Netball has the ability to bring people and communities together, and that has proven to be the case for Dederang Mount Beauty with the netball club recording a record-high number of senior division participants for the 2022 season.
After two heavily interrupted seasons due to the COVID pandemic, the local community is chomping at the bit to get back out on the netball courts and back to the sport that they love according to head coach, Justine Goonan.
“We’ve got two towns together for our club and we have had a great influx of senior players coming to our pre-season and our trials this year, the most we’ve had in a really long time which is pretty fantastic coming off two years of COVID,” she said.
Although it has been challenging to keep the passion and drive alive over the past couple of years, the proud coach said the club has had a few stalwarts that have stuck by it through thick and thin.
“We were lucky to have a great core group that stayed with us in 2020 into 2021. When 2020 didn’t really get off the ground, the same group continued on for 2021 and they were just really keen to play netball.
“We did the best we could, we adopted the motto of ‘flexibility and adaptability’ which the other coaches would laugh at because that’s what I said all throughout 2021.
“We did have a great deal of player unavailability, which meant that some of our senior girls played multiple quarters across multiple grades to make sure we could field a competitive side,” she said.
When asked about what sparked the influx of players, Goonan put it down to the great culture of Mount Beauty and the people at the club.
“We’re very lucky to have had players that have played with us in the past come back this year, and they’ve brought friends that have heard about our club and our culture and the great things that we do and they’ve come to join us.
“We’re lucky to have a lot of people at Dederang and Mount Beauty that have been involved in netball at our club for years. We’ve always had a great core group and over the past three years we’ve been able to add onto it which has been fantastic.”
Goonan says that the main aim of Dederang Mount Beauty is to provide a supportive environment for all, while also getting participants out there and playing netball.
“We have a very welcoming community. We have fun on the court, we have fun at training, and we have fun off the court. We like being around each other which means it’s not just netball, we’re there to support people. Throughout COVID we were our own little community, supporting one another and encouraging each other in tough times,” she said.
“I am one of three senior coaches - we have a great senior coaching crew, we have a great netball committee and I’m just one part of a group that works together to bring our community together and to work towards success.”
While Dederang Mount Beauty is reaping the rewards of more players signing up, Goonan is hoping that will translate onto the court ahead of the 2022 season.
“I think with our new additions – they will help strengthen the core group that we already had and hopefully that will start to lead to some success on the netball court. While we’ve experienced some success over the years with wins, I think we’ve got a real prime opportunity to see our grades elevate to more continuous success. Hopefully some finals berths would be fantastic.”
“Hopefully people see some value in being a part of our club, both on and off the court. Success is not just wins, although they’re really nice, but we want everyone enjoying their netball,” she said.
