Hanrahan highlighted some of the major achievements this year:
- Congratulations to Moe and Morwell have established Junior Development Committees
- Congratulations to Morwell and Yallourn who will hold a Junior Event in 2025
- Congratulations to Warragul and Traralgon Junior Pro-am Events
- GWG increased Junior Development Grant to $2,000 available to all GWG Clubs.
- Held sessions for clubs on Child Safeguarding and Risk Management with Golf Australia
- GWG received generous sponsorship from Valley Motor Group
According to Hanrahan, “One of the most important developments has been the strengthening of relationships between the clubs and the opportunities that come from working together”. This was further emphasised by a number of club representatives who indicated they appreciated the opportunity to hear the perspectives of other clubs.
Hanrahan identified that the highest priority is to grow this wonderful game, and in particular GWG will support clubs to establish junior programs if clubs don’t have one and expand existing programs.
Alex Gair, from the Good Sports Program gave an excellent presentation on how the consumption of alcohol in sporting environments across Australia influences the behaviours of young people who look up to sports men and women as role models. A central message was that clubs have a duty of care to minimize the risk to juniors around the culture of alcohol at sporting clubs.
The club liquor licence requirements were clarified and importantly, if alcohol is served before the stated time on the liquor permit it is a breach of their license, and clubs could be fined or lose the licence altogether. The meeting agreed alcohol would not be served outside of the licence conditions.
BYO alcohol was another point of discussion and most clubs have well established signage advising that “BYO alcohol is not permitted on the course”. This is also a breach of the liquor permit and clubs could be fined or lose the licence.
The meeting heard that there had been some ambiguity with the current rules and process regarding serving of alcohol at GWG competitions. It was agreed the rules will be reviewed and presented to the next delegates meeting in October. The meeting agreed that the player code of conduct should be signed by all players once a year to ensure that they understand the expectations of all players and officials.
Rachel Ronaldson, GippSport spoke about the Play Well Latrobe project which was provided as part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Funding. The funding was received by Latrobe City and aims to increase female participation in golf, AFL and Soccer across the clubs in Latrobe City.
Ronaldson advised that all grants available in the State are listed on the GippSport website and she encouraged clubs to take advantage of them. GippSport is happy to help clubs if they require any help identifying suitable grants.
Chris Crabbe, Golf Australia, commented that he was delighted to see the level of engagement of clubs across West Gippsland and how well they are working together. The meeting heard that two clubs are in the process of developing Strategic Plans with the assistance of Golf Australia and others are considering it.
Crabbe advised the group that many districts are struggling with low volunteer numbers to fill committee positions and that GA has developed a proposal to look at a potential restructure of the regions across Victoria. The meeting was advised that all districts and clubs have received this information officially. If this were to go ahead it may mean Gippsland (East, West and South) would merge into one district. Golf Australia will present and discuss the proposal at the October GWG meeting of club Delegates.
