Inside this issue:
Presidents Report	1
Committee	2
Flaming Chalice	3
Treasurer Report	3
Awards	3
V-League	4
Calendar	4

Web Pages

We are starting work on redeveloping the web pages so if you have any ideas you would like to share on the look and content, please let Dave Kelly know. He will add these ideas/suggestions to the ones suggested at the AGM and take them to the next web review meeting.

President’s Report

Welcome to Dragons 13th year.  I hope you are all ready to play some volleyball in the year 2000 (end of the millennium, start of GST).

   At the moment there is lots happening out of the office here preparing for this year. Alongside all the normal preparations we have some new things on our plate. This year we are looking to sign on a car yard chain as a sponsor and are now just finalising which car yard to settle. So hopefully by next edition we will have another sponsor on line. Please remember that sponsors only stay interested as long as there are sales/interest generated from their sponsorship so you can help out by at least contacting sponsors when interested in buying appropriate products (whether or not you finally purchase is of course up to you). Don't forget to mention that you were directed to the sponsor by Dragons Volleyball. Our current sponsor is Touchbase Communications, which sells internet access for about $1 per hour (phone: 3376 9517) and we will announce the car yard sponsor when the decision is made.

   No doubt you will read the details about State Championships and the Australian Masters elsewhere in this newsletter. I encourage players to consider the trip (either to Townsville or Sunshine Coast) as both events hold some history with our Club. In the Masters we were ranked 9th in the world in both mens and womens masters (way back in 1994) and would like to see teams fielded.

   Now to plead for some consideration. Work is very heavy from all directions at the moment and I would appreciate any help we can get our hands on, particularly at committee level.  There are however some areas that everyone can help with, namely the following issues:-

   Balls: Balls cost $50-$60 and we need to take more care of them. Often after a training there are two or three balls left under stages, behind curtains, even outside and a few people are left to find them.  Everybody should help bring all the equipment back into the ball bags before leaving, this will help a lot.

   Tournaments: Let us know you want to go, and whether you need accommodation and/or transport. You can let us know by e-mail or by phone, don't leave it up to us to chase you. Chasing up people costs us time and money, its another expense we would like to cut down on and you can help us greatly by chasing us.  Also, if you say you're going to go to a tournament you can expect to pay for it whether you go or not.  The club still incurs the costs even if you don't show up and the rest of the team will feel the pain if you unexpectedly leaves us in the lurch. Please let us know as soon as possible if you can no longer make it to a tournament, we haven't had to forfeit yet and we don't want to.

   Registration: Please get your registration forms (for Dragons) filled out and returned with the payment as soon as possible. This issue is important for us (teams forfeit if players are found not to be registered) and for you (insurance does not cover unregistered players).

   Payments: Please make sure you pay any moneys owed to the club as soon as possible and make sure the person writing the receipt knows what you are paying for (this makes it much easier for you to follow your player statements).

   Enjoy Yourselves: Don't ever forget that volleyball is fun. Whether you play at the ultra serious/semi serious or just for fun. Not all things work out every time (everybody has a bad day), be tolerant of newer players learning the ropes (we were all there once or twice).  The most important aspect of people having a good time is your own attitude to what you do. Personally, I want to play as hard as I can and enjoy the game. Winning is a pleasant bonus, defeat happens to all teams bar one at any event.  If you play well and learn something, you have achieved.

   Live long and play hard.  See you on court.

The President.

Premier League

Premier League pre season training will continue on Tuesday nights at MacGregor High School Hall at 7pm. We are looking at entering 1 A grade and 2 Reserve grade mens teams, and A grade and Reserve grade women’s teams. If we succeed  in this, we will hold training on the Wednesday night at 7pm as well. We are fortunate in having excellent coaching staff in Russell Bourgeaud and Paul Gaffney for the Men and Owen Bavin and Andrew McCosh for the Women. Teams will be finalised in the very near future, so if you want to get into a team, get to training.

Committee

The AGM is over and the new committee is a bit sparse. The committee is:

Position	Person
President	Dave Kelly
Vice-President	Andrew McCosh
Treasurer	Gary Smith
Coaching Director	Owen Bavin
Social Convener	Michelle Norris
News Letter Editor	Brad Smith
Web Editor	Dean Bielanowski

Metro League

Metro League currently has 4 mens and 2 womens teams playing Monday nights at ANZ Stadium. This allows us to cater for a range of skills levels, so if you want to become involved, contact us now.

