2024 Annual General MeetingA huge THANK YOU for the massive turn-out at our AGM earlier this month. To see the room filled made us incredibly proud of our Club and was a pleasing way to end the tenure of the 2023/24 Board. The AGM is that one time of the year where we can share what we’ve achieved and where we’re going, so it was great to see so much engagement from our members. Our ears are still bleeding out after those screaming kids (sadly, we can no longer hear the drums Fernando), but we hope you found the session informative and left with a bit more ‘knowing me, knowing you‘ about the Board’s role and the Club’s direction.To our outgoing Board members, Alessia and Calvin, thank you for all of your time and effort over the last year. Your contributions were much appreciated, and will benefit CBVA for years to come. For this coming season, Alessia has volunteered to take on the Partnerships sub-committee, while Calvin has kindly agreed to stay on in Events.
We also welcome two new Board members for 2024/25, Elizabeta (Liz) Trajkovska and Lauryne Urtizberea.
Liz writes:I arrived in Sydney two decades ago as a student and now proudly call Coogee my home. It always feels like a dream come true to have the wonderful beach in my ‘backyard’.I love beach volleyball and the way it unites people of diverse nationalities, backgrounds, ages and skill levels. Whether we’re playing, laughing, training, or simply getting to know each other, the community it fosters is unparalleled. Outside of volleyball, I enjoy coastal walks, hiking, catching up with friends, and occasionally exploring new spots, although volleyball remains my ultimate favorite.I’m excited to contribute to the Coogee beach volleyball community that we all love. Looking forward to seeing you at the beach.
Lauryne writes:I joined the club in 2016, shortly after moving to Sydney. Even while studying in France since 2018, I remained a dedicated member to support the club and stay connected with the beach volleyball community. I started my journey as a Junior with Marcos, played on the NSW state team and loved competing in weekend tournaments.I’m studying Sports Management in France and currently working at the French Olympic Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympics. I will be permanently moving back to Sydney after graduating in October, and I’m looking forward to give back to CBVA and have a real impact on the Club and community.
An update from our first meetingDuring our first meeting the following roles were decided:President: LozVice-president: LauryneSecretary: LizTreasurer: BlakeOther topics that we covered included:Lease agreement renewal with Randwick City Council (RCC) – We met with RCC recently to give them an update on our development as a Club, and our place in the Coogee / Randwick community. We also discussed particular sections of our lease agreement which impact our current ability to play (it’s not all Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!), and the possibility for these to be re-considered.Playing uniforms for season 2024/25 – We are in the planning stages of getting an uniform order together for the coming season. We’re hoping to share designs with you soon, so you can place an order and have uniforms ready for the start of the season in September.Sub-committee engagement – As mentioned above, Alessia and Calvin have moved into sub-committee roles. We welcome Smady to our events sub-committee team, who brings with him experience in events management. We have plans to meet with our sub-committee team, and discuss how we can best support each other for the season ahead.Communicating with us and respecting boundariesWe love hearing from members on how we can improve things and what’s on your mind. We want to be approachable, however, we also still want to enjoy time with you as our friends at the beach or at social events.A challenge of being a Board Member is that it can be hard to separate ourselves from the role. Members may inadvertently contribute to this challenge by raising club ideas or issues with us in settings or at times when we are not wearing our Board Hats (if we’re relaxing at the beach or jiving like a dancing queen at social events, for example).We would like to ask for your help as we seek to strike a balance between being approachable and engaging with our members (both in person and through digital communication), while also setting a boundary around this. It’s healthy and necessary for us to also be able to disconnect from this role, like we do from our usual jobs.Our ask of you is to read the social context around you, and pause to think about whether it’s appropriate to bring up what’s on your mind in that moment. We still want to be able to come to the beach and enjoy volleyball with you and be part of the Club, without always being ‘on’ as a Board member. If you are not sure, please do just ask us if we would be happy to talk ‘Board’ and we will tell you if not!To help create an additional feedback loop, we recently also announced the launch of a newly established whistleblower link for you to provide feedback to us (and anonymously if needed). The link to this can be found here: https://forms.gle/u9K5DCvJErZvwWqK7
Tournament update and plan for 2024/25Elite CBVA Open I – Saturday, June 29thCongratulations to our division winners and runners-up:Men Winners – Sean & GeorgeMen Runners-up – Martin & RomanWomen Winners – Chantal & IlariaWomen Runners-up – Eva & SolangeThanks to Chantal and Ines for their incredible work in the lead up to this tournament. There’s weeks of thought and effort involved in planning a tournament to ensure it runs as smoothly as possible on the day.Thanks again to our sponsors and supporters Avion Australia, Coogee Diggers, Char-grill Charlie’s and Andersen’s Ice-cream. With their support the prize money-money-money and other vouchers could be shared around.You can view some photos from the event here:Link: Google photos albumLink: Google drive album
Roman & Martin Sol & Eva Chantal & Ilaria Sean & George Anna & Melissa Marina Peter & Rene Liam & Julian
Tournament plan for the seasonWe have shared a tournament plan below for the rest of the 2024/25 season. We have planned to run most of our tournaments in the off-season because of the additional court time available to us, and the challenges of fitting tournaments into an already congested summer season schedule (with NBVA, VNSW Beach Volleyball Tour, National Tour etc). We are aspiring to bring a Round of the NSW BVT back to Coogee and are in preliminary planning stages for that. We may still change this plan as the year unfolds.June 29th – CBVA Elite Open I – Done!August 3rd – CBVA Challengers Open (Competitive – A/B)September TBC – King & Queen Winter Mixed Tournament or Men/Women’s Tournament (Social – All levels)October TBC – Alan Wilton Memorial State of Origin (Social – All levels)If you have any thoughts or feedback on the plan, please send it to tournaments@cbva.org.au.
Other volleyball newsPan Pacific Masters GamesThe Pan Pacific Masters Games are being held on the Gold Coast this November for you super troupers aged 30+ all the way up to 65+, with manageable knee and back pain.For more information: https://mastersgames.com.au/ppmg/sports/beach-volleyball/Australian Beach Volleyball Teams for the Paris Olympic GamesThe Olympics are just around the corner and nations around the world are finalising their athletes and teams in this ‘winner takes it all‘ event. In beach volleyball, Australia have qualified Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, Zach Schubert and Thomas Hodges, and Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis. We’re looking forward to supporting them in their pursuit for gold this July.Stay up to date with their progress on Volleyball Australia’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VolleyballAustralia
That’s a wrap for our first update as A BBoArd. Thanks for taking a chance on us. We’ll send a S.O.S out if we need help.
