After a long 19-year wait, Glenelg returned to the Netball Victoria State Titles in 2022 and while they didn’t walk away with the trophy, it was still a momentous occasion for the region according to head coach Leah Sullivan.
Having moved out of the region for work, Sullivan was excited to be asked to take on the head coach role and play a part in helping her hometown return to the competition.
“I just said yes – I said you can lock me in everyday of the week, because [State Titles] was the best grounding for me as a junior player and probably as a person,” she said.
“You went away and you got to travel to the city, it helps regional players to access pathways into state teams and talent identification. The kids need to get out there and spread their wings and see what they can do.”
The region had faced various challenges over the years with the association splitting in half, reducing the number of athletes available for State Titles selection.
“Our major association back in the district split, half going to the Western border and half going to Hampden, so we thank our lucky stars for Jody Duckworth wanting to get Glenelg up and running again,” she said.
Sullivan paid further homage to Duckworth – the State Titles Officer – who was a major driving force in Glenelg’s return to the flagship event.
“Jody was integral in getting funding. He was still doing cupcake fundraisers the week before, he was really hands on,” she said.
“He just has an extreme love of the sport. You forget how important these people are – we show up as coaches or players or spectators and we think that it all just happens, but his work is so comprehensive. Jody’s just such a phenomenal person and we’re very lucky to have him.”
A former player for the Glenelg region herself, Sullivan emphasised the meaning of being involved in the State Titles from both a personal and professional perspective.
“We had Country Cup, we had State Championships and we were always quite competitive. We had that rivalry with Western to become the best in our area, so it was good to share that experience with this team – our uniform or how far we used to travel, where the try-outs used to take place and just the talent identification.
“Just to see the march at the opening ceremony and to see how many people are involved was terrific, I think that really brought out their competitive spirit.”
With players coming from across the region, Sullivan admits that it was difficult to get the whole team together for training sessions ahead of the event.
“The team that we put together had no expectations on what was going to happen, we just wanted to be competitive. None of the girls had been down to State Titles before.
"As a player from under 15s myself I had to try and explain to them the process, how difficult it is to start and stop and get yourself rolling for eight or nine mini matches – they just did extremely well. They came together as a group and I’m so proud of them.”
Given the limited time the side had together prior to the competition, they worked hard to stay connected and foster relationships off the court to help build their on-court performance.
“They’re all talented players, that’s a given, but to bring that talent together as a team on a netball court is very difficult and it’s a bit tricky when you don’t know each other,” Sullivan said.
“We spent a lot of time in chats, spoke about putting some general team rules in place and the focus of what we wanted for our team. I think the girls really did embrace it and saw the level that they could come up against and be competitive – the higher level you play, it brings out the best in you.”
Sullivan and Glenelg had a clear game plan: to be “fast and furious.”
“We were not going to rest on our laurels, we were going to look long and move the ball fast and if you made a mistake, it was what you did after that mistake that really counted,” she said.
“We wanted to encourage the girls to have a go and that’s exactly what they did. Some of it came off and looked amazing.”
Making it back to State Titles has invoked a hunger in Glenelg and Sullivan, who is already eyeing off next year.
“I said to the girls ‘you’ve got a taste for it now, so how about we come back?’ – we weren’t far off.”
Read more about the 2022 State Titles
