VV wish to inform the entire Victorian Volleyball community of a very unfortunate yet serious incident that occurred at the end of the recent AVJC in Perth on Saturday 10 July 2010. Six members of the U19 Women’s Blue team choose (sic), against the terms of their pre signed athlete agreement, to consume alcohol during their final dinner prior to their Melbourne return flight.
This behavior is totally unacceptable to VV and is in direct breach of both State Government State Sporting Association Funding guidelines in relation to Drugs and Alcohol as well as Federal laws pertaining to the consumption of Alcohol by minors in a public space.
Download the full media release
I wonder if/when we will hear this from some of the other states?
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ouch.
wow, that is amazing
these incidents aren’t new, but this is the first time i’ve seen it dealt with in such an up-front manner.
I remember people who were caught drinking were scratched from a beach tournament the day they turned up to it. But a media release definitely takes transparency to a new level.
What do people think about the sanctions? Would it be more appropriate to ban them from next years competition rather than penalising their state league teams?
I know there is a athlete agreement. but if the players are over 18, and the competition had finished is there really any harm done?
if they are under 18 there is a difference, but if it is legal for the players to drink, it should be ok. Especially if it is after the tournament.
V V and the coaches / managers have a resposibility until the players move out of their care – that is back in melbourne.
The players have a signed agreement that is in affect until the players are back in Melbourne.
This agreement is no different to what would be expected on a school excursion. It’s all about duty of care etc.
The “drinkers” don’t have a “leg to stand on”. They knowingly took a rest and now face the consequences.
Good on you V V.
I don’t have a comment on the sanctions as I don’t know the situation, but I think it is important to remember that all athletes play in a variety of AVF sanctioned events (from National team through to State Junior Leagues). Thinking of things in isolation is not appropriate as they are all linked.
When I read that we had a media release I thought what an over reaction.
When I read that they had been banned from playing State League and not from representing the State I thought what a poor decision.
When I didn’t read anything about what sanctions the respective Coaches were to receive a number of thoughts went through my mind.
Maybe I have too many thoughts?
I think we need to remember that there would be a corporate agreement between VVI and drug aware programs (similar to WA perhaps?) that would involve financial transactions. Something like this is likely to severely hamper the relationship between VVI and drug aware programs, and when money is involved, things like this have to be dealt with properly and in this case publicly.
As for the ‘no harm no foul’ style of reasoning, I don’t agree. You are representing your state for the entirity of the tournament and subsequent team functions.
There are some states that actually make it explicitly clear to their Under 23 athletes that the national championships finishes on the final day of competition, they are not to stay at the same accomodation, and they are not representing their state any longer, thus allowing them to do as they please (providing they do not go against standard social interactions, I’m sure…).
There is no way an under 19 team should be allowed to be drinking in my opinion though, because even if some members are of age, there should be a commitment to solidarity in the team that all members are together and behave the same way.
If you signed an agreement saying “I will not consume alcohol”, it seems a bit stupid to complain when you get pulled up on it. Murph is right, there’d be all sorts of PR problems for Volleyball Victoria and their sponsors if this wasn’t dealt with harshly.
They couldn’t just wait for Unigames and get their drunken Volleyball dosage there?
I’m sure some are too young for uni…
and i’m guessing it will be a bit much for a number of players who payed AJVC to be able to afford a second trip to perth…
By ‘wait’, I meant ‘wait until they get to uni and go to unigames’.
Or hell, just wait until you get home and then drink as much as you like.
There’s really no excuse for this kind of behaviour, not only have you signed an agreement but what sort of message are you sending to those up & coming players? It doesn’t matter if you’re of age, if you’re there representing your state, then that’s what’s you’re expected to do the entire time! Should their respective League clubs be penalised, possibly not. In my opinion the 2 aren’t related so that does seem a bit harsh, maybe doing some volunteer work for VV would be more appropriate?
Why shouldn’t their club teams be punished? If it happened in a state league game (or something similar…) i’d expect them to be banned from playing state, or national team for that matter.
Do the crime you do the time, the people who are ‘punishing’ the club teams are the players who did the wrong thing.
Where was the Team Manager or coach when this was happening? As a parent when I send my under 18 child (which some of the Under 19s were) on interstate volleyball trips I expect that they will be supervised. Perhaps if the Team Manager/Coach wasnt with them, a not so subtle reminder to them about the agreement would have come in handy.
Perhaps a ‘not so subtle reminder’ from their parents might have done the trick too! I am sure that the coaches would feel betrayed by the actions of the players, and can hardly be accountable if the players have chosen to ignore a declaration that they all signed. It is always someone else’s fault these days isn’t it!
I heard someone say that it was with the insistence of the parents of some of the girls concerned that the tribunal result be reported as a media release.
Won’t somebody please think of the children?!
I agree Volleymum. When parents pay over inflated fees for their children to represent their State the least the parents should expect is effective supervision.
This was not just one player this was half the team!! It wasn’t as if one or two players slipped away.Why weren’t they reminded of their signed obligation?Why weren’t they requested to report back on an ongoing basis? Why wasn’t the ringleader (as most teams have one) taken aside and told how much rope they have? Who was checking up on them?
