Annual General Meeting

The 2017 Annual General Meeting of the Pakenham & District Basketball Association Inc. will be held on Sunday, October 22nd at 11:30am in the Creche at Cardinia LiFE, 4 Olympic Way Pakenham.

All players, parents, and coaches are urged to attend. The Pakenham & District Basketball Association is always looking for new input and better ways of doing things so if you think you can help, please let us know.

All Committee positions are open except for President & Treasurer. If you are wishing to nominate to join our Committee, please complete the attached form below and email to general@pakenhambasketball.com.au

• Committee Nomination Form

Pakenham Warriors Junior Rep Program

1st August, Working with Children’s Check

Working with Children’s Check
You would have received in April advise of changes that commenced on the 1st August, to the Working with Children process that considerably widened the scope of who would be required to obtain a Working with Children Check.

There are two (2) major changes:

1.  Until 1 August, if a person working with children was supervised by a person who had a Working with Children Check, that person did not require a check themselves.  This provision has been removed and all people working with children need to be checked;
2.  The Working with Children Act requires that people over 18 years of age who are working with children who have direct contact need the check.  Before the amendment, “Direct contact” was defined as any contact between a person and a child that involves physical contact or face to face oral communication.  Now it also includes any oral, written or electronic contact.

There has been much discussion of the requirements in the media and many enquiries made to Basketball Victoria.  Much of this has centred around the question of whether scorers/score table officials are required to have a WWCC.  Basketball Victoria’s view is that scorers are now caught by the Act.

In many cases, the scorers are parents on a roster scoring their own children’s games.  Parents in this situation are exempted by the Act.  Basketball Victoria has not recognised that exemption and requires parents to have the Working with Children Check and to sign the Member Protection Declaration. This is because the Government regards the Working with Children Check as a minimum standard and urges organisations to take other measures.  The existing Basketball Victoria Member Protection By-laws now require updating to take into account the recent amendments to the Working with Children Act.  This process will take some months. Until these amendments are put in place, parents scoring their own children’s games will not be in breach of the Act or Basketball Victoria By Laws.

Other positions in question include door keepers and canteen staff.  These positions have previously required WWCCs, unless there was a supervisor on duty. The recent amendments now require these positions to have a WWCC regardless of whether there is a supervisor present or not. If door keepers and canteen staff are paid, there will be a fee charged to obtain their Working with Children Check.  Volunteers do not pay a fee. Referees continue to be regarded as volunteers and are not required to pay a fee.

Furthermore, any person who takes telephone calls from children or sends out newsletters, fixtures or other electronic contact with children will also require a WWCC.

In summary: 

1. Associations and clubs need to look at all appointed persons, staff or volunteers, and evaluate whether they need the Working with Children Check under the amended Act;
2.  Put in place procedures to ensure all of those people have had the check.

Committee Member – Advertisement

The Committee of the Pakenham & District Basketball Association (PDBA) is seeking applications from suitably experienced and interested individuals to fill voluntary Committee member positions.  We are seeking candidates whose interests align with the strategic direction of the Association and who will complement the current skill mix of the Committee.

The PDBA is a thriving and growing basketball association centred on the Shire of Cardinia in the outer south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.  The PDBA has experienced strong growth over the last decade with over 3500 participants.  The junior and senior representative programs have also seen rapid growth in size and improvements in results in recent years.  To build on that growth, the PDBA wishes to continue the high level of professionalism in all aspects of the Association’s operations.

The operation of the PDBA is currently not run by paid staff, but rather a network of volunteers within an Association composed of member clubs and stand-alone teams.

The 10 member Committee of the PDBA, comprising of 4 Executive (elected each year for two-year terms) and 6 General members, meet approximately 10 times per year.  The Committee has various standing and ad-hoc sub-committees.  Committee members are expected to attend the Annual General Meeting in October and some basketball events or functions.

Enquiries about the position should be directed to the PDBA President, Alan Lee, at president@pakenhambasketball.com.au.

Vale Andy Williamson

Our hearts were filled with sorrow upon hearing the news about the passing of Andrew Williamson (father of Warriors 16.1 Girl’s Coach, Brett Williamson).

Andy was at every home and away game to watch both his granddaughters Shanae and Tiarna play their representative basketball for Pakenham Warriors, starting at U12’s till now in U16’s. He was a big fan of kids basketball especially watching the Warriors play.

Warrior players from all ages attended the funeral service for Andy, in their jerseys and formed a guard of honour releasing balloons to the Hawthorn theme song.