Thank you to everyone for your patience. We cannot thank you enough for waiting while we assess this new world we find ourselves in. It has been extremely tough finding our way when things are constantly changing. On a day to day basis we are assessing and reassessing what we can in the best interest of our club, our members and the wider community.

On the 24th March Hockey Australia release a new statement. Hockey Australia have cancelled all National Championships for 2020 but have re-emphasised a commitment to local competitions taking place.

Your Committee has been working hard to formulate a plan and to get answers to some of your burning questions.

The big one on everyone’s mind is no doubt fees and club finances in general. Kalahockey is lucky to be in a relatively strong financial position. We will take a big hit, but we will survive.

Advice from HockeyWA is still that the season will commence after the 31st May. If you are not currently registered but still want to play this season please contact our Registrars, Amber for Seniors and Judith for Juniors. Once the 2020 season dates are confirmed we will provide updates for revised season fees.

We also want to look after our Kalafamily. If anyone is experiencing hardships, financial or otherwise, please let us know. We will do what we can to help each other.

In line with other hockey facilities and government requirements, training will now be paused until at least late April. Our club room is closed and the City of Kalamunda have turned off the field lighting for all Hartfield Park.

We have been in touch with the coaches we already have and have asked them to develop some training routines that can be done in isolation so we can maintain our skills. Leighton and Rusty sent this video around to their players to encourage them to keep their skills up. If you’ve got any good routines, please share them with us through Facebook using #kalahockey or by tagging us or posting on our page.

We are also looking at other ways to engage with our members through virtual means. We’re lucky enough to have a number of our games from last year recorded and are looking at hosting a watch party, where we will broadcast one of them and virtual attendees can interact through a text chat. We’re also looking at a series of KalaChallenges that members can participate in at home. More details of this will be coming soon.

If you have any suggestions about other virtual events we can run, please message our Facebook page or email info@nullkalahockey.org.au.

The situation is still evolving at a great rate of knots and your Committee is continuing to monitor and assess advice on a daily basis. The messages of support that we have received from our members are so uplifting and reflect the love and care we have for all of you. Please stay safe, practice social distancing, if you feel sick, even if you don’t think it is COVID-19, self-isolate, and if you need help ask.

We love you all and will get through this together.

Kalahockey

Earlier today HockeyWA released an updated response to the ongoing Coronavirus COVID-19 situation.

In this update HockeyWA have announced that the start to all competitions and all hockey related events have been postponed until after the 31st May. In further communications to the Committee, HockeyWA has recommended that all clubs do the same.

With that in mind the Executive and the Committee have had many discussions over the last few days about what that looks like for Kalahockey.

It is with sadness that we announce we have cancelled the remainder of our Summer Hockey series as well as the planned Carnival scheduled for Saturday the 21st March. We are also cancelling the Galadent Mouth Guard Clinic scheduled for Thursday the 2nd April.

It is also with sadness that we have chosen to cancel all training until the week commencing 6th April. We will also be closing access to the club rooms until then as well. The Committee is constantly assessing the situation and will advise of any changes to this current plan.

This is not something we have done lightly. As players, coaches and officials we too want to be training, playing and interacting with our Kalafamily.

These are extraordinary times and we want to make sure that the health and safety of our members and the wider public is looked after. We feel the best way we can do that is to limit our exposure and thus limit the spread of this virus.

Our strategy for dealing with the Coronavirus COVID-19 will not end there.The Committee is monitoring the situation and working hard on a plan to help us through the next few months as we come to realise its full impact.

We also know that you’ll have lots of questions. Some of those questions we don’t yet have an answer for, but we will endeavor to find one. We ask at this time that you please channel your questions to the Committee through your player representatives.

• Mens Rep – David Robertson
• Ladies Rep – Courtney Hill
• Masters Rep – Dave Hocken
• Junior Coordinator – BJ O’Reilly

Thank you for your continued love and patience as we work our way through this difficult event, unprecedented in a lot of our lifetimes. We very much appreciate your support.