Queen’s Birthday Honours

Rowing Victoria wishes to congratulate Josie Millard OAM and John Harry OAM for recently being awarded honours for their service to rowing and for service to the community, to rowing, and to the legal profession, respectively.

As a former Rowing Victoria Board Director from 2016 -2019 and its Vice President from 2017-2019, State selector from 2000-2006, Josie has contributed significantly to the sport throughout Victoria.

Heavily involved with the highly regarded Head of the Schoolgirls regatta from 1992-2019, including 17 years as President, Josie contributed passionately off the water as on, having served as a volunteer administrator, rowing program director and coach following representing her state and country as a successful lightweight oarswoman.

Following his successful rowing career having represented Victoria seven times in the King's Cup, winning twice in 1969 and 1970, John served as assistant secretary of the Victorian Rowing Association in 1971-1972. John served as Captain of Mercantile Rowing Club 1974-1975, President of the Melbourne Girls Grammar School Rowing Club, 1982-1983, Chairman of the Melburnia Club at Melbourne Boys Grammar Rowing, 1988-1990 and Chair of the National Regatta Organising Committee in 1992. Inducted into the Rowing Victoria Hall of Fame in 2015, John currently sits as a trustee on the Mercantile Rowing Club Foundation.

Rowing Victoria congratulates Josie, John and the families and friends.

UPDATE

RESTRICTIONS EASING FROM 11.59PM THURSDAY 24 JUNE.

On the advice of the State’s public health team, the restrictions for both Metropolitan Melbourne and Regional Victoria will again ease from 11:59pm on Thursday 24 June.

Relevant to our community, the following opportunities and restrictions will apply:

REGIONAL VICTORIA

• Movement between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria is still unrestricted.

• Maximum Club capacity remains at no more than 300 indoors at the density quotient of 1 person per 4sqm.

• If the club provides a COVID Safe Check-in Marshal, the density quotient reduces to 1 person per 2sqm.

• The State Gov’t QR codes are to be used for check in at the club.

• Maximum group size remains at 50 people indoors, e.g., 50 x people in gym, 50 x people in bar area.

• Competition with spectators is still permitted.

• Face masks must still be worn indoors except when exercising.

• Face masks must still be worn indoors including when retrieving equipment/ boats and recommended outdoors where 1.5 metres physical distancing cannot be maintained. Face masks not required on water.

• Practice good hygiene measures including washing and disinfecting shared equipment.

METROPOLITAN MELBOURNE

• Movement between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria is still unrestricted.

• Club rooms including gyms and changerooms can remain open.

• Maximum Club capacity is now 300 indoors at the density quotient of 1 person per 4sqm

• Maximum group size is now 50 people indoors, e.g.,50 x people in gym, 50 x people in bar area.

• Competition with spectators.is still permitted.

• The State Gov’t QR codes are to be used for check in at the club.

• Face masks must still be worn indoors except when exercising.

• Face masks must still be worn indoors including when retrieving equipment/ boats and are recommended to be worn outdoors where 1.5 metres physical distancing cannot be maintained. Face masks not required on water.

• Practice good hygiene measures including washing and disinfecting shared equipment.

Let’s stay safe so we can keep rowing.

Please reach out if any queries

ROWING HAS ENRICHED OUR LIVES, LET’S PAY IT FORWARD

As members of the rowing community, we have been fortunate to know the teamwork, support and friendship that the sport affords. We vow to pay this forward to school children who may otherwise miss the opportunity to experience the sport’s many benefits.

Rowing Geelong is calling on your generosity to help make our vision for a new $1.5M community boat shed on the Barwon River waterfront a reality. Work on the two storey, three bay boat shed commenced in March and fund raising efforts are ongoing to target completion in 2021.

The new boat shed will be named the Jeff Sykes Rowing Centre to honour the enormous contribution Geelong’s Jeff Sykes has made to our sport. Jeff was also recently recognised by Rowing Australia with the privilege of Life Membership. For many of us, the name ‘Sykes’ is synonymous with rowing.

Jeff’s history includes medal wins at World Rowing, Rowing Australia and Rowing Victoria Championships. He famously founded and developed ‘Sykes Racing’ into a world-class rowing boat provider in Geelong and since, the majority of medals awarded in Australia have been won in a Sykes.

Following a lifetime with rowing, Jeff’s wish is to give back to the sport and community he loves. To this end, Jeff has come on board as a substantial founding donor in the hope that Geelong youngsters will also experience the great joy rowing has brought him.

Positioned alongside The Geelong College and Geelong Grammar rowing facilities on the Barwon River waterfront, the Centre will make the sport accessible to a broader cohort of students that do not currently have their own facility in the rowing precinct.

To facilitate school rowing successfully requires housing of boats with ready access to the river. We hope that by setting up and managing the new Centre, which will accommodate a minimum of four local secondary schools, we will relieve many of the barriers schools currently face when considering their own rowing program.

