Excitement is building as final preparations are put in place for the 2021 State Championships which, for the first time in their history, will be held across consecutive weekends in March at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, Midland Highway, Mooroopna.
Event One: Junior Urban State Championships – Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March.
Event Two: Senior Urban and Senior and Junior Rural State Championships – Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March.
Currently there are 187 teams from 73 brigades entered across the two weekends with an anticipated attendance of approximately 1000 people across each competition day, including competitors, immediate family members, coaches, judges, officials, support staff and dignitaries.
After many months of planning in 2019, it was incredibly disappointing for all involved to make the hard but necessary decision to cancel the 2020 Urban Senior and Rural Senior and Junior State Championships due to the global COVID19 pandemic, however, CFA are committed and excited to be hosting the State Championships in 2021.
Many hours of planning have gone into these events and the team organising the event are doing everything within their power to ensure it goes ahead - the only outstanding requirement being the receipt of a DHHS Tier 2 Permit. This permit has been applied for and we are hopeful that will be approved soon.
Like all aspects of CFA, COVID has changed how we do business, and Championships are no different. The organising committees are working very closely with the Pandemic Management Team and other key stakeholders such as DHHS to ensure the events are COVID compliant and the health and wellbeing of our members remains paramount.
Some of the measures in place for our Championship events include:
- Closed event – open to CFA members and their immediate families only
- Pre-registration of attendance
- ‘Check-in’ through government registered QR codes
- Wrist band identification
- Social distancing measures
- Regular personal and equipment sensitisation
- Professional cleaning team to regularly clean and sanitise rest rooms and high touch points
More information and FAQ’s regarding COVID safe practices and the general running of the 2021 State Championships can be found on the Members Online page. This page will be updated regularly in the lead up to events, so please check back regularly.
This year, there will be a strong corporate presence at both events, including:
- Emergency Memberlink
- Honours and Awards
- Member ID
- Inclusion and Fairness
- Health and Wellbeing
- Youth Programs
- Volunteer Recruitment and Retention
- Volunteer Merchandise
- Bushfire and Fire Prevention and Preparedness
- Child Safety
The Safety Compliance Team will be attending with their Low Voltage Fuse Removal and Safe Working at Heights equipment and Infrastructure Services will have a number of their appliances in attendance. Furthermore, the recently announced CFA Workwear will be on display, along with PPE and other Wildfire PP and Structure PPC.
The Training team will be hosting Entrapment drills, Virtual Reality sessions, Mobile props and large displays in the Learning Hub within the Corporate Marquee.
Unfortunately this year the Torchlight event will not be able to take place, however organisers are hopeful to see it return, bigger and better in 2022.
The local Mooroopna Football and Netball Clubs will be assisting with catering and we will also have a number of onsite food vans so attendees don’t have to leave the site throughout the day.
For event updates, please continue to check the designated Members Online page and follow the CFA / VFBV Firefighter State Championships Facebook page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the organising committee – championships@cfa.vic.gov.au.
NB: You may have noticed that the usual external promotion for the State Championships has not occured in 2021. This is because the event is closed to CFA members and their immediate families, however celebratory promotional material is planned post event.