it is sad about the uniforms, the mornington uniforms
were unique and had a bit of individuality and character the new ones have no imagination and no thought has gone into the design whatsoever they look like an off the shelf target job.

Certainly has been heading that way for a few years now. And that number of juniors doesn't include those that have walked away from the game. Noticed coaches going to other clubs as well -especially when some of these have been held in high regard at there- not good.Definitely will make people sit up and ask questions.An yes what is with the uniform going to Black - no tradition no history - just a run of the mill uniform that means nothing.

Being managed by a group of people with a little bit less than absolutely no idea. Juniors are leaving in their droves. No women's team, mens team ordinary and the YL teams have lost their best players. The future looks bleak, as the club continues on its downward spiral with little or no chance of pulling out of it.

whats the issue with the womens team there was a rumor that the girls refused to play for him

Wow, a couple of ill informed comments. Numbers at Women's program tryouts were in a word dismal most were YL. Pathway for juniors is youth league, trouble is the junior program is not producing enough of the required talent to progress into senior basketball. A clean out was required, not at the playing level though, there were good "juniors" in the program however they had to be propped up by imported talent. The women's YL team have lost their best players from last year, same with the men's YL, most will get snapped up elsewhere. The women's team were good, not due to only one player and they will get minutes at other clubs.

Mornington is such a different club now.
So many well experienced coaches have left frustrated and are replaced with parents to coach.
The most experienced coaches that are left do not coach first teams.
Due to this, good players are leaving because the club cannot continue catering for their development.
Support given to the Junior program will in time support the senior program.
Mornington once was the club that people wanted to belong to.
Let's make the club great again.

to the last anonymous, you are spot on tryouts were a joke thats why my daughter left, and as for the womens MVP retiring hmmm din't look retired to me at the womens training the other night

coach Carter very true in what you say but it won't happen with the mindset of this committee and management as their main emphasis is revenue raising not teaching kids skills and player developement

Trouble is anonymous a lot of people leaving are long term committed members of the club, disappointed in the direction or lack there of that the club has. In the end time will tell, unfortunately Breakers are running out of time.

anonymous, at least i'm happy to put my name to my posts,yes i took my daughter out not through want but necessity we spent 6 years at this club, but with such a poor quality of coaching the only option was to move so she has the opportunity to improve
we loved the Breakers just so disappointed with them

Mike did you go to a bigger association like Frankston or Dandenong?
Or did you attend multiple tryouts from various clubs and simply pick who you thought was best? I'm interested in how you picked your new club and for what reasons.
Like how do you know the new coach/ program will be better than the one you’ve left.

With so many players allegedly moving on from the senior teams, I guess they'll have new 'best’ players!!!

Old Uniform - http://www-static2.spulsecdn.net/pics/00/03/40/96/3409611_1_M.jpg

New Uniform - https://breakers.shopdesq.com/assets/uploads/2972/shopdesq/products/thumbnail/32FD58C3-9921-AA32-9E593AEC5CE12140playingtopfront.JPG

Frank, yes you are correct the team(s) will have new best players however those lost were not only the best players in the team but also in some cases recognised competition best players.

Great point Frank. Old Baller we are talking D2 men and women and YL2 I'm sure these so called "best" players will soon be replaced !!

With who jeepers jimmy outsiders and other associations rejects

Who decides who are "best" players? One would think that this would be in the overall Big V competition, that would be a fair measure. If as people are saying- that most/all the better players are leaving - surely due diligence is required to find out why. Juniors being promoted to seniors - usually doesn't end well with out some experienced team members. Leaves a lot to young inexperienced heads. It is D2 but it is still a lot different to YL2 in both men's and women's. Pathways are the way - but this includes doing your time in Junior/YL & then to seniors. Little experience and jumping levels is not a great option. If they are not up to it and not competitive - what incentive is there for people to stay here and not look for better places for there children.

well said mad hatter

What is the point of running a Big V Youth League program for players that come from other outside clubs?
Surely the club should further develop its own loyal U18 and U20 players?
Otherwise, when you reach U18's its time to leave the club because you don’t get an equal opportunity.
Most clubs aim to have a pathway for their juniors to play at YL level.
Now the club needs to repay the loyalty that the players and their families have given to the club over the years.
It’s time Mornington started to look after its OWN juniors who are transitioning into YL.

