2021 Championships Postponement + Coping Resources

As you may have seen on AMMNA’s channels they have decided on the “postponement of any nationals programming to a TBC date in the second half of 2021, citing the frequency and recency of border closures and city lockdowns across the country as too high a risk to proceed.” The full release can be found here.

This is incredibly disappointing news for all involved, especially with what Victoria has gone through over the past year. Nationals was something we were all looking forward to – being able to go away together as a community and play this game we all love.

VMMNA wants to emphasise that there will be some level of competition this year, and we are working hard to ensure that we are able to get on court in some format in 2021.

But we’re even more cognisant of how this upsetting news may affect those within our community. As such, we’ve put together the below resources – with the help of Movember, Emma Murray and Men’s Line – for those who may be struggling, and encourage all to reach out to your teammates and really look after each other at this time. 

And as it so happens, reaching it out for a chat is what starts this resource list…

Reach out for a chat

Our Tour Manager, Sonya Febbo’s email on Sunday included our Squad Captains, Will Jamison and Guy Keane’s personal mobile numbers. As Guy mentioned at the squad meeting on Sunday, both he and Will are very much here for a chat or a vent, as even our most seasoned campaigners are feeling this disappointment too.

Please also reach out to your coach, manager or fellow teammates as they are all going through the motions of disappointment too. You are very much not alone.

Listen to a Podcast

In this episode of the Movember podcast, rugby union player George Furbank talks about playing elite sport but also dealing with the various disappointments that comes with that and strategies around dealing with how these affect your mindset. Listen now.

Watch a video

Emma Murray is considered one of Australia’s leading mindfulness practitioners and high performance mind coaches, having worked with top AFL teams, including the Richmond Football Club. 

Via her Instagram ‘High Performance Mindfulness’ she recently offered 21 days of free videos dealing with various habits, and we feel Habit #13 may be helpful. Definitely check out her page for a variety of mindfulness recourses.

Watch Habit #13.

Read an article

Men’s Line Australia has a great piece on dealing with disappointment, from understanding where these feelings come from, giving yourself time to reflect and ensuring these feelings do not linger. Read this here.

Download an app

There are a number of terrific apps that deal with mindfulness, including guided meditations that you can do at home: the Headspace app and the Calm app for paid versions are excellent options as is Smiling Mind for a free app option.

Further resources:

Movember also have a great section on their website of articles to explore, videos to watch and other people’s stories to read – you can find them all here.

While this news is so disappointing, we are all in this together and VMMNA is doing all we can to get us on court in some format this year. Please also reach out to Sonya (TourManager@VMMNA.org) or President, Matthew Blomeley (President@VMMNA.org), if you have any concerns or questions.

“To all the athletes whose seasons have ended or been cut short due to COVID-19, hear this: Be so proud of all the hard work, effort, pain & self-discipline it took. All the hours & days you spent getting better. You embraced the journey and you won. — Be proud of that!” ~ High Performance Coach, Allistair McCaw