Since representative teams have been representing some members,when given an inch,have taken a mile!
I am completely amazed that the Media release has nothing in it about the sanctions placed on the Coaching staff.
Or, you know, the girls could be responsible for their own actions.
Crazy, I know.
Can’t disagree with that, Mark.
WA had a similar ‘event’ at an AJVC warm up event in 2009. Players were subsequently banned by VWA for a variety of sentences (ranging from 1 week to 8 weeks iirc) from State League games and training with their State team. VWA also staggered the suspensions so that club teams with multiple suspended players could still field sides, which i applauded.
Although I thought the punishment was mostly fair, I believe the unfair part was that the players were still able to partivipate in the AJVC and AVL teams despite this happening 3 months before the AJVC tournament. So effectively it was only the club teams that were hurt by the suspensions. VWA even staggered a suspension around an AVL round, so one of the WA players could participate despite being suspended for the week before and the week following (2 week suspension).
kids will be kids!
it would not surprise me if all the other states u19 teams were drinking to!
I remember doing it when i played, and honestly if you 17 and want to have a few drinks with your team after a tough week… then in my books, go for it because you deserved it
cant speak for the other states, but I know for a fact that the SA u19 girls were definately not drinking.
Amos, prepare to be surprised then, all SA teams were clean.
No one ‘deserves’ to break their code of conduct form and break the law in my opinion…
eight 18 year old women were allowed to walked across the street to go eat at a Maccas together and be back in 45 minutes. On the way they thought it would be cool and fun to grab a bottle of vodka from the IGA and have a drink. Returned to the meeting point 45 min later no worse for wear alcohol secured in their Maccas cups. 2 hrs later at the airport they were found to have smelled of alcohol and were questioned. They told the truth that 6 of the eight had a drink and they were subsequently delt with.The mistake made by the coaches was trusting their athletes to be professional, act responsably, and do the right thing. I dont think any coach could have imagined their athletes acting in this mannor as well as taking advantage of their trust to just walk across the street to Maccas to get dinner. If we wanna drink we’ll find a way to do it. It doesnt matter who’s around dont kid yourself. What made it wrong was that they signed a contract not to drink not that they were under age.
See in SA, we ban Maccas… Then this stuff doesn’t happen!
None of this surprises me. Watching the Gruen Transfer last night which was all about alcohol awareness campaigns, it’s clear that this isn’t a volleyball problem, sports problem or even a youth problem. Bad drinking culture and behavior is just socially ingrained in anglophone cultures. You are right, intheknow, that people will find a way to drink if they want to. And in anglophone cultures, they want to pretty often.
not only anglophone…
A real pity. The coaches will no longer be able to trust their players to do the right thing, and parents (such as Alan, above) will demand that the coaches continually monitor their kids 24/7 so that this sort of thing can never happen again.
Sometimes the blame can be placed on the supervision, sometimes purely on the kids. This is definitely the latter.
Again, what a pity. I predict future Victorian state teams won’t be thanking these girls for ruining it for them.
And it will be harder to get people to coach / manage teams. These people need a little time to themselves over the week too. Now they are going to have to be supervising ALL of the time. I won’t be volunteering.
well playing for SA sounds like a chore rather than fun!
what gives you the right to ban 18 year olds from eating maccas and drinking on the last night!
as long as they are not wearing volleyball victoria clothing then it should be fine
The maccas was a joke, but we do provide our players with alternative foods so they don’t eat junk…
“What gives you the right to ban 18 year olds from drinking” – its an national sporting event! Players, coaches, referees and officials get checked to ensure sobriety in all kinds of competitions. If you don’t like it, then you don’t sign the form, and you don’t play!
SA kids seem to have a good time… We get good feedback.
i didnt see the canadian womens ice hockey team be suspended for anything after they won gold and were drinking beer on the ice!
if these girls are over 18 then they are adults and deserve to be treated as such!
drinking before a game and practice is rediculous but the state organisations cant be so controlling that they ban adults from drinking after the tournament has finished, under 18 yes there should be regulations… but if you are over 18 then after the tournament its game on
And what makes this worse is that 3 under 19 girls are in the team for AVL this weekend. Shame on you Volleyball Vic for allowing suspended girls to play. Makes a mockery out of having rules, just so these immature kids get to play. I never want to be part of a Victorian team again.
Its typical. Volleyball athletes at a high level just get a slap across the wrist. A girl in Qld lost the right to play AVL in Perth because she did a rude gesture at an international game and then stupidly posted it on facebook. Other girls were in the photo, but they just got read the riot act. The same girl then continued to play AJVC. Play for Australia and forget the rules. Thats how it seems to me.
thats because the idea of competitive sports is to win!
I dont think Volleyball Vic has any say over AVL
It does have a say on what its registered players can play in, dont give us that old chestnut
Intheknow is right Steve, the AVF would have to ban them from AVL as I understand it. That or the team they play for would have to stand up.
That said, I remember having beers after winning gold in under 17′s! A different era though…
Either way, I wouldn’t want to coach a junior team these days given the potential risks. Do the associations provide the coaches with indemnity insurance?