Archive for May, 2009

Welcome little Hayden

Brendan & Melanie Pollock would like to welcome Hayden Pollock to the world. He was fashionably late, born at 17:25 Thursday 30 April, 3.13 Kg or 6 pounds 14 ounces for old school.

Mum and Hayden are enjoying the hospitality of the Freemason Hospital (Clarendon Street) and doing well, Dad is recovering…..

Mel was a integral part of the Premiership winning Vipers VT Women’s team in 2008 and played the season with a extra passenger for last half of the season.

Vipers would like to congratulate Mel and Brendan on their new bundle of joy.

Hayden Pollock The Family

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$10 Meals

Heinz one of Vipers Sports Club major sponsors and global food manufacturer has recognised that in these tough times people struggle to find cheap, quick and healthy options for meals.

So in this fast paced and tough economic times Heinz have released a series of meals which are not only nutritionally balanced but are affordable. The link below will take you the Heinz Test Kitchen where you can browse new recipe ideas and download the Heinz Cookbook for FREE.

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Vipers vs the mountain

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Marysville-Lake Mountain Fire Relief Ride

Saturday 2nd May saw perfect weather for five members of Vipers who joined with 1500 other avid cyclist to participate in the Marysville-Lake Mountain Fire Relief Ride.The ride, organised by Cyclo Sportif Victoria, was an opportunity for cyclist to show their support for the area which was devastated by the Black Saturday fires in February. Proceeds from the event were donated to the Australian Red Cross to help the community recover and rebuild.

The Vipers members, Angas, The Doc, Suzy B, MC and Hellie enjoyed the wonderful, if not a bit chilly, conditions and the gentle downhill from the start in Marysville, averaging 35+km/h to the turn around point at Taggerty. A quick stop was all that was needed for team Vipers before turning and heading back to Marysville via Buxton.

From Marysville onwards the terrain became a very different challenge. The road tilted upwards towards the sky in a never-ending series of twists and turns. The first 5km of the climb was particularly brutal – the team splintered as the riders did whatever they could just to keep the pedals turning and forward momentum.

It was this stretch of the climb that was the most difficult, with the Vipers members passing large numbers of riders who had no choice but to dismount and walk up the steepest of inclines.

Relief came with knowing the worst of the climb was behind the team, however there was still more than 16km of the mountain still to conquer.

As the riders proceeded higher and higher, the temperature dropped and dropped. The dense burnt forest soon gave way to a scorched and barren landscape of black with a coating of snow.

By the time the riders reached the summit at Lake Mountain the temperature was hovering around 1 degree and 1000m of climbing had been conquered. Despite the worlds best hamburgers being sold at the finish line, thoughts of a warm car meant nobody hung around at the finish longer than was required and the return decent begun.

The freezing decent that followed was almost as tough as the climb to the top. (The roving reporter has had to wait four days after the event before penning this story).

Even a road closure on the way home (and the subsequent 2hrs extra in the car) didn’t take the shine of what was a fantastic, if somewhat challenging, day and all for a good cause!

If you would like to join in future rides with other Vipers cyclists then contact the club.

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Winning streak ends

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Vipers have suffered their first loss in the Oakleigh Netball competition withe an absolute crushing defeat at the hands of title favourites Team Louis 50-5. This defeat is the first loss for the netball teams in 2009 and one which will not be forgotten quickly.

The team having displayed brilliance in the grading games and handing out some of their own crushing defeats have found themselves in the top division and well things do not look rosie at all if Sunday nights game is anything to go by. The team can take something from the game with four of their regular line up interstate on rep duties which left a team of fill in players to maintain the unbeaten record, this was not the case as Vipers continually turned over the ball through inaccurate passing or the old stepping penalty which with the higher grade came the higher quality umpire which didn’t miss a beat. The team having been demoralised will have all their regulars back on deck for next weeks game which will give a true indication on whether they can match it in the top flight in season 2009.

Albert Park Vipers continued their winning success with a narrow win over a 6 player team on Thursday night. The team displayed some patches of brilliance in the absence of Head Coach and defensive strategist Jen Galea, who was off celebrating her 25th birthday. The game was a game of 4 quarters like every other week of which Vipers seemed to have their noses in front for most of the match. This was possibly the toughest of all the teams played this year. Simialr to the Oakleigh team they find themselves in the premier division due to outstanding performance early in the season.

Vipers first season in Netball will show the abilities and skills of the players as they strive for domination in a new sport foreign to most of the players.

Posted in Netball, Netball Results | Comments Off