Mad Hatter, agree. The Big V MVP nominations had several Mornington players in the top 10 (3 YLW). Are any of them staying?
Jeepers, yeah good luck with that...from where? The juniors are a long way from the standard required in YL.

Coach carter you are spot on it all starts at junior level Mornington needs to look after its juniors and fix all the problems there ..it is so simple to fix its just there is no one there currently that has any idea how to,

Coach Carter, yes that is how it should be however the coaching and development of players AND coaches is just not there at the moment. Just being a junior doesn't automatically mean you play senior basketball, you still need to be able to play at a fairly reasonable level. How many parents are coaching Mornington junior teams?

In the senior league you need coaches that will use the club players including players that have been at the club but have moved due to the issues, including the comments above.There may be the opportunity for 1 or 2 outside players-sometimes they are value added-but be inclusive. Junior coaches can be a mix of experienced & parent coaches as you can end up some very good parent coaches but they all need direction and workshops to improve. No coach ever knows everything. #1 teams need the best coach even if it isn't the parent-that's what REP is about & people have to understand & accept that. All this comes from the top & if the top is inexperienced and cannot see that then it doesn't look good for a long long time. All decision made last for many years.

Mckinnon

Camberwell

Anonymous:
My recent post is about YL teams, not the two senior teams.
It is easy to form a YL2 team of 12 players from your own association.
Mornington just need to invest in its juniors.

Think you might find that the YL women at Mornington have primarily been made up of club players topped up by maybe 3 - 4 experienced players to help mentor the juniors. I think from memory some under 16's were also given an opportunity. On top of that the coach was a loyal Mornington person until he was unceremoniously shafted.

Morningtons YLW team only had 3 outsiders what happened to their coach he was very good

Anonymous:
You are absolutely correct in your summation of the past 4/5 years.
Hopefully the club's future focus will be on the development of the U12's so that we can start to regain our lost rankings. It is too late for most of the other age groups.
The endless holiday camps are a great revenue raiser but the monies earn't support the wages bill, rather than resources to develop the juniors.
It would be great to see more teams play at metro level rather than playing regional which is just domestic with travel.
Even though this will take years, it can be achieved with a 5 year plan.
This will help the club great again.

Spot on Coach C. There hasn't been the emphasis on developing players with any sort of planning, ITP or even talent i.d. Also need to develop and support the coaches on an ongoing basis. Regional ball is a glorified domestic and the aim should be to have as few teams as possible playing in it. Needs to be a line put through the majority of players above u/12 or maybe u/14 and start again from scratch.

You nailed it coach carter

Unfortunately not allowing new vjbl players to try out will cost Breakers as new talent cannot try out unless they have been playing domestic from june/july. That allows westernport, blues and sharks to snap up the good juniors, making their clubs and rankings stronger while Breakers decline

Do Mornington even have a DOC or similar?

Agree Mornington shouldn't be closed to external players. Many players are looking for a "new home" and could add potential talent and development to the club long term. I have played with many players that have ended up becoming invaluable to the club going on to coach at Mornington etc that have come from other clubs (frankston and the like).

Their DOC last year was David Hankin who resigned from the position at the end of the year. The person that has been put in his place momentarily Is a parent with little basketball knowledge (coaching rep for maybe 3-4 years with no previous basketball experience) that has done his level 1 so is automatically a basketball professional. Apparently all you have to know at mornington is how to run a business and it automatically makes you the DOC/similar! This person is also in charge of interviewing the bigv coaches along with the president (0 basketball knowledge). Bit of a worry!

To the person that believes Mornington had great numbers prior to Xmas and they have signed some "big recruits". What a laugh! how many men turned up? 1 or 2? how about the women? 3-4 players (not including the amount of under20s that turned up for YLW). If you think they are big numbers you absolutely have no idea!

Would love to see those "BIG RECRUITS" on paper! all talk, lets see who's playing round 1. Spoken like a true mornington committee member!

Anyone from Mornington want to guarantee 4 Big V teams for season 2018?

There are alot of good points in that last post. Im not sure Breakers will be able to climb back up the vjbl or big v rankings anytime soon. Certainly not on the path they are currently on.
Im not sure what the current coms game plan is but they need to do something asap or end of 2018 they will have another bunch of families leave the club.
Im not even sure where to start on big v

Anonymous, straight from the heart. That is the problem there now, no passion. The club won't get out of the hole they are in until they admit that they have the wrong people making decisions. Clear out pretty much all of the COM. The place is an absolute basket case and an embarrassment to the basketball community.

