Edition 23 - May 2025
A message from the Club President
Welcome to Winter Season 2025 – Let’s Get the Ball Rolling!
We are thrilled to kick off the Winter 2025 season. As always, pulling everything together has been a mammoth effort — but thanks to our incredible community, we are ready to hit the courts running.
This season, the Wattle Park Saints will be fielding 63 teams across Monday, Friday and Saturday competitions, with nearly 500 athletes shooting the lights out this season. That is no small feat!
A massive shoutout goes to our Age Group Coordinators – Felipe Marin, Elyssia Clark, Paul Kneebone, and Glen Hewer – who tackled the complex puzzle of team formation with tireless dedication. Balancing requests and placements is no easy task, and we are grateful for their efforts in making it all happen.
If you have ever thought about supporting the Club more actively, now is a perfect time! The hard work of Winter team setup is done, making it an ideal time to shadow an AGC and learn the ropes. Reach out if you are interested – we would love to have you on board.
It was fantastic to see so many members at our recent AGM and Summer 2024–25 Presentation Day. It was a great way to
wrap up a successful season and welcome our new Committee:
Shayne La Combre – President
Ellen Grouios – Club Secretary
John Hearn – Treasurer
Scott Monkhouse – Registrar
Graeme Kelly – General
Elyssia Clark – General / AGC
Ayshwaru Babu – Uniforms
Megan McMahon – Communications
Special congratulations to Fleur Kelly, who was recognized for an incredible career of over 500 games and her ongoing contribution through coaching. Fleur climbed the stairs so many times to collect awards, we were worried about her hamstrings! Thank you, Fleur – you are a true inspiration.
It was wonderful to also thank David Winter of Breadstreet Bakery for his generation of support to our Club. How do you adequately acknowledge someone who has made a lifetime commitment to community service? A man who has devoted himself to seeing others get a better opportunity.
David Winter has been a long contributor to this Club and if you have ever been at a Club BBQ fundraiser, the bread and rolls were not just donated by David but were in fact lovingly made by him. David represents that silent army that operates in the background and just gets on with it. There are 1000s of people who would gladly join with me to say thank you to this man.
David, from all of us – thank you. Your contributions have helped hundreds of players enjoy the sport they love, and your generosity represents the absolute best of what a community can be.
Are you our next David Winter? Could you be the person who steps up to lend a hand in driving our Club’s future?
Volunteering is more important than ever. Whether you are interested in coaching, team management, committee roles, or simply giving an hour or two when you can, your contribution makes a real difference. I see firsthand the impact volunteers have on our athletes – creating a space where kids learn, grow, and feel they belong.
If you are even slightly considering helping, you will be joining a team of passionate people making a real difference and you might even remember that someone once did the same for you.
Wishing all our players, families, and supporters a fantastic Winter 2025 season.
Shayne La Combre
Club President
Go Saints - Brave, True, One
In this edition
Summer 2024/2025 Coaches award winners, Milestone Achievers and Perpetual Trophy winners.
Support the Nunawading Spectres, and grab your free game day tickets!
Donate Your Old Uniform
Team Managers' WhatsApp Channel
Hoodies on sale
Dates to remember
Summer 2024/2025 Coaches award winners, Milestone Achievers and Perpetual Trophy winners.
Thank you to our wonderful Saints families for coming along to another terrific Presentation Day on 27 April. It was fabulous to see so many families and players come together to celebrate the end of the season, to cheer on their teammates and, of course, to enjoy some delicious pizza! Huge shout-out to our mates at Pizza Republica in Surrey Hills for those yummy pizzas that were demolished in record time!
And a massive thank you to all our incredible helpers for making the afternoon run so smoothly.
Congratulations to all award winners!