As the ultimate team sport, rowing is a valuable addition to any sports program, providing a fantastic platform for students to build resilience and self-esteem, as well as fitness and wellbeing. And with females representing 65% of participants, it is truly a sport for everybody

Much of the building’s boat space will be utilised for racking school boats, along with office and change rooms upstairs.The project will additionally provide much needed digital facilities to improve regatta hosting capabilities on the Barwon River, particularly for the prestigious Head of the School Girls Regatta. The river also hosts around ten Melbourne-based school rowing camps each season.

We are reaching out to spread the word and to offer you the opportunity to support this exciting development for future generations. Every dollar counts. Tax deductible donations are made through the Australian Sports Foundation via https://asf.org.au/projects/rowing-geelong/ or contact Rowing Geelong President Sam Elliott onpresident@rowinggeelong.asn.au

Our heartfelt thanks,

Rowing Geelong

2021-22 Draft Regatta Calendar

The 2021-22 Rowing Victoria Draft Regatta Calendar is now available on the Rowing Victoria website. 

Role Available: Minute Secretary

Rowing Victoria are looking for a Part Time (circa 5hrs per month) Minute Secretary to record and take the minutes of the RV monthly Board meetings. This role requires a high level of accuracy in the taking and recording of minutes and creation of agendas. The successful applicant will be required to be attentive and responsive at all meetings and will be able to craft resolutions as discussions occur. This requires great attention to detail, active listening and the ability to follow discussion.

Board Meetings typically occur in the evenings on the 3rd Thursday of each month and take place at the Rowing Victoria offices at Albert Park or virtually under COVID management protocols.

Duties & Responsibilities incl:

• Recording accurately the decisions, commitments, and major discussion points made at RV Board Meetings.

• Preparing draft minutes from each meeting for review, approval and circulation.

• Draft minutes should include all accurate resolutions from the Meetings and ensure formatting and standard text is in accordance with requirements.

If interested, please contact CEO Ian Jickell ian@rowingvictoria.asn.au for a full position description.

Rowing Victoria loves the Game!

Rowing Victoria is proud to announce that it is taking a stand against sports betting sponsorship and have joined the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation in assisting removing sports gambling from our community. We’re wanting to help young people take the game back and encourage them to enjoy sport for what it is, not the odds. As we know, there are so many reasons to love our sport of rowing; all of which have nothing to do with gambling. That’s why we’ve signed up to the love the game program and say NO to sports betting sponsorship.

We’re committed to building a family-friendly sport that encourages all members, especially young people to #LoveTheGameNotTheOdds, because sport and gambling don’t have to go together. There will be further information to come as we’ll be encouraging all Members to join this initiative.

#lovethegamenottheodds

PRE 2021 STATE TEAM UNIFORM SALE​

(Going Fast)

All Victorian State Team Members have the opportunity to purchase excess Team kit supplied by 776 BC. When placing your order please confirm in the notes section what year and crew you were in when you represented Victoria. This applies to all three representative teams; Pathway, Senior and Masters. Only the sizes listed are available. Please view our website here to see all the sizes and range available.

Any questions please contact our State Pathway Coordinator, Jen Szuster on Jen@rowingvictoria.asn.au

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Grants

The Get Active Kids Voucher Program helps eligible families get their kids involved in organised sport and recreation activities by reimbursing the cost of membership and registration fees, uniforms and equipment. Eligible children may be able to receive up to $200 each. https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/vouchers/

Does your sporting organisation have an exciting initiative that will be a positive impact to your community? Do you need some help in bringing it to life? The GameDay and Openpay Sports Community Fund is on a mission to help local, grassroots and sporting organisations like yours. https://community.mygameday.app/2021/05/gameday-and-openpay-launch-sports.html

General information on available sporting grants through Victoria. https://www.vicsport.com.au/grants

River Safety - Bow and Stern lights

With the dark mornings now upon us it is crucial that all rowers who are on the water (and coaches on bikes and in powerboats) between sunset and sunrise have adequate lighting for your safety and the safety of others. 

Rowing boats, in restricted visibility and between sunset and sunrise, are required to exhibit;

• Two all-round white lights, one attached to the boat at or near the forward or bow end, and one attached to the boat at or near the stern end.
• Bow light - A continuous white light is considered acceptable if it is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre.
• Stern light - A flashing white light is considered acceptable if it flashes at least once per second and is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre.
• Not withstanding the above, it is considered acceptable for a light to be masked so as not to interfere with the vision of the vessel’s occupants, provided at least one light is visible from any direction (see diagram below)

Want to know what's happening in Ballarat and at Lake Wendouree? 

Interested in attending events in Ballarat and at Lake Wendouree? Keep up to date with the latest by visiting the City of Ballarat Event Calendar website!