Three Victorian grassroots netball clubs have been selected as recipients of the August 2026 Woolworths Netball Grant, with Heights Netball Club, Natimuk United Football Netball Club and Fish Creek Football Netball Club each receiving $2,000 to support their clubs and local netball communities.
The Woolworths Netball Grant provides grassroots clubs with funding to help address local needs, strengthen participation and create positive experiences for players, volunteers and their communities.
For this month’s recipients, the funding will support a range of initiatives, from improving facilities and investing in equipment to creating stronger support for young players and their families.
Heights Netball Club
Based in Melbourne’s inner north, Heights Netball Club is a welcoming community club that brings together players of different ages, backgrounds and abilities through a shared love of netball.
With the club experiencing strong growth and establishing Bundha Sports Centre as its training base, the $2,000 grant will help Heights continue building its NetSetGo program by establishing a formalised NetSetGo Coordinator role.
The role was trialled by a parent volunteer last season and made a significant difference to first-time families, helping children settle in and ensuring they had a positive introduction to netball.
“The grant has come at a really exciting time for Heights. Our club has experienced strong growth, and we are now establishing Bundha Sports Centre as our training base, giving our teams and families a more consistent home.”
The funding will allow the club to build on the success of the role while continuing to make netball accessible and affordable for local families.
For Heights, programs like the Woolworths Netball Grant are particularly valuable for volunteer-run clubs looking to grow sustainably while continuing to provide positive experiences for players.
“Grants can make a meaningful difference to what clubs are able to provide, whether that is better equipment, development opportunities or improved experiences for players.”
Natimuk United Football Netball Club
Natimuk United Football Netball Club is a much-loved part of the local community, with players, volunteers, families and supporters coming together to create a welcoming and connected environment.
The club will use its $2,000 grant to carry out minor repairs to its netball court, including improving the surface and addressing cracking issues.
With the club having just one competition court, maintaining the facility is particularly important to ensure it remains safe and ready for use.
“This grant means so much to our club and to the wider Natimuk community. It will help us improve our netball court, which is such an important space for our players and families.”
As a volunteer-run club, the cost of maintaining facilities can be challenging, making support through programs such as the Woolworths Netball Grant especially valuable.
The funding will allow Natimuk United to address the repairs before they become larger issues, helping provide a safe and enjoyable place for the community to play.
“Programs like this are incredibly important for grassroots clubs like ours. They provide practical support that can make a real difference and help clubs keep offering opportunities for people to play, connect, and be active in their local community.”
Fish Creek Football Netball Club
With a history dating back to 1891, Fish Creek Football Netball Club began as a football club before netball joined in the 1960s. In 2026, the club fielded teams in every netball and football grade, alongside junior netball teams competing under its banner at the Leongatha and District Netball Association.
Generations of families are at the heart of Fish Creek, with children playing, parents coaching, officiating or working in the canteen, and grandparents cheering from the sidelines.
The club will use its $2,000 grant to purchase iPads to assist volunteers with scoring, registrations and recording information, alongside new netballs, training equipment and uniforms.
“We were excited to receive the news, and appreciative of the opportunity to support our netballers with new equipment.”
The funding comes at an important time for Fish Creek, whose clubrooms were destroyed in an arson attack in November 2023. While the club continues to work towards rebuilding its facilities, the grant will help provide necessary equipment for its netballers without taking away from those rebuilding efforts.
For the club, external funding is an important way to help grassroots communities continue to grow and create more opportunities to participate, volunteer and officiate.
“These funding streams are crucial in helping grassroots netball clubs to continue to grow. Small communities only have so much capacity to fundraise, so to have the opportunity to inject external funding will help clubs provide more opportunity for participation.”
The three August recipients will use their grants in different ways, but each will contribute to creating stronger opportunities and experiences for their local netball communities.
