top of page

DATE OF ISSUE: 3rd October 2021

NATIONAL CIRCULAR NO. 4 – 2021/2022

MEMORANDUM FOR STATE ASSOCIATIONS

SUBJECT: 2022 AUSTRALIAN DRILLDANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Over the course of the last month or so the DDA Board has had to make some important decisions in areas where our sport has been, and still is being, impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. Whilst some states and regions have only experienced minimal effects from restrictions, other teams, clubs and states have not been able to continue with regular training sessions and many have not been able to return to training sessions yet this season.

The DDA Board made the decision a few weeks ago to extend registration deadlines for two State Associations as the majority of their teams and clubs had not even been in a position to resume for the 2021/2022 season. As they had not been able to commence preliminary training sessions it was virtually impossible to get members and families to commit to registration costs and meet the timeframes when they had not yet had a face-to-face training session.

The past few weeks have seen no dramatic or permanent change to this situation for those same members. Health authorities are suggesting that once a vaccination target has been met some restrictions will be lifted however, the outlook for these same teams and their members may see a return to training not possible until the new year. As many of those teams make up a considerable number of our membership and registered teams the DDA Board has had to consider what the longer-term impacts for these teams, the sport in general and the 2022 Australian DrillDance Championships could look like. If returning to training sessions cannot commence until 2022 then these same teams would be severely disadvantaged if they had to compete only weeks after starting for the season and against other teams that have had no or minimal impacts to their season.

With all of this considered the DDA Board has made the very tough decision to move the 2022 Australian DrillDance Championships from April to the 16th and 17th July 2022. DrillDance South Australia will still host the event and the venue and official accommodation will not change. Moving the event out will allow teams that will not return to training for several more weeks (at best) a more reasonable time frame to gather their members, commit to registrations, achieve routine goals and financially be in a position to enter and attend the 2022 event.

The Board did consider another event like the 2021 Championships however, whilst we know now that this is achievable the first consideration will always be to provide a live event for our teams to showcase their routines before resorting to the state conducted and multi recorded format again.

The circumstances this season are very different. Whilst borders may be open for 2022 and travel in April more achievable than earlier this year, our major consideration is making it fair for our teams and the limited training timeframes that some may have. Some teams that have so far been impacted by the inability to train, have expressed the possibility of not registering this season and this could have the result of a lower number of entries at the Championships. The outcome of this could be to diminish the status of National Champion if entries are limited. 2021 was quite different in that most teams had routines, fundraising and travel arrangements from 2020 to carry over. This season the issue relates to teams that have not yet commenced and therefore, have no routines ready, enormous financial constraints and members not yet committed to the season let alone attending the championships. In fairness to all teams the DDA Board felt it necessary to make this decision sooner rather than later.

States can now take on board this change to prepare a season for their teams that builds to and culminates with the July event, taking into consideration what will be best for their teams. For those teams that have been training for some time it would be sensible to take advantage of a long Christmas/New Year hiatus and resume a little later than usual compensating for the extended season. Obviously for DDA the season is much longer, and this will mean changes in some important dates and deadlines (registration cut offs, entries for the 2022 Australian DrillDance Championships, the National Camp, the Annual General Meeting etc.) and these changes will be announced in due course.

Kari

Kari Gamble

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

bottom of page