Its good to see so many passionate people on this thread genuinely concerned about the future and survival of this club hope you all attend this years AGM and vote for change, for experienced, knowledgeable people with a basketball background who know what they are doing

Completely agree Nathan, there is often a shortage of voters at agms yet plenty of opinionated members outside of agms!
Having said that, knowledgeable, experienced bball people also have to apply for positions. Hopefully breakers can find some applicants to bring the club forward

People are very reserved about attending AGM's now. You stand up for what you believe is the right direction and your kids end up paying for it. Then they have move on to get opportunities that are not available to them. AGM 3/4 years ago many people nominated but to no avail, at times it appeared to be open slather on some. Who could blame them for not putting themselves in that situation again. Many promises made but not many ended up being kept. Hence the start of the move out. Good people with lots of experience and a love of the"CLUB", now supporting other clubs with the same passion that is missing from whence they came. Why would you pay $100 membership just to vote at an AGM. If you are not a player/parent of a junior player/referee and at the moment coaches and team manager, you have to pay the $100 per year. Heard talk, and it may be just that but who knows, that it could be looked at that the only coaches & team managers to be able to vote will be "Breakers" coaches & team managers. What about all the domestic teams. If this is correct then no representation for the grass roots competitions and players.Is this not where your Junior REP players come from?

The $100 membership is part of their plan to ensure the can't be removed the scary thing is they run around patting themselves on the back they actually believe they are doing a fantastic job running the club

$100 is crazy given it used to be $5. Not a family orientated club anymore thats for sure.
Hearing rumours that mens big v team are being pulled from this season. Wonder what the late fee for withdrawing a team would be?

I'm hearing men's team gone, women have a makeshift rag tag team at best

Usually team is named by now or at least a squad. Maybe Old Baller is right. Pathway, don't seem to be one at the moment. And where have all the past juniors players that could be and playing Big V seniors gone. Question is why? And not just form the past year but from the past few years.

No one wants to play for Kenny

Confirmed. No men's team. What a way for a once proud club to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the stadium. It is time the COM pull the womens senior team and the YL women to avoid any further embarrassment, neither team will be the remotest bit competitive in what is the lowest Big V division possible. After they have done that every person associated with running the club should do the club a favour and resign en mass. The club is in a deep hole and in all reality won't be out of it in any way shape or form for 5-10 years, the damage now is done. When you talk pathways, why would a kid play at a club where there is no senior program. Unfortunately Blind Freddy could see this happening but the COM were too arrogant and blinded by their own euphoria and self indulgence to see it.

Old Baller you are 100% spot on, very well said indeed.
The General manager should take full responsibility for this mess and resign immediately

I suppose saving money might go a little way to help pay the exorbitant wages bill.

Youth League Men may also be pulled next week. Most of the players won't play at a club that has no senior team. I'll be gobsmacked if they have a team come round 1

On another note, I can confirm that in 2019 Mornington will be absorbed by Westernport Basketball Association. WP have already got things happening from their end.

The latest I have heard is that Mornington and WP will 'merge' starting with a joint venture Big V program in 2019

This is good as it will mean there will finally be a club that can compete with Frankston in the area.

That will happen by attrition Q, WP would be crazy to go into any sort of agreement with Mornington, there is nothing to be gained. What will happen is that the better players at Mornington will find their way to other clubs, most likely WP IF there is the opportunity to play at the highest level. WP don't have a great deal of teams playing high level and also lost players this year. The difference is that WP have people running the club who know basketball and they have pathways for their juniors.

Mornington have nothing to bring to the table in the form of a merge. It has to be a takeover in it's entirety of all players who want to go there (WP). Mornington's Big V is basically not worth a pinch of proverbial and in all likelihood will not be in existence by 2019 (I still think earlier). If I were WP I would start with taking players from the junior program and build from there. The players must go as WP players with no "riders" from Mornington about having any input or ownership over teams / players.

I think both the coaches and the COM have alienated people and players.
The vast majority of players leaving are going to Southern Pen. Why? Simple. SP have a strong Junior program, going for quality rather than quantity. They have a COM that have a strong basketball knowledge and a DOC with a great basketball knowledge who puts time in to develop players and coaches. Very few, if any, parents coach junior teams at SP. "If you build it they will come"

Well said Old Baller. Mornington have lost sight of this over the past few years. Now reaping what they have sown. Sad for all. Sad to see for a once passionate club.

