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London Eclipse Water Polo
Newsletter
Welcome Back!
Welcome to the first edition of the Eclipse Newsletter, a new addition to our club communications toolbox. We hope to feature interesting people and happenings once a month throughout the competitive season. Comments and submissions are always welcome.
There is much to report on this month as we move into the season, so please read carefully.
- Polo at the Quarry- We will be holding a FREE pre-season session at the quarry in St. Marys. All club members are invited to come out to take part at the quarry in St. Marys on SUNDAY AUGUST 30 from 10:00 - 12:00. The session will be followed by a club bbq "social". (cost $5.00) Bring a friend! This is a perfect opportunity for you to introduce the sport to someone, as well as to get a head start on what we hope will be an exciting and eventful season! Be sure to check the club forum for additional information. If you are planning to attend the workout in St. Marys we ask that you please r.s.v.p. as soon as possible to info@londonwaterpolo.ca (or let Ray know on the forum site), so that we may make the necessary arrangements (# of lifeguards etc.)
- Programme Registration- Register early for the new season and pay last season’s rates! If you would like to take advantage of the early bird registration and save $50.00, please reply with your intent to register to info@londonwaterpolo.ca by TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1st Registration material is now available online at www.londonwaterpolo.ca under Registration. Inquiries about Registration should be directed to Wilma Kirmse, Registrar at Registrar@londonwaterpolo.ca
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“Try Us Out” - Our regular
"Try Us Out" sessions at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre will take place on: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14 from 5:45-7:15 p.m.
Bring a friend! This is a perfect opportunity for you to introduce the sport to someone! There will be a prize raffle – you get one ticket for every friend you bring to the “Try Us Out”!
- Merchandise Sale- NEW this year: ALL Eclipse competitive athletes are strongly encouraged to have an Eclipse suit for competition. Both men's and women's will be available for sale, at $85 for women's and $55 for men's ($40 for the briefs). All competitive athletes are also encouraged to have additional “team wear” (e.g. T shirts, jackets etc.) for tournaments and travel. We will be placing an order for this, in mid-October. Please speak to Ilda Williamson if you have any questions regarding club wear.
- Meet the Coaches- Head Coach Ray Lumsden, as well as the coach of the women's (Beth Torrens) and ILWP (Mandy D’Arcy) programmes will be available to chat informally with athletes and parents about the upcoming year during our “Try Us Out” sessions.
Website Calendar The Google calendar that the club is using is now up to date and ready. Just go to www.londonwaterpolo.ca and click on the Calendar option at the left. If you note any errors, you can bring them to the attention of Rene, at info@londonwaterpolo.ca . The entries are all done manually, and human error is entirely possible! If you click on a specific event, you can see further details. If you have a team meeting or other event that you would like to have posted, please contact Rene. If you use a Google calendar already at home for planning your schedule, then it is easy to link your Eclipse team calendar to your own.
Fall
Practice Schedule
Parent Volunteer Team Managers Needed For Upcoming Season Some of our teams are in desperate need of a volunteer parent team manager to take care of communication and tournament planning. If we don't have a parent step up, the team may not be able to travel. The vacant roles are outlined below:
U16 Boys U16 Girls U 18 Boys U 18 Girls
Thank you to the parents who have already volunteered!
PIPEDA When you fill out all those consent forms in September you probably realize that all Eclipse athletes become members of our Provincial Sports Organization, the Ontario Water Polo Association. Do you know we also register all of our volunteers as OWPA members? One reason is liability. Registration ensures that our active members are covered by insurance. Secondly, registration provides substantiated information on the size of our water polo community – all volunteers, competitive and recreational players. This is useful when we report to governing bodies, and to potential partners, such as the City of London. This year, we need written consent to input your name and contact information into the Ontario Water Polo online database. So, if you want to be counted, and definitely if you are going to be a volunteer/chaperone this year, take a minute and fill out a PIPEDA form.
We Need Your Help Recruiting for our Programmes: We need to fill spaces on all of our club teams, as well as our 'I Love Water Polo' (for 7-12 year olds) and Youth Rec. (for ages 13+) programmes. Brochures are attached. Please forward them to anyone you know who might be interested. Hard copies are also available. If you are able to make contact with your local public school (our target age group is 7-12, although we also have a recreational house league for ages 13+), we can provide you with a short blurb for a school newsletter, as well as for posters/ brochures for distribution. Schools are an excellent place for promoting our programs, but in most cases we need Principal approval by individual school, and it's best if someone local approaches them. Contact Rene at info@londonwaterpolo.ca Remember if you recruit a new player to the club you also get a one time credit to your fundraising commitment!
Sponsorship Donations We would encourage you to go out into the community to ask for team sponsorship donations. A $500 donation is often affordable for a small business. Why not ask your local dentist, chiropractor, grocery store owner, orthodontist, etc.? We have a sponsorship letter already in place for you to provide to a business or organization- if you wish, this letter can be personalized. We don’t have charitable status and can’t issue a charitable receipt, but we can issue a receipt acknowledging receipt of the donation, which the organization can use for accounting purposes. The letter outlines the benefits we can provide to the donor. This would be ideal for a family with multiple athletes. You can share the donation between athletes in more than one family. If you have already succeeded with your fundraising commitment of $250, any additional funds will be put towards the general ‘pot’ funds that we need to raise for things like new nets etc.
Personality of the Month Congratulations to Cam Peters who recently took part in the Team Ontario International tour to Montenegro. This past summer Cam, along with players from other clubs across Ontario, spent 3 weeks preparing in Etobicoke before heading to Europe to train with, and compete against, some tough Montenegran teams. Traveling and living as a team involves many challenges including learning to live together under varying conditions far away from home, coping with different levels of water polo ability, and forming new friendships .....all things involving physical and mental toughness and courage. We look forward to hearing (or reading) about Cam’s trip! Congratulations Cam! Well done!
Summer Program and Recruitment Campaign With the assistance of Jessica Williamson and Nicolas Kirmse we were able to run our first-ever summer recreational program for beginning water polo players. Thanks to Ray, we were also able to offer a “Summer Stay in Shape” program for some of our competitive/former ILWP players to work on their skills throughout the summer. We are hoping that these efforts bring in lots of new registrations and that we can fill our fall and winter ILWP programs. If you have somewhere you are able to leave ILWP brochures, or put up a poster, we would like to hear from you!
Newsletter Editor Needed! We are in need of someone to help prepare and deliver the club newsletter to the membership. This is your opportunity to get more involved with the sport and the club. If you have an aptitude for writing and like to be creative – or just want to help out - please contact Rene. (r.kirmse@londonwaterpolo.ca). We look forward to hearing from you.
Submissions
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Respectfully submitted, Rene Kirmse
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