    This current season ends March 27 and the new season commences April 10. We  need to know if you are interested in playing  in the next season before March 31.

    The updated draw for the current competition is on our  web page at  http://www.dragons.org.au/metrodraw.html.

    Metro training is available at 2 locations over 2 nights: MacGregor High School Hall on Wednesday nights  at 7pm, and Brisbane Boys College on Thursday nights at 6:30pm

Referees Course

QVA are runing a referees course over two Wednesday nights on March 8 at Sports House,  Milton (Theory) and on Match 15 at Hendra High School (Practical).  Both nights will run from  6:00pm - 9:30pm and the cost is $35 (if you are registered).  This accreditation qualifies you to get paid for refereeing such events as Metro League. If you are interested you must contact "Ellen Rosmale-Cocq" at QVA offices  61-7-33671991

Junior Development

Our Junior development program kicks off on Wednesday 1 March at MacGregor High School (Wadley St entrance) from 5pm - 7pm (just before the adult training). If you know of anyone in the  12 - 16 year age group get them to contact us (or just come along). Cost is $3 per session and players must register at least as local members ($25).  It will be greatly appreciated if anyone can help us advertise this program or even help out with the coaching.

State Titles

State Championships are being held in Townsville over the Easter weekend this year (April 21-24).  We are currently planning to organise a bus to transport us all there.  Costs are yet to be determined and we would appreciate someone to help organise this event for us.  We are currently the defending champions in both divisions in the men and were runners up in both divisions in the women. So come along and be a part of this years state championships. Let us know as soon as possible.

Editors Note

You may notice some slight changes in this newsletter compared with previous editions.         This is because the Editor believes that the club membership has moved on from needing  pictures on every page to keep them interested, to more sophisticated and discerning readers, who care more about content. However if you disagree with this, please let me know and I will start putting the pictures back in.

State Squads

Four Dragons members attended the Junior Pirates camp in January and were selected in State Squads.

    Viki Ling won the Best Digger/Defensive player and was selected in the U17 squad.

    Andrew Ewan won the Best All Rounder and was selected in the U19 squad along with David Swan and Bradley Smith.

    Felicity O’Neill and Penny Goldfinch were also selected in State squads and have since joined the Dragons.

    Congratulations to all Dragons players selected in State squads. It is encouraging to see such depth of talent in the club.

Treasurers Report

The 1999 financial results showed a Deficit of approximately $6,917 for the year. The primary reason for this was the write-off of $4,700 in bad debts. A sub-committee of the club put in a lot of work to reduce our debtors balance by $11,000 over the year and the write-off was recognition of the fact that some of the debts were not recoverable.

    It does mean that all members of the club need to honour their financial obligations, in order for the club to remain viable.

   Another significant reason for our deficit was the increase in workload of our Administration Assistant as she performs more of the work that would have been performed by members in the past. However we still retain a healthy bank balance of $15,955 as we move into 2000.

    Significant impacts on our 2000 financial position will be the reduction of player’s fees for PVL down to $250, and the impost of the GST which will see most costs rise by 10%.

    To counter these negative impacts, we hope to increase our members numbers by resurrecting the Social Competition, and entering more teams into the Metro and PVL competitions. We are also seeking  more involvement of members in the administration of the club to cut down on these costs.

  If you are able to assist in any way, please come forward. The club can only remain strong if it is financially viable.

Dragons Awards for 1999

After long and arduous deliberations by the judges, the 1999 Dragons awards have been determined. These deliberations are shrouded in controversy, with many contentious awards being made. Rumours of deals being made and money changing hands are rife within the club, so if you come across a strange decision being made during 2000, then you will know the basis for that decision  will be a payback for the following awards. Any criticisms and comments about these awards will gratefully be accepted, and may form the nucleus of our next newsletter. Some feedback from the membership, however stupid and inconsequential, is better than none.

