greenwich village games events
The Greenwich Village Games involves a series of fun sporting contests, tests of skill and a theatrical revue. These include events such as a canoe relay on the harbour, a mud run in the mudflats, caber toss, tennis ball throw, slow cycle race, various fun relays and gumboot throwing.
A wide range of ages compete in each event from 3-100, with an equal distribution between males and females. This plays out via “the matrix” (see below) whereby each team enters competitors in all age groups. There is also a non-competitive event for pre-school children called the Micro Games (see below). Age criteria is based on the age of the individual on 2 December 2022.
Games will be primarily held on Bob Campbell Oval, Gore Creek, Greenwich which is located at the bottom end of St Vincents Rd. Swimming will be held at the Lane Cove pool and Golf at the Lane Cove Country Club.
The Games Events Co-ordinator on behalf of the GVG Organising Committee is Mark Merrick, contactable via events@gvg.org.au.
If, during the Games, there are any injuries or incidents, please print and complete the gvg incident reporting form and return it to your Team Captain for actioning asap.
2016 event handbook
The event handbook includes event rules, setup criteria, and matrix requirements. The latest version will always be available here to ensure all teams refer to the same version.
Events are reviewed each quadrennial based on recommendations from the previous games. Please direct any handbook queries to Stephen Shephard, and event queries to Mark Merrick.
2016 event handbook v1.15
scoresheets
marshalling grids
what are the micro games?
The Micro Games are a series of running and novelty races for children between 2 and 6. See the full flyer of activities here. These are purely for young kids to have fun and feel part of the weekend’s events and include obstacle relays, wheelbarrow races, water run, bubbles and a colouring in competition.
Entry to participate is free, but all children must be registered. Children will be grouped roughly according to age and physical size.
what is the revue?
A live entertainment show is held on the Saturday night. The general public including friends, family and neighbours are invited to come down to the oval from 6:00pm to enjoy this auspicious concert. Bring a picnic blanket, some chairs and nibbles, else take advantage of the local caterers providing delicious food stalls on the night. Check out more information about the revue here.
what is the matrix profile?
The matrix profile is the specification of how many competitors from each age group, within each team, are required for each event, with equal male and female participation. The age group bands are: <=8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-15, 16-19, 20-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60+
Not every age group is required for every event and safety is the main criteria for restricting the age groups.
It is the matrix that makes the GVG such a great community experience as different ages have to band together to field a team for each event and in doing so, new friendships are made across age groups that would not otherwise have any common relationship.
clarification of the age matrix rules
With the exception of Golf in which there are no age or restrictions, all events compete with 50/50 males and females, with the event allocation for each age group per team split evenly between male and female, i.e. if the matrix indicates 2 competitors from a given age group, one must be male and one female.
Age criteria is based on the age of the individual on 2nd December 2022.
There can be no substitutions over the 20-39 age-group, (eg 40 year old substituting for a 16-19 year old) and competitors in the 20-39 age group cannot cross out of their age group.
Team members aged 16-19 may be substituted up one level into the 20-39 age group, and those younger than 16-19 may be substituted up two levels. E.g. a 17 year old can be substituted into the 20-39 age group; a 12 year old may be substituted into 16-19 age group but not into 20-39 age group.
Team members aged 40-49 may be substituted down one level and those older than 40-49 may be substituted down two levels. E.g. a 60+ may be substituted into the 40-49 age group, but not the 20-39 group.
attributes of an ideal greenwich games event
The Greenwich Village Games is a unique community experience, the success of which depends on the spirit in which the teams and events come together. The events themselves should express this spirit and the most successful events have been those which:
1. are events predominantly of skill rather than of chance
2. are played between teams which include a cross-section of ages and both genders
3. are conducted as a relay, with each team member’s achievement contributing to the team’s final result
4. accordingly do not directly pit single competitors against other single competitors
5. require teams to interact with all or most other teams in the course of the event, either simultaneously or in heats. A team should not do well simply because the one team they played against was weak
6. are safe for competitors and spectators alike
7. are accessible to spectators forming a significant proportion of Games’ attendees, and
8. are unlikely (as a result of criteria 1 to 4) to comprise mainstream sports playable under usual rules on any other weekend of the quadrennial.
