THE DRAGONS DEN – NEWSLETTER #20 IT’S FINALS TIME (unless you are in VC)!! What a fantastic effort, we have 15 of our VJBL teams competing in finals. For those who haven’t made finals, don’t forget we have our VJBL awards night on Saturday October 16th at Genezzano to wrap up the season. Get down and support some of the Dragons teams this Friday night, good luck everyone – GO DRAGONS!! IMPORTANT DATES Friday 25th August VJL and Regional Finals start Saturday 16th September Dragons VJBL Presentation Night Sunday 8th October Tryouts for the 2017/2018 season commence IT’S FINALS TIME Staying home on a Friday night is overrated!! Get out and support some of our Dragons teams playing in finals. The following teams have made finals: BOYS: 12/1, 14/2, 14/5, 16/1, 16/3, 18/2, 18/4, 20/1 AND 20/2. GIRLS: 12/2, 14/3, 14/4, 16/3, 16/4 AND 18/2 (our 12/1 VC girls have 1 more game and will hopefully play finals). To load our club page and find out where our teams are playing this Friday night go to: http://websites.sportstg.com/club_info.cgi?clubID=49053&c=0-3911-0-0-0 Click on “fixture” for the team you are interested in, then click on “finals matches”. TRYOUTS 2017/2018 Tryouts for the 2017/2018 season will commence on Sunday 8th October. The tryout flyer/details will be released next week. We be using online registration for tryouts again this season, you will receive an email with the link when registration form is ready to go (also next week). Everybody MUST register to tryout regardless of how many years you have played at the club. BIG V Unfortunately, our Youth League girls couldn’t overcome a strong Coburg Giants team last Sunday, going down by 9 points to fall short of a Grand Final berth. Congratulations to Cara, Char and the girls on a fantastic season. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions from Rachel Bett, Lauren Moran and Grace Ramsden who move out of Youth League next season after 4 fabulous years with the team. BIG V AWARD NOMINEES The Big V award nominees have been announced and the following Dragons players and coaches have been nominated: YOUTH LEAGUE 1 WOMEN Defensive Player of the Year - Rachel Bett Defensive Player of the Year - Holly Bowman MVP/All Star 5 - Holly Bowman Coach of the Year - Cara Jeffers YOUTH LEAGUE 1 MEN MVP/All Star 5 - Tom Clifford Coach of the Year - Ezra Kumar DIVISION 1 WOMEN MVP/All Star 5 - Sarah Stone Coach of the Year - Simon Liebelt Good luck everyone, award winners will be announced on September 23rd. DRAGONS PRESENTATION NIGHT – SATURDAY 16th SEPTEMBER Our VJBL Presentation night will be at Genezzano (301 Cotham Rd, Kew) and will be in 2 sittings again this year: 6.00-7.30pm – Under 12’s and Under 14’s 8.00-9.30pm – Under 16’s, Under 18’s and Under 20’s Door charge will be $15 per family (payable on the night) or $5/single. BYO drinks and nibbles. Please try to get along, it is a terrific way to wind up the year and support your team for one last time. VJBL GRAND FINAL VENUES The grand final venues have been announced for this year’s Melbourne Utd. Victorian Junior Basketball League (MUVJBL) season as follows: VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIP – Dandenong and SBC – Friday 22nd September VJL – Dandenong, Eltham and Keilor – Friday 15th September REGIONAL NW – Werribee – Saturday 16th September REGIONAL EAST – Blackburn, Nunawading, SBC and Waverley – Sunday 17th September BHS KIOSK TO CLOSE FYI - The Balwyn High School Council made a decision this week that the Stadium kiosk will cease trading at the end of Term 3. LEADER NEWSPAPER LOCAL GRANTS PLEASE VOTE FOR US IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO! Local leader newspapers are giving away $1000 grants to help bring community projects to life. Prue has applied for a grant to purchase playing singlets for our Development Squad so they can play in tournaments looking like a team rather than in a tatty array of borrowed singlets. Good news is, we help decide which community projects get one of the grants by voting! Please get behind this initiative and help us secure one of the grants. We have been entered under the Whitehorse Leader so please make sure you choose that local paper when registering. All you need to do is click on the link below (you have to register your details), and vote for us (you can give us 10 votes!): http://www.leaderlocalgrants.com.au/idea/camberwell-dragons-singlets-for-development-players DRAGONS – MELBOURNE BOOMERS PARTNERSHIP The club has decided to again partner with the Melbourne Boomers WNBL side for the upcoming season. Part of this deal includes the following for our junior players and their families: OPEN TRAINING SESSION - ALL PARTNER ASSOCIATIONS/CLUBS INVITED Melbourne Boomers will be holding an open training session between 4pm and 6pm on Friday September 29 (public holiday) for all players, coaches, volunteers and families from our partner associations and clubs. The Boomers team will be on court training and will then meet everyone for photos and autographs. We will send out more details shortly, but please feel free to start letting everyone in your basketball community know that they are welcome to join us. For those who are interested in getting a junior membership with the Boomers: VISIT FROM LIZ CAMBAGE COMPETITION It really is a great competition and is certainly heating up with 13 days to go. If anyone purchases a junior membership (from $39) at www.boomersmemberships.com.au and nominates Dragons as their club, then we are a chance to win a 2hr visit from Liz this September. FREE CLINIC FOR JUNIOR BOOMERS MEMBERS For those that purchase a Junior Membership, on Friday September 29 (public Holiday) Boomers will be holding a 2hr FREE clinic for all the junior membership holders at the State Basketball Centre between 2pm and 4pm. They will be using all 6 courts and the entire Boomers WNBL team will on court with the kids. YMCA MANNINGHAM 3 on 3 CHALLENGE YMCA Manningham will be coordinating a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in the upcoming holidays, see the flyer below for details: .