Club Member of the Year……………..	David Kelly
Fund Raiser of the Year ……………...	Michelle Norris
Coach of the Year……………………..	Owen Bavin
Best and Fairest -Club (Men)………...	Russell Borgeaud
Best and Fairest -Club (Women)…….	Judy Pacholke
Most Improved - Club (Men)………….	Brad Smith
Most Improved - Club (Women)……..	Vicki Ling
Best & Fairest Junior (Men)…………..	David Swan
Best & Fairest Junior (Women)………	Rebecca Shaw
Referee of the Year……………………	Ray Kemp
Enthusiasm Award…………………….	Michelle Norris
Best Pickup of Year …………………..	Shamous Slayt
Golden Brick Award…………………..	Tim Clark
Best Six-pack Delivered………………	Ken Thomson
Best Six-pack Received………………	Michelle Norris
The Invisible Man……………………...	Chris Goakes
Benedict Arnold Award……………….	Beth Aisthorpe
Dean Brothers Award…………………	Chris Kelly
The Best Cringe……………………….	Owen Bavin
The Crucifixion Award………………..	Brad Smith
Brain Fade Award……………………..	Alix Kwan
The Rudolph Narea Award…………...	David Swan
The Mr Sheen Award…………………	David Kelly
The Megaphone Award………………	Tim Clark
The Leyland Brothers Award…………	Ken Thomson
The Tightrope Award………………….	Dean Bielanowski
Tourist Award…………………………..	David Kelly
Fishermans Award…………………….	Ben Cooper
Conductor Award………………………	Chris Goakes

Survey Results

Towards the end of the year a survey of members was undertaken to try and gain some insight to the direction members wanted the club to go in.

    From the 150 members of the club, 13 survey forms were submitted. While this could not be construed to be representative of the club, it still yielded some significant findings.

    The survey revealed that the highest priorities for members are the provision of training and coaching, with good administration being seen as very important. However most members put assisting with the administration of the club as very low in level of importance.

  Full details of the survey results are available on request. If you have any advice for the club, please talk to your committee.

Masters Tournament

The Australian Masters is on the same weekend as State Championships (namely April 21-24). Obviously the organisers feel that us Masters aren't good enough to play in the state championships!  If you are over 30 in the men or over 25 in the women and you aren't going to the State Championships and would like to play over the Easter weekend let us know. The cost to play is $85 each and the event is to be played in Caloundra. (so if you want us to organise accommodation let us know that as well).

Powerball Competition

Dragons Volleyball will be running a new season of the Powerball Raffle starting  Thursday 2/03/2000.

   This is a good fundraiser for the club and money from this competition will help keep our playing costs down.

   For those of you who are not sure of what it is, here are some details. 

    Each person pays $1 per week to reserve a number between 1 and 45 for five or ten week blocks (i.e. minimum cost to play is $5).  Only one person can have each number, but a person may have more than one number.  There are still lots of numbers left.

    Each week, the winning number is the Thursday night powerball number (Thursday night lotto).  The person holding that number wins $20. 

Contact Michelle Norris to enter.
Email: Michelle.Norris@boral.com.au

This space has been reserved for your comments, input, criticisms, advice, queries, questions, discussions, feedback etc.

Any feedback on the newsletter would be especially appreciated.

Eg. In the men’s Premier League teams, the Queensland system of setting calls has been adopted. Should this system be adopted across all teams in the Club or do we run with two different systems. Your call.

Dragons Event Calendar

PVL training	MacGregor State High	Tuesday, 7pm
Metro training	MacGregor State High	Wednesday, 7pm
Metro training	Brisbane Boys College	Thursday, 6:30pm
Junior development	MacGregor State High	Wednesday, 5pm
Referees training	Milton	8 & 15 March
V-League round 2	Toowoomba	11-12 March
V-League round 3	Cairns	18-19 March
QVA AGM	Brisbane	25-26 March
Metro Summer Finals	ANZ stadium	27 March
Premier League round 1	Boondall	31 March
Metro Winter begins	ANZ stadium	10 April
State Championships	Townsville	21-24 April
Masters Championship	Caloundra	21-24 April
Flaming Chalice	Boondal	29/30 April, 1 May
V-League round 4	Mackay	13-14 May
V-League round 5	Beenleigh	27-28 May
V-League round 6	Rockampton	10-12 June
V-League round 7	Gold Coast	24-25 June
V-League round 8	Maryborough	15-16 July
V-League round 9	Townsville	29-30 July
V-League round 10	Bundaberg	19-20 August
V-League round 11	Cairns	21-22 October
V-League round 12	Gympie	28-29 October
Asia-Pacific Masters Games	Gold Coast	28-30 October
Jacaranda Festival	Grafton	5-6 Nov (tentative)
V-League round 13	Gladstone	11-12 November
V-League Finals	Noosa	25-26 November
Good Neighbour Tour	Canberra	Late November