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THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE FOR THE STATE BRANCH OF DANCESPORT WESTERN AUSTRALIA |
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Including…
1 Gold Brolga Award 2. Membership Registrations 3. WA State Board 5. DanceExplo 2009 7. Beginning Coaching Principles Course 8. 2009 National Capital Championships 9. Member Protection Codes of Conduct - Adjudicators
Happy New Year to all of our members. We trust you had a wonderful festive season and hope 2009 brings health, happiness and great dancing!
2008 culminated in the World Latin Championships in Melbourne, a major highlight in the dancing world for all concerned and a never to be forgotten experience for those of us who attended this spectacular event. Let’s make sure that 2009 brings its own highlights and becomes the year that you will remember! Dancesport W.A. is planning some exciting events for the year and with new members on the state board and new membership registrations, 2009 is sure to provide a renewed sense of purpose and passion to us all.
Gold Brolga Award
Each year, during the Gala Dinner at the Australian Open Dancesport Championships, the Industry’s highest award – the Gold Brolga – is awarded to recognise outstanding contribution to the Dancing Industry. 2008 saw winners Derek Gatley and Jason Gilkison being voted as joint recipients of the Gold Brolga Award. Congratulations to both Derek and Jason in achieving this prestigious award.
As West Australians we are extremely proud of you both!
Membership Registration Renewals
By now, you should have all renewed your membership for 2009 either online or by mail. For renewal of your registration using the online system, please see our website www.dancesport.org.au, go to MyDSA and enter your user name and password. Registration renewal forms were sent out with December’s Focus for those wishing to renew their registration by mail.
A reminder to accredited amateurs that you are still required to be a member of DSA in order for your DanceSport Australia Accreditation to be current. To check if you are currently an Accredited Member, see our website www.dancesport.org.au under “Accreditation”.
W.A. State Board The AGM and election of the WA State Board was held on October 26, 2008 and the following board members were elected /reelected to these positions: Derek Gatley (Chairman) Peter Smith (Executive Officer) David Birrell Linda Brown Daele Fraser Richard Morrissey Jan Reilly Pat Thompson Glen Tierney Helen Bosworth Peter Townsend – Peter is not only a newly appointed WA Board Member but has also been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of Dancesport Australia, following the retirement from this role by Derek Gatley. We are extremely fortunate to have Peter fulfilling this new role and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to both this position and to our State Board. Tegan Short (Treasurer) and Shane Nicholls have since joined the board as Competitor Representatives. Universal Championships – England, January 2009
Adult Open Latin 9th Joshua Keefe and Sara Magnanelli 13th Arkady Bakenov and Rosa Filippello (NZ)
UK Open Championships – England, January 2009
Adult Open Latin Top48 ArkadyBakenov and Rosa Filippello (NZ) Joshua Keefe and Sara Magnanelli
DanceExplo 2009
It’s that time of year, the time we start planning our dancing for the New Year and DanceSport Western Australia again have just the occasion to kick off your dancing calendar year. DanceExplo 2009 is to be held on February 22 at the South of Perth Yacht Club, Canning Beach Road, Applecross Foreshore at 10am sharp and promises to be everything that we aimed to bring you last year plus more. DanceExplo 2008 was an absolute success and we have had plenty of fantastic feedback. However, it was a complete sell-out and doors had to be closed to new bookings way before the event so GET IN EARLY this year, to avoid disappointment. Tickets are selling fast so PLEASE ring one of the organisers asap if you are planning to attend.
The promotional information for this event is on the homepage of our website www.danceport.org.au/wa or please telephone Tegan Short 0409101536 for bookings or Derek Gatley 93643553 or Helen Bosworth 0418912265 for further information. The support shown for DanceExplo 2008 was wonderful and it was so good to see the dancing body represented across the board in this way. Dancers (and coaches!) were united in their passion for dance and in striving to do better in their chosen sport in a non-competitive environment. Our speakers this year are Peter Townsend, Dr Ruud Vermeij, Paul Green and Glen Ruscoe – a highly professional, informative and diverse group of speakers. We are again attempting to have a lot of hands-on interaction with the participants and the open-forum discussion with our panel of experts that was so successful last year.
