Director of Competition | Jeremy Goodger

It was a fantastic season for the Woolamai Beach SLSC Competition Team with carnivals on most weekends through January and February and our regular Junior team training sessions on the Island.

We started the season with a focus on encouraging more Nippers to join the Junior Competition Team. With this in mind, we are very proud of our growing team of up to 32 Nippers who represented our club at a number of the Junior Carnivals throughout Victoria. From this group, 22 Nippers qualified and attended the LSV Junior State Championships in Warrnambool.

These Nippers and families who attended the State Champs had a fantastic long weekend of camping and fun, this year back at Warrnambool.

All the training and dedication paid off at the State Champs, with a number of teams who competed making it through to Semi-finals or Finals in numerous events. We had some great results from individuals including Ayden Fawaz achieving second place in the Beach Run.

One of the highlights of the season for me was the composite teams at the Junior State Champs. Over various age groups, Woolamai teamed up with Venus Bay, Inverloch, Aspendale, Elwood, Bon Beach, Carrum, Chelsea, and Williamstown! It was fantastic to see all clubs cheering on their teammates regardless of what club they were from and seeing the friendships develop between our Nippers and the other clubs.

In the second half of 2019, Woolamai competed in the Winter Indoor Pool Competition. Five dedicated Nippers represented the club across the Junior and Senior carnivals with Oscar Goodger-McGrath, Marley Smith, and Willow Goodger-McGrath all achieving Gold medals at the State Championships for the line throw event in their respective age groups. Noah and Marley Smith continued through to represent the state in the Australian titles in Perth where they both came home with bronze medals in team events. As the 2020 Indoor Pool Championships have been cancelled our Indoor Pool superstars will continue as reigning champs this year as well!

This season we also had another couple of our Junior Competition Team parents achieve their bronze medallion. Congratulations to those who have achieved these qualifications, yourselves, and all of the age managers, coaches, IRB crew, and supporters have made the 2019 / 2020 season possible. Thank you.

We are looking forward to a great upcoming 2020 / 2021 summer season.

Jeremy Goodger | Director of Competition