Don't think WP have pulled their men's team since entering in 2005 ish.

The biggest tragedy here is this situation of withdrawing the mens team was easily avoidable but they just have no idea what their doing..yet they tell everyone and honestly believe it themselves that they are doing a fantastic job and the club is in great shape
Most com members are there for their own kids all have kids in the program and they a coach their own kids
(1st teams of course)

Better selection of coaches is the starting point and the appointment of such needs to be done by experienced people but then you have to accept that maybe you do not have enough experience and get "HELP". This seems to be a foreign word at Mornington. Sorry to see what was once a proud club where people wanted to play now one that people want to leave.

Nathan, spot on, the COM are living in their own little fantasy land where they just feather their own nests, coaching theirs or each others kids and miraculously their kids make the number 1 team despite being far from 1st team material. It will be interesting to see how many COM members kids find their way into the YL teams now.

Heads up for the Mornington COM, that light you see at the end of the tunnel.....that is the karma train........Choo Choo!!!!

All aboad the karma express

Long bow anonymous, VBL was a lot different to Big V and WP still had a senior men's team, played in CBL. The issue is not dropping the team. SP had a plan and the juniors to build, WP the same. Mornington don't have the cattle.

Or a clue!!!!

Anonymous dont know where you get your info from but the westernports president doesnt know anything about it

The once family friendly local community MDBA fell apart when a President decided to run the club like a business 3/4 years ago. Members and Volunteers were ignored Fees went up, interest in domestic evaporated. Rep team selection was focused COM decision and not coaches which resulted in rankings slipping. kids left or were cut and now (it appears) MDBA have no VC teams and few if any Metro teams (huge fall from grace) Constant fiddling with domestic timetables (days, season starts etc) is unsettling The family community feel is long gone along with many long term supporters, players and volunteers

It would be a massive mistake and surprise if Westernport entertained merger with MDBA. WP have a wonderful family community approach to all levels of the game (as did MDBA) and it would be sinful if the MDBA cancer took hold over there

All hail the King MDBA cannot say they weren't warned of the pending slippery slope into Regionals. The then COM refused to listen to members. Such a shame

Anyone know what the COM spent on wages last year??

according to docs handed out at last AGM looks like it was $300,000 +

Guess thats why they can't afford an import!
I can't see WP merging with Breakers.
WP are on the rise and getting bigger and better and Breakers are going downhill fast

$300k!! wow if that is true then you may as well close the doors now. Wonder what they are paying the women's coach and the newly appointed mens YL coach. Someone else must be getting very well rewarded for mediocrity.

The one thing that really has typified this whole Mornington debacle was seeing a long time loyal servant of the club in a Chelsea polo coaching a junior Chelsea team. I managed to catch up with him after the game and ask him what was happening, he didn't say too much, however in reality he has been right royally shafted by the club. Absolute disgrace Mornington no wonder the place has people leaving in droves.

Normally it is a committee of management,
In morningtons case it stands for collection of muppets

Anonymous could you drop a name or clue who that person is

Glenn Wansbrough

You are joking WTF.. best junior and senior coach in the place coached my daughter for 3 years then in YLW best coach she's ever had
Big loss mornington with decisions like that its no wonder players are leaving in droves and the club is in such rapid decline

An open invitation to the Committee of Management of the MBDA.
Many members have asked questions in this post regarding various concerns and on your Face book post regarding your decision to withdraw the Men's team in BigV in 2018.
To date, no one from the COM has responded.
In the MDBA’s annual report 2016, which is on their website, the Operations Manager says in her report,
"This year we have worked tirelessly to improve our communications with members."
At present this is not evident to the members.
You have not answered their questions or addressed their concerns.
For the betterment of the club, I am hoping that you will respond to show that you care about the club and its members.

I doubt that any of the COM or Management will have the stones to put their head up and make a public statement, despite it being a good idea. The club are so insular that they don't actually realise how poor their junior program actually is. What needs to happen is that the COM announce that they recognise the program is poor and that they will conduct an independent review of it and agree to accept any recommendations put forward. IMO the horse has bolted, lock the doors and walk away.

