Written by Amelia Barnes
Sabrina Taylor gets teary talking about Jan Schulz, the recently retired president of St Albans Caroline Springs Netball Association (SACSNA).
What was meant to be a 12-month maternity cover turned into 41 years of volunteer service for Schulz, whose presence at the head of the association will be dearly missed.
“She's been like our netball mother. She's a mother hen to a lot of us,” said Taylor, who comes into the president role this year.
“She never does anything for recognition. She just puts her head down… She just does the work and doesn't expect anything out of it, all for community purposes.”
Over four decades, Schulz grew SACSNA into one of the largest netball associations in Melbourne with 171 teams now playing across four venues.
It’s a far cry from where local netball was when Schulz first became involved with SACSNA as a player.
The association officially began in 1976, when St Albans High School (now St Albans Secondary College) allowed the use of their facilities if SACSNA agreed to line the courts and raise money for lights.
“It was one outside court with some lighting boxes that you had to put coins in to keep the lights on,” said Schulz.
“Quite often you would run out of light in the middle of the game and someone would have to race over and put money in the coin slot!”
Schulz stepped up to the top position when the association's then-president fell pregnant.
“She asked me whether I'd take it on for 12 to 18 months until she came back, and she never came back!”
SACSNA flourished under Schulz’s leadership, soon growing from seven to 20 ladies teams and moving to an indoor court at St Albans Technical School in 1983.
A junior competition was established in 1989 – becoming the first to allow boys to play up to the age of 13 – before a senior mixed competition was added the following year.
Over the next decade, SACSNA expanded to 16 senior mixed teams, 28 ladies teams, and 43 junior teams.
A larger venue was desperately sought, so the association co-funded new facilities at Copperfield College alongside the local council. The association fundraised $198,000 to make the netball courts full-sized, and the council contributed $250,000 to cover an additional court.
SACSNA grew again in 2008 when teams began playing at Caroline Springs Leisure Centre, followed by Keilor Basketball Netball Stadium in 2016.
The association still plays across these three venues today, in addition to a competition a Cobblebank Stadium in Melton since 2022, and its representative teams that compete at Parkville’s State Netball Centre and Riverside Tennis and Netball Centre.
As president, Schulz was responsible for everything from drawing up fixtures, to organising umpires, and fundraising.
She balanced this role for many years with full-time work and raising two children alongside her late husband.
“Still as of last year, she was still working through the morning just to get fixtures done and making sure everyone's got all their information… I don't know how she did it,” said Taylor.
“I think that over the years she's dedicated probably just as much, if not more time, to netball and the community than what she has with her own family.”
Schulz’s legacy will endure through the association’s growth and progressive initiatives she spearheaded, such as encouraging male participation and championing inclusive uniform options.
“We were the first to have the shorts and the tops in our rep teams,” Schulz said.
“It's so good now, because you were so strict on the uniform rule that you lost players because they weren't comfortable in what they had to wear.
“There's been a big change there, and I think it's for the best.”
Recently departed Netball Victoria board member Michael Portaro, former Westside Saints head coach Darren Abela, and umpire Sean Steele are among the association’s former male players who have gone on to be heavily involved in the sport.
Schulz also helped raise the standard of play at SACSNA, as indicated by the success of the Westside Saints, who are the current Association Championships 13&U Female and 15&U Female title holders.
The pathway for athletes has never been stronger after Schulz contributed to securing the licence for new Victorian Netball League (VNL) team the Western Warriors, which the association now sponsors.
As a result, players can now progress from Woolworths NetSetGO right through to the VNL’s competitive pre-elite performance environment in the hopes of one day representing Victoria or Australia.
“To me, that was my job done – [catering] from babies right up to VNL,” said Schulz.
On announcing Schulz’s retirement, the SACSNA committee was sure to thank not only Schulz, but also her children, who sacrificed numerous hours with their mum growing up as she kept their competitions running.
“My daughter was two and a half when I took this on, and when they posted that I was retiring, my daughter said, ‘Hey, we finally get our mum back!’” Schulz said.
Schulz plans to step down from the committee entirely at the end of the year to move to the country where her daughter, son, and grandchildren are now based.
She will depart SACSNA knowing the association and netball in Melbourne’s west are in a better place because of her incredible contributions.
“She really has been a ground-breaker,” Taylor said.