Beginning Coaching Principles Course This course aims to develop practical coaching knowledge and skills for the beginning coach or offer a refresher for those that have coached before. Topics Include: · Role of the Coach · Planning and Reviewing · Risk Management
The Department of Sport and Recreation has established a relationship with Central TAFE who will deliver these courses. To assist coaches, the Beginning and Intermediate General Principles Courses are held regularly throughout the year. DSA require that the beginner’s course be completed as part of their Level O Coaching Accreditation. Next Beginning Coaching Principles Course Begins: Sunday 24 May 2009 Finishes: Saturday 24 May 2008 Venue: Department of Sport and Recreation Address: 246 Vincent Street Leederville, WA Cost: $55 (incl. GST) - Course fee includes Beginning Coaching manual and worksheets. Contact: Jason Washington-King (Central TAFE) Email: jason.washingtonking@central.wa .edu.au
Nb. This course is now available online
2009 National Capital Dancesport Championships – Sat June 27 and Sun Jun 28, AIS Arena, Canberra. This year we will see the dynamic partnership of current World Professional Latin American Champions Michael Malitowski and Joanna Leunis perform the floorshow for these Championships. They will also be conducting a workshop on Friday June 26 at the Italo-Australian Club, followed by a practice evening for all competitors. Closing date for entries is April 30, 2009 For further information refer to www.ncdccanberra.com.au Member Protection Member protection is a term used to describe the practices and procedures that protect an organisation’s members – in our case, dancers, coaches, officials and general members. Member protection involves:
Harassment is belittling, abusive or threatening language or behaviour and it creates an uncomfortable or hostile environment. Harassment is any behaviour that:
· is unwanted · is not asked for, and · is not returned · a reasonable person would recognise as being unwelcome and would cause the recipient to feel offended, humiliated or intimidated · makes unreasonable demands
Harassment and abuse may take many forms within our sport. Eg. Bullying, name-calling, physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse or discrimination, website harassment or abuse (forums), picking-on, rough treatment, sledging. This can be within partnerships, from coaches, parents, spectators or rivals.
The Member Protection Information Officer (MPIO) is the first point of contact for issues, concerns and complaints. They are there to provide confidential, impartial and timely information and support. DSWA is attempting to encourage a culture of awareness and action and in doing so has again appointed Helen Bosworth as the returning MPIO. She can be contacted on 0418912265 or 93645838 for further information or advice. DSA’s Member Protection Policy can be found on their National website www.dancesport.org.au under Rules of Dancesport.
Codes of Conduct
In the foregoing newsletters, we have published the Codes of Conduct for competitors, coaches, parents and spectators and we now bring to you the Code of Conduct for adjudicators from the DSA Member and Technical Handbook.
ADJUDICATORS’ CODE OF CONDUCT
22.1 The following conduct shall constitute a breach of the adjudicators code of conduct:
a) Knowingly committing or conniving in any breach of these rules.
b) Not retiring from the panel of an event on any occasion he/she has a member of his/her immediate and extended family including de facto and same gender relationships, competing in that event.
c) Misrepresenting his/her adjudicator’s accreditation level or experience.
d) Making a false statement in relation to his/her adjudicator’s licence.
e) Threatening to mark a couple in a particular way, so as to gain some advantage for himself/herself or for some third party, or so as to coerce the couple into doing or refraining from doing some act.
f) Threatening a couple during the conduct of an event he/she is judging and in which the couple is competing, including threatening to mark a couple in a particular way, unless the adjudicator is also the chairman of adjudicators for that event.
g) Coaching, teaching, or giving advice to a participating couple during an event which he/she is judging.
h) Seeking by any means to improperly influence or intimidate another adjudicator.
i) Where he/she is not on the judging panel for an event, discussing with an adjudicator who is on the judging panel for that event, the merits of the performance of a competitor in that event, before the completion of the final round.
j) Discussing the merits of a competitor’s performance with the competitor before the completion of the final round in an event which he/she is judging.
k) Seeking to influence the outcome of an event other than by the marking of all couples on their merits.
l) Marking or threatening to mark a couple other than on their own merits.
m) Undertaking any conduct that is intended to gain for a competitor an unfair advantage over other competitors.
n) Falsely claiming to represent DSA in any capacity.
o) Condoning discriminatory or improper behaviour by a fellow adjudicator.
p) Participating on a judging panel knowing that another member of the panel has had their licence suspended or withdrawn.
q) Participating on the judging panel for a prescribed unregistered event.
r) Otherwise acting in a way as to bring the image of DSA of DanceSport generally into disrepute.
