Written by Amelia Barnes
The 2023 Teacher of the Year Award is presented by Deakin University
A great teacher is someone who’s passionate about their students’ wellbeing and education both in and outside of the classroom.
Take Megan ‘Megs’ Leishman – a classroom teacher at Belmont Primary School in Geelong.
Over the past two years, Leishman has been personally responsible for introducing many new players to netball by encouraging their participation in school competitions and externally at Geelong Central Netball Association.
These efforts combined recently saw Leishman named Teacher of the Year in Netball Victoria’s 2023 Community Awards.
Leishman has experienced the benefits of community sport firsthand. She started playing netball as soon as she could walk, and her childhood revolved around the local football netball club in her small country town. “Netball was pretty much life growing up,” Leishman said.
Inspired by her own positive experiences, paired with the desire to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, and demonstrate the social benefits of team sport, Leishman has been a passionate advocate for her students to play netball.
For many students at Belmont Primary School, their first taste of netball came through an interschool competition known as Lightning Premiership that allows students to participate in either netball, football, or soccer.
In 2022, Leishman entered a mixed team, including three boys, into Lightning Premiership, which proved to be a success. “Because they had such a great time, it really encouraged others to consider netball,” Leishman said.
The increased interest saw Leishman seek out other opportunities for her students to play netball. She had fond memories of playing in the Netball Victoria School Championships when she was growing up, so she registered a mixed team for Belmont Primary School students.
“I was keen to push them and give them more of a chance to play,” said Leishman. “It also opened it up to kids that chose a different sport in Lightning Premiership, but still wanted to try netball.”
Dozens of students, including 20 boys, tried out for a spot in the Netball Victoria School Championships team, which travelled to the State Netball Centre in Parkville to compete.
Leishman calls that first team a “catalyst for change” at Belmont Primary School. As a result of the strong male participation, the number of boys playing netball in the Lightning Premiership jumped from three in 2022, to 15 in 2023.
“[That’s] a massive increase from the numbers of last year, especially when they are choosing this over football,” Leishman said.
“A lot of them are getting the chance to play, to see that it is not just a ‘girls’ sport, and to have some fun.”
Before she could even consider registering a Netball Victoria School Championships team for 2023, students began asking Leishman how to sign up.
Sixty children ended up trialling for the school’s team – about 25 of them boys.
Leishman has gone above and beyond to nurture the growing student interest in netball by encouraging students to continue playing outside of school.
She was alerted to a new boys-only competition at Geelong Central Netball Association and began spreading the word.
“I spoke to all the boys from grades three to six at our school telling them about the competition,” Leishman said.
“I was interested in getting lots of our students signed up… More teams meant that there were more games – more opportunities for the kids. This is the end game really – creating these opportunities for students to play the sport.”
Thirteen boys ranging from ages nine to 12 from Belmont Primary School played in the Geelong Netball Association inaugural boys’ competition, with Leishman often present on the sidelines to show her support.
“I have students not in my class come to my room and tell me that they have a game on, asking if I’ll come and watch. It makes my day to see how excited they get when they see me there cheering them on,” said Leishman.
Several students have committed to playing in the competition again next season, in addition to other external competitions, and trying out for state teams.
“The kids at Belmont Primary School are so talented. How awesome that they get so many chances to play now.”
In future, Leishman would love to create a dedicated netball program at her school. Until then, she’ll continue being her students’ biggest cheerleader to ensure their holistic development and wellbeing.
“School is about so much more than just your academic skills, so being able to teach them all the skills that come with netball has been so much fun,” Leishman said.
“There have been lots of students who have newly discovered netball through all that we are doing at Belmont, and I just love that I was able to help them find this new passion in their lives.”
Find out how your school can get involved in netball
