Reports of the death of the Bendigo Strathdale Netball Association have been greatly exaggerated, it seems. What has changed, though, is where the BSNA currently lives.
After 21 years calling Bendigo South East College home, and nurturing the likes of former and current Melbourne Vixens Chloe Watson and Kangaroo Flat graduate Ruby Barkmeyer, the competition’s 100-plus teams have been forced to relocate from their centralised venue and play across three different centres for the early part of 2021, at least.
On Friday nights, the section one 18&U contest 20 games on vacant outdoor courts at the Golden City Netball Association. Saturdays are split between three courts for the section 3ABs at the South Bendigo Football Netball Club's Harry Trott Oval as it undergoes a facilities upgrade, and two at its original Strathdale venue for thr 13&U.
Which is not ideal for the many volunteers, whose workforce is now split. Or the families who may have children playing in different Saturday locations. Or, more broadly, for those who support a more equal split of netball activity across two of the growth corridors in the historical regional town rather than its concentration on one side of the Calder Highway.
Yet any assumptions that the BSNA’s reluctant departure from the Bendigo South East College’s Flora Hill Netball Indoor Sports Centre spells the end for the 52-year-old association that has been Central Victoria's largest for some time are wide of the, well, sideline.
“People have thought that because we’ve moved away from our current home that we were folding, and we’re not folding,’’ says BSNA president Heather Abdy.
“We’re developing umpires, which we’ve done for many years now, and we’ve got some things in the pipeline. We’re looking hopefully that we’ll have a new home in the very near future and we can grow from there.
“We’re still in business. We’ve put posts up on Facebook, and people have gone ‘oh, so you’ve closed’. No, it doesn’t say that. It actually says the season starts and we’ve been counting down the sleeps. Everyone’s so excited that we’re actually getting back into netball.’’
That was Friday - opening night of netball’s awakening from its COVID slumber. Unsurprisingly, participant numbers are down, just as they are in many places, with more than 150 registered teams in 2019-20 having now dipped to 105.
“COVID has affected everybody in different ways, and it didn’t escape us, unfortunately,’’ says Abdy. “Netball came to a halt for so many people last year.
“The players have turned another 12 months older, so they’ve either ended up out at the (senior football/netball) leagues, or now moved further into their studies, moved away with university, and some still aren’t quite sure about playing.
“Covid made them quite uncertain. One of the things from a lot of our members, actually, when it came to competing this year, was because we weren’t allowed to compete last year due to having an indoor facility, they all actually voted to play outdoors in 2021 so that (any further restrictions) didn’t impact us as much.’’
Pam Ferrari, Netball Victoria’s North Region Manager, does not see an easy solution to the BSNA’s problem, especially given that the Bendigo Sports Stadium, which often stands empty on a Saturday, nevertheless has events booked for nine weekends during the season and is thus unavailable for permanent hire.
“The people on the ground and doing the grassroots work are all volunteers, so this has been a huge upheaval for them and really difficult for them to have to manage,’’ Ferrari says.
“Bendigo Strathdale need to have a home somewhere that’s going to be feasible for them and I don’t know where that is at this stage without some council input and council being prepared to put extra money into a facility,’’
Abdy, too, believes Bendigo is large enough to facilitate more than one venue, but needs the support of the City of Greater Bendigo to make this happen. The BSNA has some funds put aside for a new home, and Netball Victoria is offering any possible assistance with grant applications and other opportunities, but more is needed.
“Our squads have been very successful over a number of years, some of our girls are now playing VNL, and that’s all that we hope we can actually provide for them: the competition that they need for their growth and exposure,’’ says Abdy.
"Our members have great support from our admin team at AFL Central Victoria, and with the strong executive team in place, our priority is to ensure a brighter future for all.''
Written by Linda Pearce
