UNSW Underwater Rugby

Last training THIS WED, New UWR Positions, ORDER 2012 CALENDAR NOW, Ollie on ABC Radio Australia

Underwater Rugby — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:11 +0000

Most important bits of this email:

Last training of 2012 THIS WEDNESDAY 21 December 2011 followed by Seb’s Farewell & End of Year Celebration at the pub
Welcome to our new treasurer, Michael H., Coach Bobby and Events Coordinator Steph!!
Order your 2012 UWR Calendar by THIS THURSDAY 22 December
ABC Radio Australia interviews Ollie Barrand in Hobart, Tasmania!!

Last training of 2012

Wed 21 December 2012 ***Special Sauna Edition***

Please pay pool entry at the front desk this week – we’ll be entering as members of the public and swimming in 50m lanes. After training we’ll have some serious Sauna time followed by pub drinks to farewell Seb!!

End of year Wrap Up

Nothing short of an epic year for Underwater Rugby with SplAshfield becoming our hottest new UWR venue and the whirlwind Tassie Tour and Underwater Rugby/Hockey Challenge taking on Hobart by storm (check out the ABC radio interview). Thanks to so many people that have poured love into the UWR team this year, with particular mention to Ben Harris, Anthony Knittel, Ollie Barrand, Bobby Chen and of course, Sebastien Robin. The team wouldn’t exist without their hard work both during trainings and behind the scenes.

This year we farewell one of our most dedicated stars and team l

eaders – Sebastien Robin – as he moves to Tasmania next year. Seb joined the team in 2008 as goalie and defender, and has developed undoubtedly the

best body-size-to-lung-ratio in the team, allowing him to fend off many a kiwi, taswegian and fellow UNSWelshman/woman from the goals. Seb has been a fantastic coach, mentor, coordinator, recruiter, pr rep and has lead the underwater rugby team to all new heights in 2011 with the Underwater Challenge in Hobart. Seb, on behalf of the team, thanks for all your leadership and we look forward to seeing/smashing you and your new team in Brissie 2012. We’ve dedicated the first UWR calendar to Seb (see below) and $2 from every calendar will be seed funding for his new team!

The Dawn of 2012

Next year we’ve got a Whole Lot More excitement coming your way! We’re launching a 7 week UWR comp on Sunday arvo’s in Semester 1. Plus stay tuned for a summer weekend away in Feb, and a comp in Brisbane in towards the end of the year and hopefully we’ll get a few of Kiwi and Tassie friends along for the fun. We also have our sights set on an international tournament in 2013!!!! Check out the agenda minutes of our end of year meeting here.

Congrats to our newly nominated positions for 2012

Michael Hoy – Treasurer
Bobby Chen – Coach
Steph Crittenden – Events Coordinator

A message from Bobby the new Coach:

The UWR Coaching Committee is now open for applicants. No previous experience necessary. Applications to Bobby will be assessed on the basis of dedication and merit. Sexual favours will not influence the outcome of any decisions, but will still be accepted. Email uwrugby@underwaterclub.org if you are interested.

Calendar 2012

Our first UWR calendar is hot off the press at only $15 AUD!! This year’s calendar is dedicated to Sebastien Robin – $2 from the sales of each calendar go towards seed funding for the Tasmanian Underwater Rugby team. Fill in the form below and you will receive an email with bank deposit details. Postage within Australia and overseas will be available.

Order Now

[contact-form]

Underwater Challenge and End of Year Meeting this Wed 7pm before training

Underwater Rugby — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:36:15 +0000

Underwater Challenge

The Underwater Challenge in the Hobart Aquatic Centre was a huge success. Close to 40 people got involved and it was amazing to see it all come together on the day and see everyone enjoy playing both UW Hockey and Rugby non-stop for 4 hours. Congratulations to Acers who dominated the Underwater Hockey and scored the most points, closely followed by Celine’s Babes who tied on wins.

