When Netball Victoria relocates next year to the shiny new redeveloped version of its spiritual home at Royal Park, there will not just be a focus on the sport’s future, but a much more visible celebration of its past.
A feature of the State Government-funded $64.4 million rebuild of the State Netball and Hockey Centre (SNHC) will be the opportunity to display key heritage items dating back almost a century.
That includes a precious dress from the 1930s, the misplaced Dunlop 'Golden Boot' trophy that in 1986 interrupted the 10-year National Championship reign of NSW, the bell that was rung across courts for decades, and the autographed memento of a violent political protest - all painstakingly archived and catalogued by sports historian Rob Hess and his volunteer team on Netball Victoria’s Heritage Taskforce.
Once the organisation completes its move from its West Melbourne office to Parkville (dubbed 'from King (St) to Royal'), there will also be a special place for a piece of the old Anne Henderson Stadium, reconstructed from what could have been mistaken for an old pile of timber with painted yellow markings.
“In the dark, dingy, dusty basement we came across a box of floorboards, and when we put the jigsaw together it was from the old Royal Park Netball Centre. Someone obviously had the forethought to rescue the boards from demolition and made the decision to keep these pieces of wood,’’ says Hess.
“Together they form a yellow centre circle from that facility. It’s now been glass-encased and we’re thinking this artefact could actually be a lovely coffee table in the staff room, or it could go on display, because this object allows us to tell part of the history of the State Netball Hockey Centre and how it’s been netball’s home for so many years.’’
Sports history is something Hess knows plenty about. The former associate professor at Victoria University (VU) helped to establish the football museum opened for the Western Bulldogs by its famous supporter, then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, in 2013.
That led to his initial netball involvement organising practical projects for VU Sport and Exercise students based around the history of a sport Hess describes as “still under-exposed, sometimes misunderstood and often under-appreciated by not just the sporting community, but the general public across Australia.’’
After he retired from academic life at the end of 2017, a series of lunch dates with Netball Victoria CEO, Rosie King, (“I think heritage is in her DNA,’’ he says, approvingly) and Melinda Schoffelen, ended with the now 62-year-old accepting a role coordinating the Heritage Taskforce.
Much of its early material came from the netball pioneer Edith Hull, who first represented Victoria in 1929, with many other items donated since. Among the treasures; photographs, trophies, medallions, scrapbooks and autographed balls.
Recruitment of long-time netball people was deemed to be essential to the success of the project, and current board member, Gayle Lambert, assembled a core group comprising herself and Hess, Gill Hardeman (who had spent years completing an initial listing of the items), Kaye Gill and Anne Gibson. They meet up once or twice a week over morning tea, and are joined when possible by Judy Wittingslow, and former Australian players, Jeanette Cato and June Noseda.
“They love coming along and having a chat, and sharing their memories as they sit around and methodically catalogue a wide range of items, some of which relate to their own netball careers or others which require some detective skills,’’ says Hess, who has utilised a grant from the Public Record Office of Victoria to ensure that the highest industry standards are maintained and that current museum archiving protocols are followed.
Considering the imminent move to the new SNHC facility, it was imperative that the items be re-housed in archival-quality storage boxes. More recently, thought has been given to which of the estimated 10,000 artefacts - and the stories behind them - will be most suitable for the purpose-built display cabinets.
“We’re aiming to catalogue everything in the collection in a responsible heritage-proficient manner,’’ says Hess, admitting that the examples of investigative research work include matching unidentified uniforms to photographs from different eras.
Surprises abound, regularly, with one interesting tale told on the Netball Victoria website about the small yellow card with a Springbok monogram signed by the touring South African team in 1970, when anti-apartheid activists staged a violent protest at the game against Victoria.
One of the group members, Kaye Gill, was a ball girl cut by glass broken during the demonstration that involved petrol bombs being thrown and which ultimately led to multiple arrests.
“Although Kaye had vivid memories of the event, it was that small, almost obscure, object which inspired us to investigate and re-tell the story of a very controversial game in netball history,’’ says Hess. “Otherwise, we might have remained oblivious to the meaning and hidden history behind the autographed card.’’
The missing 'Golden Boot' was located at the National Sports Museum at the MCG, while another precious find was Eloise Southby’s kitbag from the 2003 World Championships in Jamaica.
With an ongoing Oral History Project, and a pop-up museum unveiled at last year’s State Titles to take history to the community, “the ultimate internal goal of the Taskforce is to create an inward-focused, one-click searchable data base related to the heritage collection. The ultimate external goal is to have a greater outward-focused web-based presence for the heritage collection’’.
Given that Netball Victoria is currently housed in a working office, rather than a museum or memorabilia showcase, all will be unveiled in a physical sense in 2021.
“Given the lack of public accessibility to the archives, we’ve really been keen to have some dedicated spaces at the new facility and for history and heritage to be embedded throughout the building,’’ says Hess.
“So rather than just having an isolated cabinet gathering dust in a corner, we’re working closely with the Victorian Government to make sure that various aspects of Netball Victoria’s rich history are highly visible to the public as they come through the facility.’’
Written by Linda Pearce
