The 2020 combined Clubs & Societies (C&S) + TeamMONASH Club Awards were celebrated a bit differently this year, for obvious reasons!

Since 2016, the Monash Student Association (specifically Clubs and Societies) and Team Monash have combined annually for a wonderful celebration event to honour the many student clubs, associations and societies and those who make them tick. Obviously this couldn't happen in 2020 so instead we celebrated online. The nomination and judging process remained mostly the same but to celebrate the awardees, we set a whole week aside in September and honoured them through our social media platforms. Announcing award winners one by one over the entire week, we loved how the community acknowledged and celebrated each awardee.

Professor David Copolov opened the week with a fantastic video all about what it means to be a part of a club and the skills that you develop as part of this. This year has especially shown how resilient, committed, caring and innovative our clubs are, and their continued efforts despite everything going on has meant that students at Monash are able to still find a platform to immerse in their interests and meet new people.

Congratulations first goes to the Monash University Dodgeball Association (MUDA) for winning this years ‘TeamMONASH Club of the Year’ award! MUDA prides prides itself on its supportive and welcoming community which helps create a fun and friendly environment for all players, regardless of experience or skill level.

With a range of social and competitive sessions and events, there is something for everyone - from those who just want to throw balls at their friends to those interested in high-level competitive play. This year, they managed to navigate the roadblocks presented by the pandemic to still actively engage the community. With virtual events such as trivia and games nights, online trainings and initiatives, the team has worked tirelessly and with inspirational zeal to ensure that students still had a platform to enjoy the benefits of joining MUDA, indulge in their interest of dodgeball and overall enhance their time studying at Monash University.

The Award for ‘TeamMONASH Club Office Bearer of the Year’ went to the amazing Ariane Ang, who is President of the Monash Dance Society. Ariane is an incredibly passionate and caring individual, and took on with ease the role of navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic to ensure MDS engaged their community effectively. This is a testament to her inspirational leadership, endless ingenuity and tenacious spirit.

From trivia nights, zoom dance sessions, a Tik Tok Dance workshop and amazing challenges, Ariane has worked immeasurably hard as President to overcome the hurdles of having to adapt MDS - which has strong foundations in face to face events given the nature of the society - to the online platform and has done so incredibly successfully as evidenced by the high level of community engagement these events have achieved.

In addition to this impressive feat, Ariane is known to many to be the shining spirit of the society - her drive and attention to the wellbeing of her team has left a powerfully positive impact on all those around her. Ariane said of receiving the award "I am incredibly honoured to receive the award and I look forward to serving MDS and Monash again in 2021!"

Other awards included:

C&S Office Bearer of of the year:

Ryan Attard - Monash International Affairs Society

C&S Club of the Year:

Monash International Affairs Society

Most outstanding Online Event:

• Category A: Monash Engineering & Pharmaceutical Science Society
• Category B: Monash Actuarial Students Society Category
• Category C: Vegan Society
• Category D: Biomedical Society

Most Outstanding Online Publication:

Female Engineers at Monash for their Industry Guide 2019

Most Outstanding New Club:

Monash Association of Coding

Most Inspiring Woman:

• Sophia Tan, President of Monash Engineering Students' Society
• Sof Hay, President of the Monash Law Students' Society

We’re so proud to be able to present these awards, and would like to once again especially congratulate the Monash Dodgeball Association and Ariane on their incredible efforts! We look forward to continuing the recognition of the efforts of our club leaders in 2021 when we can hopefully run our usual Awards Night!

For more information about the awardees, visit our Facebook page!