Underwater Hockey Results

Round 1: Acers= 4 vs. Life Aquaticas = 0
Round 2: Bobby Dazzlers = 2 vs. Celine’s Babes = 3

Round 3: Bobby Dazzlers = 0 vs. Acers = 5
Round 4: Celine’s Babes = 5 vs. Life Aquaticas = 2
Round 5: Life Aquaticas = 7 vs. Bobby Dazzlers = 2
Round 6: Acers = 5 vs. Celine’s Babes = 0

Acers, the overall winners of the Underwater Challenge 2011

The event generated a attention online (300+ clicks on our event page), and attracted some interest from the media (two interviews with ABC Radio Australia, one with East Side Radio, and Southern Star). Thanks to Laura and Ollie for the excellent interviews. We have had requests for footage and will follow-up on this shortly.Importantly, a big thank you to the sponsors: with their generous contributions, we had no choice but to put in some serious efforts into selling raffle tickets to raise funds for the Australian Lung Foundation and we ended up collecting close to $1,000 in a month which is no small feat. Here is a message from the ALF:

“The Lung Foundation would like to say an enormous thank you to the sponsors , the organisers of this terrific event, and all participants. The funds and awareness raised will help us in our vision “to ensure lung health is a priority for all in Australia”. We look forward to the 2012 Underwater Challenge” (Jo Mason-Smith

Business Development Manager)MASSIVE thanks to Sebastien Robin making this all happen. He has worked tirelessly with the other organisers (Craig Proctor, Jane Davies, Chris Cleaver & Celine Steinfeld) and sponsors, to produced a hugely successful event. We’re looking forward to the next competition.

Tour Slideshow [a sneek peak]

Click to view slideshow.

More photos on the way…

End of Year Meeting & World Champs Viewing

We’ve got plenty to chat about tomorrow at our 2011 wrap-up and 2012 planning meeting. Thanks to Laura for putting together an agenda.

7pm End of Year Meeting – Pool Cafe

8.15pm Sauna

8.30pm Training

10pm Watch the World Championships video, Matthews Bldg Level 14

Agenda

Training

-> rotating coaches, get in for free when coach – but have an overall strategy which determines format of training session and focus (use experienced coaches for first weeks back at uni to encourage new players)

-> can have say 4 weekly focus item e.g. scoring – where drills are based on developing this particular skill, however not limited to it

-> play games where the game is stopped and things explained on the way, coached as we play

-> meet at 8pm and have 30 mins of dry training with whiteboard in pool cafe area

-> splashfield – every sunday of term. base around uni holidays. have a competition that is about 6 wks (+ final i.e. 7 wks) long (start short to encourage more players by less commitment)

-> still have some games in homebush to maintain 5m deep playing ability

Recruitment

-> events e.g. in first few weeks of term – launch party?

-> continue with media promotions (including chasing up southern cross with video footage from tassie)

-> trip?

-> weekend camp during session

-> schools groups? start with the P.E. teachers

-> we also want to appeal to non-university ppl so need to think about how to not give that assumption bc it’s UNSW UWR.. prob need different marketing campaigns depending on the audience

-> promotions – UWR in martin place in a giant fishtank – how can we make this happen?!

Gear

-> investigate different brand swimmers that can give bigger UWR logo?

-> swimmers for girls

-> pump up balls

World Cup

-> lets get there

-> get the right memberships & links with Australian Underwater Federation

-> Confirm the details (dates, locations)

Media

- media pack

-> lets use photos (maybe video) from tassie to follow up on the media contact (or to make media contact if not already made).

-> maybe we can write a post tournament press release that can be used to spread the word.

-> maybe with enough profit we could buy an underwater camera for the club?!

No Splashfield this weekend

Underwater Rugby — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:51:00 +0000

Hey guys,

This weekend’s Splashfield is cancelled as there are a lot of people away on holidays!
Training will be ON this Wednesday 16 Nov.
Training on Wednesday 23rd of November is cancelled as the team will be down in Tassie.

Stay tuned for some SUMMER UWR at the BEACH!

Cheers,
Celine

No SplAshfield this weekend, Register NOW for Tassie!

Underwater Rugby — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:46:33 +0000

No SplAshfield this weekend, next Deep Sesh on Sunday 6th November!

Tassie Comp and Lung Foundation Raffle

There’s cool stuff to be won including Technisub, Cressi and Budgy Smuggler gear. Tickets are only $2 each, so give us a holler if you’d like to buy a few or sell a booklet: uwrugby@underwaterclub.org

Can you help promote Tassie?

