U12 & U14 girls’ teams given the smaller numbers, and our focus on enhancing their membership.
Team nominations should be sent to our registrar
Chris Giddens, via his e-mail: registerraiders@gmail.com
New Reversible Uniform for 2018
Our new reversible uniform and logo was introduced during finals last year and was a big hit – see picture below. The new uniform will include reversible singlet, with shorts and socks to be purchased by players. For this year only, the club is subsidising one pair of shorts per player as part of your membership fees. Sizing charts for shorts will be included on the website for ordering during the registration process.
All players must have all three pieces to be considered officially in uniform and will be unable to play without them.
New Raiders Apparel for 2018
Raiders will introduce new apparel for 2018 to include the following: • Hoodies • Supporter’s scarfs • Beanies • Reversible training singlets for teams
These items will be displayed for sizing on the shirt selection day and available for order from the website prior to the season. We will inform everyone once this is ready to go. Increased Raiders Fees for 2018
With ever increasing costs for training courts, equipment, new uniforms, and our focus on enhancing our coaching infrastructure, and noting Raiders had the lowest fees of all clubs in Hawks, we have decided to increase fees from $140 to $180 per child. This fee increase was raised and approved during our 2017 AGM.
The increased fees will also help subsidise a free set of uniform shorts for each child for 2018.
Hawks membership fees will remain at $140 per child, making total fees for each child of $320. This is still significantly cheaper than many other winter and summer sports.
Perry Lakes Hawks Playing Details
Details on Hawks playing conditions and rules can be found on their website at: http://www.hawksbasketball.com.au/about-our-junior-competition/
The Hawks competition, for which Raiders are one of the largest clubs, has teams playing in from 8 years and U10 (Miniball); U10 (full basketball rules); U12; U14; U16; U18; U20 (girls only).
Playing times are generally as follows: • Girls U14 & U16 play on Friday evenings along with our Miniball Girls teams. • Our U12 Girls play after 2 pm on Saturday to enable them to play netball as well. • Some of our other MB & U12 teams are rotated through Friday nights. • Other ages and boys all play on Saturdays from 8am through to 6 pm.
Games are played at primarily played at the Bendat Basketball Centre (201 Underwood Avenue, FLOREAT) with overflow games being played at Lords (3 Price St, Subiaco). Games are generally played on the first Saturday of School holidays but not the middle Friday/Saturday or the last Friday/Saturday of school holidays. Under 8 MINIBALL SKILL SESSIONS are open to players who are 7 years of age and not turning 8 until after 30th June 2018 (year 2) and are held each Tuesday between 4.15pm and 6.15pm (2-time slots). They comprise a 50-minute time slot made up of skills & drills, supervised by Hawks’ SBL imports and coaches from the Junior Clubs, concluding with a short game. These sessions commence Tuesday 1st May 2018 through to and including Tuesday 26th June and re-commence Tuesday 17th July through to Tuesday 28th August 2017. Request for New Volunteers – Committee, Coaches and Managers
To achieve the goals and objectives of Raiders we need a strong and committed group of volunteers to lead the club through this important period. Our committee is structured around four core functions – Operations, Coaching, Marketing, Uniforms & Apparel and Strategic Projects. Each of these core functions has a sub-committee team run by the functional lead, and I would like to thank our multiple volunteers here. We are still looking for more members for vacant positions on our and sub-committee teams, so please look to volunteer to support your club by contacting me directly, or one of our existing committee members via their contact details on our website. We are also always looking for more coaches and managers, so please do not hesitate to step up and take a role. Training for both positions is provided, with formal and informal coaching training provided and funded via the club.
In Summary..
It is going to be another big year for Raiders in 2018, and hopefully this gives you a sense of what is planned. Please do not hesitate to visit our soon to be updated Raiders Website at: http://www.nhrraiders.com.au/
I look forward to seeing many of you during the year. Please do not hesitate to contact me or one of our team should you have any suggestions, issues or clarifications.
Welcome and good luck to you all in 2018. Go Raiders!!
Gary Hale President NHR Raiders Basketball Club M: 0400 720-740 E: garyhale@ozemail.com.au