The origins of Country Week for netball (first known as women’s basket ball) stretch back 95 years in Victoria, with the first tournament staged in Melbourne, from June 2 to 4, 1928.
In fact, various other sports (notably cricket and tennis, but also bowls and hockey) held their own version of Country Week before netball did, setting the template for such events whereby country teams would gather together once a year for a round-robin competition, usually during an extended weekend marked by a public holiday.
At the inaugural Country Week for netball, 10 teams were initially scheduled to compete - representing Traralgon, Bairnsdale, Orbost, Kerang, Swan Hill, Echuca, Camperdown, Benalla, Bendigo, and Shepparton - although it seems that not all of them took part in the outdoor tournament, which was occasionally marred by rain.
The matches were held at the Teachers’ Training College Grounds in Carlton, and, as noted in the press, Orbost and Echuca eventually played off in the final, with the Orbost team (adopting “low, swift passing”, rather than using high aerial work), defeating their opponent by a margin of 30 to 15.
Pictured above is a scene from the first Country Week tournament in 1928. The caption from the Argus, June 4, 1928, p. 13, stated: “A Benalla girl, playing against Camperdown at the Teachers’ Training College in the country week basket-ball contests on Saturday, makes a shot for goal with a ball that was slippery with the rain”.
A large crowd of spectators gathered on the Monday for the last day of the tournament, and Louise C. Mills, President of the Victorian Women’s Basket Ball Association presented all players who participated in the final with commemorative ribbons (bearing the badge and initials of the Association).
In subsequent years, the Sun News Pictorial sponsored the competition, and provided a hefty and much-coveted perpetual trophy on which the name of the winning club for each year was inscribed.
Detail from the perpetual Sun News Pictorial Trophy.
From left: Betty Griffin (Melbourne), Delsa Oliver (Central Gippsland), Elaine Stiff (Melbourne), Loris Oliver (Central Gippsland) and Lynette Alexander (Melbourne). Courtesy: Argus, May 31, 1950, p. 10.
However, by the time of the photograph above - taken at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne - the Country Week tournament had grown in leaps and bounds, with 78 teams from regional areas and the city competing, many with strong rivalries against their neighbouring towns or local suburbs. In this year, the winners and runners-up in the competition also received silver spoons courtesy of The Sun News-Pictorial. By then, additional activities had also been added to the program, including goal-shooting competitions.
Overall, the Country Weekend championship, now branded in a different manner, is a competition that has continued to grow, change and expand, remaining a highlight of the netball calendar in Victoria.
Netball Victoria continues to collect and catalogue a range of memorabilia from almost a century of these events, with items including programs, photographs, correspondence, trophies, results and reports.
Two related object in the Edith Hull Collection, which seem at odds with the changing tenor of those times, are the sashes from the 1980s which were awarded to ‘Miss/Mrs Country Weekend’. It is not known when these honorifics were first bestowed, but the sponsored sashes from 1983 and 1984 remain evocative symbols of a highly enjoyable weekend supported by players, umpires and spectators from across the state.
Curatorial Notes:
Of special note is the fact that precious and delicate ribbons from the 1928 and 1929 Country Week tournaments still survive as part of Netball Victoria’s Edith Hull Collection. Anyone with memorabilia or further information to share related to Country Week activities should contact Netball Victoria at communications@netballvic.com.au.