Share, tag, blog, write about, tweet, talk, sms about the Tassie Tour. Social media is your friend.
Send the Event Link your friends in the world of diving/spearfishing/research/water polo/extreme sport http://uwrugby.wordpress.com/underwater-challenge-2011/
Contact your local media outlets (email Sebastien for help)

Special Thanks

Thank you Ollie, for visiting Ashfield to retrieve our lonely basket. It was accidentally left behind at the Sunday training. The UWR gear as it is very difficult to replace, so it is important that everyone looks out for communal equipment and make sure it’s in the right place at the end of training.

Post-training party, Tassie debrief and UWC Harbour Cruise

Underwater Rugby — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:51:29 +0000

Wilson captures the SplAshfield action.Check out more pics >>>

Tassie Competitors: Registration & Meeting

Tour Debrief: After Training (and before drinks), Wed 19 October

A debrief and info sesh for all those coming or thinking about coming to Tassie. Please fill out the registration form in order to guarantee your spot on the road trip and/or tournament.

Post-Training Drinks

Wed 19 October, Matthews L14

Come enjoy the music, coloured lighting and Sydney’s nightscape after training in the postgrad lounge on Level 14 of the Matthews building. All welcome, BYO drinks, nibblies should be provided.

Noah’s Ark: Underwater Club Harbour Cruise

6pm, 28 October, Sydney Harbour

The much awaited Underwater Club’s Harbour Cruise is here!!!
So save the date and some cash and get ready to dress your way silly in an animal outfit!
What’s the deal?
Three Hour Harbor Cruise, Drinks, Finger Food, Your Favourite People (in costume) and Random DJ.
Cost : $50 (!!all inclusive!!!)
Meet : at Pyrmont Casino Wharf (directions attached)
Departure: 6.45pm! Don’t be late or you will miss the boat!
Theme : Noah’s Ark!! (Yes, that’s right! Halloween is just around the corner and you will be an animal that night, one way or the other)
Payment : Check the Facebook group or email thanda@facebook.com
The UNSW Sailing/Windsurfing Club will be joining us divers as well! So you better get your drunk on and get ready to partyyy!
We booked the smaller party friendly boat, so you will miss out if you don’t book in early…..
Yours truly,
love and hugs and kisses and bubbles and everything else!
Thanda (on behalf of the UWC Social chicks and the committee)

Whatdyareckon?

5ebastien — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:35:37 +0000

Splashfield report

So, we came, we saw and we got wet. And we all left happy. All 20 of us. We could organise a poll to decide whether we should go back but we won’t because we already know the answer: the soon the better. We have booked a session on the 9th of October and we will replace the SOPAC bookings with flAshfield until the end of November. And if we really had to justify why: the pool is better, it’s not as far, it’s cheaper, and it’s available every Sunday of the year. Oh and we can get a tan when the sun comes back.

Thanks again to Bobby for this tour de force.

UWR safari

5ebastien — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:39:12 +0000

Make a splAsh(field)

Yes, everyone must be feeling starved of deep pool by now, after the last two bookings at SOPAC were disappointingly cancelled due to low numbers. Bobby took the matter in his own hands and secured a booking for this Sunday 24th of September at a new pool: Ashfield Aquatic Centre. Come and check it this new venue – which could become a regular one if people like it!

Turn left when you see this and keep going for 5 min.

Time: 4pm start – finish at 5:30pm

Cost: $10 if we have 14 players

Talk to Bobby or Sebastien for rides and RSVPs.

ALF Fundraiser Raffle

Preparations for the Australian Underwater Challenge are well and truly underway. The Tasmanian folks came up with the brilliant idea of a raffle to raise some proper money for the Australian Lung Foundation leading up to the tournament. At this early stage it looks like we will already be able to secure some vouchers / equipment from supportive dive shops in Sydney and Hobart, but we are also asking YOU to find more prizes! Let Sebastien know if you have any ideas (at all) or write some comments below.

UWR night

Postponed to October – stay tuned

Lots of events coming up, so get organised!

5ebastien — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:53:16 +0000

We now have a proper UWR calendar

We’ve just booked all the deep pool sessions until the end of November. So next time you wonder when the next deep pool session is you can go straight to our new calendar page. Everything’s there, and you can import all the the events to your very own calendar. Magic.

