It's Game On for recycling with Victorian Phoenix

It’s Game On for recycling with Victorian Phoenix – win prizes for planet saving action.

Did you know that Water Polo balls can now be recycled?

The Victorian Phoenix is entering a #planetsaving partnership with Game On Recycling to help stem the flow of sporting waste into landfill. Game on Recycling is aiming to recycle 55 tonnes of sporting waste by March 2023, they will repurpose and recycle used sporting equipment, diverting it from landfill. The partnership will provide an Australian first for the water polo community, balls collected from you, by Victorian Phoenix, will be diverted from landfill to be recycled.

What you need to do:

Clean out your ball cage, your shed and the boot of your car. Bring in balls that need to be retired from the game and we will give them a new life.

When:

Balls can be dropped off during any of the Victorian Phoenix home games. The fixture can be found here.

All balls collected will be used to showcase the impact of our planet saving action during our last home games of the season, at MSAC on Sunday March 27th. The aim is to “fill the pool” with balls saved from landfill.

Prizes:

There are 3 ways to win new Kap7 championship balls.

To be eligible all retired balls must be marked with a club or school name, please don’t include phone numbers or individuals names.

Any writing or decorating must be done with permanent markers that are not water soluble. This will avoid discoloration of the pool when we “fill the pool” with balls to be recycled.

Judges decisions will be final.

Prize Draw 1: Our youngest team member (a better climate future is their future) will randomly select a ball from the flotilla of balls that fill the pool. The club or school named on the ball will receive a brand new Kap7 size 4 hydro-grip championship ball.

Prize Draw 2: Using permanent marker draw, colour, cartoon your worn out water polo ball to look like our amazing planet earth. Our partners Green Planet Sport and Game On Recycling will select 4 of the best and our men’s team captain will select their favourite “planet earth” ball. The club or school named on the ball will receive a brand new Kap7 size 5 hydro-grip championship ball. We will use images of the planet earth ball in our social media posts and on our website.

Prize Draw 3: Using permanent marker (not water soluble) write a planet saving slogan, jingle or hashtag on your worn out water polo ball. Our partners Green Planet Sport and Game On Recycling will select 4 of the best and our women’s team captain will select their favourite “slogan” ball. The club or school named on the ball will receive a brand new Kap7 size 4 hydro-grip championship ball. We will use images of the ball and the winning slogan, jingle or hashtag in our social media posts and on our website.

Winning clubs will be notified by on the day if you are attending or by phone or email to the club president or school water polo director in the week following.

Some more about our partnership:

Game On Recycling pilot program that aims to create a national recycling scheme for sports equipment. It is a partnership between Australia New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP) and Wilson Sporting Goods Co. Together, these two visionary organisations are forging ahead to make Australia’s sport equipment industry a global leader in sustainability. The Game On project is financially supported by ANZRP, Wilson Sporting Goods Co, and a governmental grant from the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund. Go check them out at www.gameonrecycling.com.au!

How else you can help ?

We are working out what the impact of this project will be. We are trying to establish currently how many water polo balls are sent to land fill each year in Victoria. Your club or school can help by filling in a quick survey.

Click here to access the survey. The survey is open until Sunday 27th March 2022.

Got any planet saving ideas for The Phoenix? Get in touch with Annabel Sides, from Green Planet Sport annabel.greensports@gmail.com or 0410598038.

See you at the games.

Gary Barclay

President - Victorian Phoenix Water Polo