Twenty years ago today...

A group of Stingers OGs met on Oxford Street to discuss forming an LGBTQ+ water polo team to compete in the 2002 Sydney Gay Games. The club didn't have a name, a place to train, or enough people to form a team yet, but the idea of our community started that Saturday afternoon. Also on that day, the number 1 song on the charts was Bootylicious, The Princess Diaries was released in cinemas and L4 player Kaitlin H was born (happy birthday Kaitlin)! 

It's incredible to think that our community started as an idea 20 years ago today and that it is the same age as some of our members. We have an incredibly rich history that has made us who we are, and over the next few months we will be sharing moments and initiatives to remember and honour that history. I think it's safe to say noone was ready for this jelly back then, and today we are still too bootylicious for ya, babe.

As we enter the last month of the 2020-21 club year there is a lot going on. We are looking back at the increasing value of being a Stinger in the last year, preparing for summer and getting back in the water, and creating opportunities for you to stay connected and competitive with teammates, maintain your fitness and improve your skills.

Coming up

• 30 August Club membership is up for renewal - more information will be released over the next 4 weeks so that you can renew and be ready to take advantage of the 3+ training sessions and games weekly, awesome events and supportive community of our club!
• In September we hope we can be back in the water 🤞 We are actively engaged with WPNSW and watching announcements and health advice like hawks! Similar to last year when we returned in short swim and non-contact sessions, as soon as we can return to training in line with restrictions and our COVID-19 plan, we will. Please get vaccinated when you can!
• End September The Club AGM will be held in late September with any official business and speical resolutions to be passed at this time. We will send notifications of the AGM out over the next 6 weeks.
• Until 30 September 2022 Hong Kong Gay Games pre-registration is open! Inspired by the Olympics and ready to make your mark on the Gay Olympics? The Hong Kong Gay Games are planned for Nov 2022 and the Stingers are working out how many teams we send! If you want to get in early, you can pre-register and save on final registration costs today! 
• 10 & 11 October Trivia is rescheduled! Our famous trivia night has been rescheduled to Sunday and Monday, 10 & 11 October. Tickets already purchased have been auto-transferred. Please help us continue to get the word out: trivia is one of our most important revenue raising activities every year, supporting the club maintaining some of the cheapest member fees in Sydney metro.
• 19 & 20 October WPNSW Summer season starts. We hope to be able to be back in the water training, finishing our INTRA.1 comp and holding bootcamp ahead of the summer season start on 19 & 20 October. This will depend on restrictions,

In or out of the water, the club is supporting your skill development

Yesterday we launched a new initiative to support every Stinger's skill development in the most personal way possible. While we are out of the water (so at least for August) we are offering a 30 minute 1:1 session for each Stinger with one of our head coaches. Focused specifically on you we will create a 12 month development plan: understanding your current strengths, weaknesses, goals and intentions and how you can contribute to your teammates to improve yourself and your team. These sessions are aimed at being both pragmatic in outlining how you can improve and strategic for how you can plan and measure your own continuous improvement in the next year and beyond. Given we are not allowed to be in the water together where you would receive feedback and direction alongside your 10-15 teammates in the moment, the club is using this as a chance to give every member focused 1:1 time. How's that for lemonade? 🍋

Sign up for your 1:1 development planning session here >

Member Credits for the 2020-21 year

Looking back on the past 12 months, we really jammed a lot in for members:

• extending the number of weeks we offer training annually by a full month;
• doubling the amount of training opportunity for every Stinger each week with our Sunday all ins;
• providing every Stinger the opportunity to play weekly games through the advent of INTRA;
• starting to train at Gunyama Park with new equipment investments, closer to where most members live; and
• instigating development pathways for officials, refs, coaches and captains.

It was unfortunate that our Winter METRO season and first INTRA season came to an abrupt halt at the end of June, but we really made the most of the time we've had since emerging from last year's lockdowns!

With the extension of Sydney's lockdown until the end of August, it is clear that we will not be back in the water training in person this membership year. As such, the Club Exec is calculating a member credit on next year's fees that will apply at membership renewal. We will use a similar method to last year in calculating this, basing it on the value of lost training and other club investment for each member's development as a result of the restrictions. More info will come out as this credit is finalised.

Bring back my teams!

During the month of August all teams (INTRA and METRO) are competing against one another for the fame and glory of who can do the most steps in the month. The game is simple, inspire your teammates to walk the house down! Prizes for highest individuals and the highest team average per member. We will be publishing leaderboards all month to keep track. In the first 3 days of the month we are already off to a great start! Our top 3 Stingers steppers are Nathan Collett, Emerald Comerford and Pete Michael. Our top 2 teams are L4 Posh Spice and the ICBMs!

Log your steps for each day in August here >

Gogglebox Polo

Over the last month we have been goggleboxing water polo together, with over a third of the club showing up across our Master Class of the 2012 Olympics Stingers match with expert commentators Kayla and Stef and across our 2021 Olympics live watch parties. These have been great opportunities to watch the pros (and some familiar faces to the Stingers) play the sport, with some great tips and tricks for us to try!

See you in the water soon 💦 

Ben Thomas 

Club President

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