The Australian Underwater Challenge

As you would have all found out by now, we have created an event page on FB for the Australian Underwater Challenge. Everything is being finalised as we speak and we will need your help advertising the event and recruit participants: the idea is to draw interest from the wider Underwater Hockey and water-based sports community and we should all spam our fair share of potential participants. The reason we created this event is to MAKE SOME NOISE ABOUT UNDERWATER RUGBY in Australia so you have a license to be loud!

On page 6 of this Google doc you can record in the table who you have contacted or who you think we should contact. So FORWARD FORWARD FORWARD. Do not worry about the media side of things, the Australian Lung Foundation will take care of the press release in early October.

Recruitment drive

Bobby’s organising an Underwater Rugby Promo Stall on the UNSW campus next Wednesday. RSVP on Facebook if you can be there and send a message of support if you can’t.

Oldies but goodies

If you enjoyed Javier’s Powerpoint presentation, you’ll be happy to hear that we managed to dig out some oldies from the time when Javier was coaching us to become Kiwi beaters. Now you can’t say UWR is not an art.

"Atack" is like "attack" but faster

UWR Get-together

It looks like the evening of the 23th of September is the best date for us to get together to watch some Underwater Rugby World Cup games. We’ll get planning and give you more details in the next newsletter.

Want to party like an animal?

One for the calendar: the UWC is hosting the best dress-up harbour cruise party of 2011 on the 28th of October. Check it out here.

Sunday 4th Deep Sesh Cancelled (fathers day) and

Underwater Rugby — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:05:24 +0000

Sunday, 4th Sept: Cancelled

Unfortunately due to Father’s day we have to cancel this Sunday booking.

Next UWR in the DEEP training 5pm Sunday 18th Sept

Have you doodled and polled?

1. UWR party: http://doodle.com/a7way4vvzuxwam8q

2. Wetsuit Poll (scroll down below pictures)

Javier’s farewell, UWR Party, Wetsuit Poll, Team Tassie

Underwater Rugby — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:25:52 +0000

Upcoming UWR in the DEEP

4th Sept, Homebush, 5pm for a 5.30pm kickoff.

18th Sept, Homebush, 5pm for a 5.30pm kickoff.

Beginners/Spectators: $3.50, Regulars: $10.

Javier’s Farewell

After 4 years of calling Sydney home, Javier’s moving back to Columbia – some of you may know that he will soon be a father!! The junior UWR team is growing!

Javier has been a huge part of UNSW underwater rugby family since the early days at Victoria Park pool. We were unbelievably lucky to find him – he’s played for a long time with his team in Cali, and he even represented Colombia in the world championships (1985 i think!). Javier is a stunning player – his incredible agility and power meant he was always in a league of his own and a nasty opposition to encounter in the pool. He gradually started teaching and coaching us – we had many sessions by the poolside where he opened up the world of structure and strategy, explained how to breathe with your “pulmos”, he even had etienne sitting in a garbage can to explain the goalie position. Behind the scenes he’s poured a lot of energy into our team – highly entertaining Powerpoint presentations, endless supply of ref sticks and advice on building goals. When Javier speaks about rugby, its clear he’s speaking of an art, not a science.

Javier probably wont be reading this, but on behalf of the past and present UWR family I wanted to thank Javier for the tremendous amount of support and energy he’s given the team. We wish him all the best in Colombia with his wife and future kid. We hope we see him again in Sydney or maybe even the next world championships… in Colombia!

Please come down for Javier’s last training session this Wednesday at UNSW pool. There will be a card to sign and hopefully he’ll have time to go to the Rege or Whitehouse afterwards.

Javier trains Etienne and Tim using a garbage can

Javier explains the art of underwater rugby

Underwater Rugby Party!!

It will either be on Saturday 17th September or Friday 23rd September. Let us know which dates you can make and we’ll go with the most popular date. Click the following link and tick the dates your available: http://doodle.com/a7way4vvzuxwam8q
A Heading Part Way Down the Page

Wetsuit Poll

There’s been talk of some UWR sesh’s at Gordon’s Bay. To give us an idea of numbers, please let us know your cold tolerance status:

[contact-form]

Tasmania tour

Numbers are growing and its still not to late to join! If you’ve booked your flights and your name is not on this list, please let me know. Stay tuned for more info.

Steph
Ollie
Tanya
Bobby
Ben
Celine
Seb
Laura
Tym
Pamela
Michel
Tanyas sister