Unfortunately is sounds like this com thinks they are doing a great job. Why would they comment?
Not about the players that have thought they were in the big v program and now arent. Or the people that do the fixtures that were about to be released that all have to be altered. Or the other clubs that are all shaking their heads while they wait longer for their fixtures.
Not about the local clubs that will reap the benefits when more players/coaches leave at the end of this season and go to more conpetant clubs

So true Jack the horse has well and truly bolted
Even if new people wanted to get on board and help fix things they cant it has been set up and rigged so no one can remove them the membership fee went from $5 to $100 ..20 times more than any other association in the melbourne metro area

I am still having trouble getting my head around the wages bill of $301k. According to the financial report (2016) there are 6 employees, 1 full time the rest part time. I would love for someone to enlighten us as to who is getting what, there must be a few people being very well paid. The COM owe it to their members especially given the financial position outlined in the report. Mike, Vladimir Putin would look at Mornington's politic "rigging" with some degree of admiration,$100 membership is purely designed to alienate and deter anyone from challenging their little KINGdom.

Spoke to one of the men's players and asked why he left his reply was... no support from committee of management, no "club" atmosphere at mornington anymore, put us in ridiculous reversible uniforms that were uncomfortable and so unprofessional (yellow tops black shorts)for away games and the biggest thing that all players noticed was not one member of committee or management attended the senior presentation night.
The picture is getting clearer.

Hello I have a lot of new customers for you. can i contact by phone?

They don't really advertise the seniors well or much at all. The program has so much potential that just gets wasted.
Such a shame

Coach Carter post of 29th can see that you have had a response and that communication is a high priority. Seems to be head in the sand, if we don't acknowledge, don't respond no problems exist. Sorry for the players that missed out for the season but happy for a players that wasn't good enough to be picked for the div 2 mens team, he is now in a Div 1 team. Great selection process.

I think the likelihood of no women's team(s) is very high.

Anonymous...
Re: have spots for women if they leave..

How can we contact you ??

You will see a lot of non mature players in the women's team (if it goes ahead) this season also, it isn't confined just to the men's program.

I don't think I saw a YLW game where the coach wasn't there. I also think that he had an assistant coach there as well. Hardly an issue I would have thought.

The problem with the program isn't / wasn't the YLW coach. It looks like the YLW team did ok the seasons that he was coaching, which kind of indicates he wasn't too bad at what he was doing. Don't forget if a coach thinks he knows everything, he knows nothing, coaches are always learning. I assume, Anonymous #669846 you know how many games or training sessions he missed? If there was an issue I wouldn't have thought that the majority of the team would have left when he got politically dumped. Plenty of players have coached YL teams as well as playing themselves. Don't think it is right to have a pointless and unfounded crack at someone just giving a bit back to the club.

anonymous you obviously are an uneducated person as your gramma and spelling is appalling you obviously have little knowledge of whats going on at mornington, probably only been around the club for 12months

Anon. If you actually had any idea of what you were talking about you probably wouldn't have even bothered posting. Mornington have always had experienced coaches, YL like players is an opportunity to develop a coach. Yes, the current crop of coaches at Mornington are experienced but experience doesn't mean that they are any good. Time will tell on the Mornington program but from the outside where I sit and inside from what I hear, the club is in trouble.

Experienced coaches what a joke further examples of poor decision making by management 2 senior coaches who cant recruit and have such a bad reputation amongst players that no one will play for them which is morningtons problem
Maybe if they were playing they'd have a better approach and realise verbal abuse is not appreciated

Or a maybe even a coach......

Anonymous let me tell you I didn't hear it I was there and saw it combined YLW senior women training there were a total of eight girls so go figure

Given the question mark over the women's program now, can anyone from Breakers confirm if the women's numbers are even close to a full list? Good mail is that there are a few less than first thought / advised. Fair chance that the women's team will be next to go. Is it time that Big V get involved and do some due diligence and make a call to get a guarantee from the club before finalising fixtures.

YLW have started with a bang losing by 70+ points in a practice game to the Sharks who looked like they just coasted for the majority of the game. Better hope that they were short 1 or 10 players from their regular season team or it is going to be a hell of a long season....... Looking forward to seeing how the women's team go in their practice match(es).

Were you there Jack?

Sadly yes, long enough to see a dismally poor Mornington team,literally beaten up by very young players from Sharks who were just having a run. I couldn't recall seeing any of the Mornington Players play last season.

Credit where it is due. 1 team does not make a club. Will still have the majority of teams in Regional. I think it was said very early on that every team u/16 and above was a write off, guess that is proving to be correct.