22.2 If an adjudicator converses with spectators, competitors or coaches, he/she may not discuss the performance of any couple he/she is judging, until after the final round has been completed.
22.3 Adjudicators are reminded that they occupy a postilion of trust in their capacity as an adjudicator. Accordingly, a higher standard of behaviour is required of adjudicators than all other persons, before, during and after the conduct of events they are judging.
22.4 Adjudicators are urged to comply with the following conduct so as to uphold the highest standards of behaviour:
a) An adjudicator’s behaviour both on and off the dance floor must be consistent with the principles of good sportsmanship. An adjudicator must not behave in a questionable or unseemly manner in public or at any DanceSport related function or occasion where members of the public (including spectators and the media) are present in any capacity.
b) An adjudicator must be consistent, objective and neutral in his/her decisions. Biased judging undermines the whole basis of competition.
c) An adjudicator must be meticulous in penalising dangerous and/violent behaviour.
d) An adjudicator must not publicly question his/her fellow adjudicators’ judgement and never their honesty. Comment should be saved for a properly constituted Ethics and Conduct Committee.
e) Where an adjudicator must judge the couples he/she trains, the adjudicator must be a disinterested observer of their performance.
f) When an adjudicator is judging a couple who no longer come to him/her for coaching, the adjudicator must be on his/her guard against judging the couple by measuring his/her worth as a coach against their current coach.
g) An adjudicator must maintain and develop his/her judging skills by keeping himself/herself informed on developments in technique, style and sound judging principles.
22.5 In applying his/her knowledge, experience and skill to the criteria that the adjudicator uses in forming his/her assessment, the following shall demonstrate compliance with the code of conduct:
a) Technique and competition rules should be interpreted to match the skill level of the competitors.
b) Common sense should be used to ensure that the spirit of competition is not lost by an unnecessary, idiosyncratic or dogmatic interpretation of style.
22.6 It is a basic requirement of the adjudicator’s licence that any adjudicator engaged to judge at an event shall on arrival at the venue:
a) Report his/her presence to the organiser and chairman of adjudicators.
b) Ascertain the timetable of the competitions.
c) Be available as scheduled.
22.7 During the conduct of a competition, the adjudicators of the judging panel shall:
a) Stand apart or be seated apart form one another, and at such locations that they do not interfere with the competitors.
b) Move to whatever position is required to see all of the couples.
c) Judge independently and not compare notes with the other adjudicators.
d) Mark and sign their score cards in ink, including their code letter. Each and every alteration to the score card must be initialled by the adjudicator.
e) Immediately leave the floor after the competitors (except where rotating panels are involved)
22.8 It is important that during the course of any Championship or Competition, a participating adjudicator should not:
· Arrive late
· Consume alcohol
· Offer opinion on competitor’s dress, manner of performance prior to or during a competition or championship
· Make remarks about an individual’s age, sex, religion, physical attributes, culture or sexuality, etc
· Dress inappropriately
· Engage in secretive conversations
· Swear or use unacceptable language
· Try to cover up marking mistakes, or fail to ask for help when required
· Leave the floor until the event being judged is completed
· Be influenced by the expectation of peers, competitors, event organisers or parents
· Criticise members of the dance fraternity, demonstrate anger, frustration or irritability
· Mark contrary to DanceSport rules
Failure to meet these requirements could lead to a report being submitted to the Branch Ethics and Conduct Committee.
22.9 The recommended dress code for adjudicators, unless specified by an event organiser is as follows: · Male Daytime Lounge suit and tie Evening Dinner suit and bow tie · Female Daytime Smart daywear Evening Long evening or cocktail dress or evening trouser suit
This is the last in the series illustrating DSA’s various Codes of Conduct but they can be referenced via the DSA National website: www.dancesport.org.au
End of Newsletter January 2009 |
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DanceSport WA...
January 2009