Monday Girls
9.1 Emma Landy
11.1 Andriana Mackieson
15.1 Swathy Jayasanker
17.1 Scarlett Tierney
Friday Boys
8.1 Ted Nguyen
8.2 Lenard Yuncken
9.1 Sridatta Xiao
9.2 Harvey Parkinson
9.3 Charlie Kost
11.1 Jasper McCarthy
11.2 Patrick Jobling
11.3 Thomas Wynehoven
11.4 Tripp Teoh
11.5 Carson Loh
11.6 Angus Matthews
11.7 Flynn Perera
11.8 Jordan Clark
11.9 Levi Else
13.1 Jayden Tan
13.2 Blake Mills
13.3 Patrick Prior
13.4 Bentley Lockhart
13.5 Liam Newell
13.6 George Rowe
13.7 Nathan Roso
15.1 Darcy Stringer
15.2 Rafael Marin
15.3 Lucas Tian
15.4 Lachlan You
17.2 Nicholas Steer
17.4 Rahin Jindani
17.5 Luke Harper
19.3 Archie Watson
19.6 Ayrton Lepp
Saturday - Girls
9.1 Matilda Casey
11.1 Evelyn Strahan
11.2 Katerina Kosmopoulos
11.3 Calista Dumbleton
11.4 Tess Lan
11.5 Edwina Hausseger
13.1 Jamie Doman
13.2 Emily Sharpe
13.3 Amelie Greenland
15.1 Emily Thorburn
15.2 Anjyelika Marjanguli
15.3 Alice Mackinnon
17.1 Fleur Kelly
Saturday - Boys
9.1 Charlie McKechnie
9.2 Daniel Saw
11.1 Leon Swan
11.2 Jacob Pratt
11.3 Oliver Kan
13.1 Jensen Lan
13.2 Khalil Copp
13.3 Leo Barrows
13.4 Oscar Tang
13.5 Ethan Walker
13.6 Lachie Clark
15.1 Tom Marks
15.2 Alex Willenberg
15.3 Jordan Duong
15.4 Christian Fisher
15.5 Sam Tzortzis
15.6 Josh Dulmanis
15.7 Tom Glass
17.1 Max McArdle
17.2 Cash Tobin
17.3 Jacob Gillespie
17.4 Oliver Goldwater
17.5 Archer Singleton
Game Milestone Recipients
Congratulations to the following players for their loyalty to the Wattle Park Saints:
100 Game Recipients
Samantha Bergin
Jamie Dolman
Kian Jayalath
Edmond Longworth
Royy Mathur
Liam Newell
Tyler Ardern
Lachlan Santamaria
Amber Summerbell
Aurelia Szonyi
Hannah Tran
Thomas Bamberry
Hattie Campbell
Benjamin Christie
Rick Clarkson
Raden Evans
Levi Frost
Athan Gilopidis
Sophie Golubenko
Janna Granzow
Aston Te
Amelie Greenland
Oscar Greenland
William Gregory
Maggie Greig
Yuna Hartney
Hudson Hillier
Jarrel Hng
London Jackson-Fleurus
Jackson Lambert
Grace Lewison
Orlagh Murray
Annie O’Connell
Zoe O’Dwyer
Julia Pappas
Arian Prasad
Samuel Scaddon
Emily Sharpe
Olivia Skidmore
Maxwell Taylor
Evan Van Der Heyden
Leo Wealands
Eliza Whiteoak
Haoran Xia
Jayven Yeoa
200 Game Recipients
Thomas Farchione
Dean Pappas
Mylo Perera
Ruby Stanaway
Oliver Goldwater
William Greenland
Caleb Lambert
Xavier Neilson
John Orr
Sam Perry
Archer Singleton
400 Game Recipients
Isla Hewer
Rose Mackinnon
500 Games Recipients
Fleur Kelly
Summer Season 2024-2025 Junior Coaching Award
Gabriel Armanyous - Friday Boys 13.2
Perpetual Trophy winners
At the end of each summer season, we award Perpetual trophies. Congratulations to the following winners.
DEIDRE WILLIAM TROPHY
This trophy is awarded to a female who has played in Under 16s within the past 12 months. The recipient of this trophy has shown high levels of commitment to the Club by:
· being a good ambassador for the Club on and off the court;
· has assisted in coaching formally or in supporting the team coach;
· has achieved a high level of playing.
2025 Winner: Hannah Tran
DAVID HODGES TROPHY
This trophy is awarded to a senior (U17-U21) boy or girl. The recipient of this award has displayed to a high level some of the following qualities:
· had a long-playing career with the Club e.g. playing since U10s;
· been a good ambassador for the Club on and off the court;
· has sought to support the Club e.g., coaching, volunteering for Club activities, active in recruiting players or team formation.
2025 Winner: Fleur Kelly
KATE FREESTONE TROPHY
This trophy is to be awarded to a junior boy or girl player at the club, aged 12 -19 years old. The award is for a player who has shown great determination and club spirit in their playing. It does not necessarily have to be an exceptional player. The recipient of this award has displayed to a high level some of the following qualities:
· highly coachable and wanting to learn;
· been a good ambassador for the Club on and off the court;
· they may have overcome an obstacle or injury to keep playing;
· they may have been a great contributor at training and games.
2025 Winner: John Orr
COACHING SERVICE AWARD TROPHY
This trophy is awarded to a coach who has dedicated many seasons of coaching to the Club.
The recipient of this award has displayed to a high level some of the following qualities:
· been a good ambassador for the Club on and off the court;
· has sought to develop our players individually and help them achieve all they can in the sport;
· help develop team spirit and valuing every players’ contribution;
· instilling the Club values and promote the Wattle Park Way.
2025 Winner: Ben Beard
RICKY MITCHELL SERVICE AWARD
This trophy is awarded for many seasons of service dedicated to the Club and community. The recipient of this award has displayed to a high level some of the following qualities:
· been active in the off-court activities of the Club;
· been a good ambassador for the Club on and off the court;
· has held a key office of the Club (Committee, AGC, TM or other);
· or been a strong support to one of the key roles;
· sought to promote and build the Club;
· exhibited the Club values and promote the Wattle Park Way
2025 Winner: Sally Marks
We have a selection of photos from the event below.
Free game day tickets!
Come and cheer on the Nunawading Spectres on 31 May 2025!
Nunawading Basketball has kindly offered us 100 free tickets for the upcoming Nunawading Spectres v Frankston!
GAME DETAILS
Nunawading Spectres v Frankston
DATE: Saturday 31 May 2025
TIME: Women’s: Tipoff 5:30pm
Men’s: Tipoff 7:30pm (tickets include access to ALL games on the day)
VENUE: Nunawading Basketball Centre Court 1
If you’d like tickets, please send an email to info@wattleparksaints.org.au – first in, best dressed! Ellen, Club Secretary, will contact you when tickets are ready for distribution, they are currently being allocated.
The upcoming NBL1 season has kicked off! This season, they have created an Intix discount code for our club so any members purchasing tickets can receive 10% discount. Tickets to all games can be purchased via the link below, or by searching Nunawading Spectres from the Intix home page.
https://www.intix.com.au/org/nunawading-spectres
Use the 10% discount code: SAINTS25
Wanted: Your Old Saints Uniforms!
Do you have an outgrown or unwanted Saints Uniform sitting in your cupboard? Then donate it to the Club for reuse! Your old singlet or shorts can be added to our loan stock which assists to kit-out new players while they wait for their uniform to arrive from the manufacturer.
Contact Ellen at info@wattleparksaints.org.au or 0427971870 to organise dropping off your old gear.
Team Managers' WhatsApp Channel
Are you a Team Manager this season? Be sure to join the Team Managers' WhatsApp group to keep up- to- date with Club news, to ask any questions you might have and to seek fill-ins. Click the link below or contact Ellen, Club Secretary, on 0427971870 to join.
Hoodies on sale
Warm up this winter with a Wattle Park Saints Hoodie! Grab one today! Buy one for $45, down from $65.
Our Sponsors
We are very grateful to our sponsors – thanks to these sponsors, we have been able to provide top-notch coaching and development, along with coaching kits to our young aspiring Junior coaches in our community. This support has not only improved their confidence, leadership and basketball skills but also instills valuable life lessons around teamwork, discipline, perseverance. It's heartening to see this positive impact and how sponsorship makes a difference.
Thank you to our season sponsors
Community Bank Inner East: We are thrilled to announce a partnership with the Community Bank Inner East, and would like to thank Community Bank Inner East for their support. Over $9.5 million dollars has been invested in the local community since 2003. This, and many other projects in our local community may not have happened without this support. We encourage you to consider the Community Bank for your banking needs.
Pizza & donuts : 668 Canterbury Rd Surrey Hills. www.pizzarepublica.com.au
The Prefurred Groomer: https://theprefurredgroomer.com.au/
ABAX Accounting: Contact John Hearn jehearn@hotmail.com
PICAC: A unique industry-led training centre with campuses located in Brunswick, Geelong and Narre Warren Contact: info@picac.edu.au
Camberwell IGA : 1401 Toorak Road Camberwell
Everything's Connected Progressive Osteopathy
734 Riversdale Road Camberwell
International Sports Camps: https://iscamps.com.au/
Benetas is a leading not-for-profit provider of residential aged care, retirement living, respite, in-home and community services.
Share your game day pictures
We would love to receive any game pictures from our Monday, Friday and Saturday Teams, so we can celebrate the players, coaches and WPS community in Halo and on our Facebook & Instagram pages.
We’re always on the lookout for any pictures of our players in action. You can send these to us at info@wattleparksaints.org.au or through Facebook (WattleParkSaints) using Messenger.
Make sure you let us know a little about the match and the players.
Close Action shots are great, team shots with Coaches are even better!
Dates for the diary
King’s Birthday: Saturday 7 June – no games, Monday 9 June – no games
Last Monday night game before School Holidays: Monday 30 June
Last Friday night game before School Holidays: Friday 4 July
Last Saturday game before School Holidays: Saturday 5 July
Mid- Season Break: 6 July – 18 July
Games Resume from Saturday 19 July
*Fixture has not yet been confirmed, dates and rounds are subject to change
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