One of Victoria’s oldest netball associations has marked the beginning of a new era this month when they took up residency at the recently developed Fairlea Reserve netball courts in Yarra Bend Park.
Ariels VCNA moved into the $8 million City of Yarra facility with a launch last Sunday, and plans to host Woolworths NetSetGO, a Fast5 competition and the hub for their U11 representative side at the venue, with a strong focus on building junior participation in the area.
Established in 1930 in Melbourne’s eastern region, Ariels VCNA was a proud representative side in the Victorian Netball League (VNL), but after an unsuccessful licence bid at the end of 2023, the organisation found itself asking ‘who are we?’.
Ariels President Julie-Anne Le Nepveu admitted they were dealt some home truths, and sought the mentorship of Netball Victoria.
“We had to take a really good, hard, long look at ourselves,” Le Nepveu said.
“So much of who we were was wrapped up in VNL. We realised we don't have a competition. We never have.”
“We had a group of teams that were there to finance our VNL side as well as create the pathway for athletes coming through. But it was clear to us after meeting with Netball Victoria that it wasn't a true representation, because we didn't have the grassroots competition under us.”
Ariels was at a crossroads on whether to become a club or to keep their association going, and decided to honour their 94-year history with plans to create a rich grassroots pathway.
At the same time, Netball Victoria became aware of an $8 million netball facility in Yarra Bend Park that was unopened and without a tenant. Like any good match maker, Netball Victoria laid the groundwork for a prosperous marriage between Ariels VCNA and the City of Yarra.
Le Nepveu said the netball facility that had been lying dormant for two years was a rare find – it boasted eight courts, seven of which were solely devoted to netball, and could host regional tournaments while being located in the inner city.
The netball participation numbers in the City of Yarra have been slowly increasing – from 833 participants in 2016 to 1,452 in 2023 – and for the Ariels, it’s the perfect location to accelerate positive change.
“There is so much scope for netball to grow in the inner north part of Melbourne that it's just opened up an exciting venture to really grow the participation of netball and take it to higher levels,” Le Nepveu said.
Despite their grand plan for this facility to help reinvent themselves, Ariels is starting small, launching their offering last Sunday 14 July.
“We're starting in schools. We don't want to step on anyone’s toes – we want to complement the netball that’s already in the area,” Le Nepveu said.
“If we can have five clubs next year, or five school teams, that will kick our first gear. So our first goal is to start with NetSetGO and a junior competition in Under 13s and Under 15s. And then in 2026 we want to have Under 17s and then the open age competitions. That's our goal.”
With eight courts to utilise, the world is their oyster.
“It's going to be fantastic because we're going to be able to provide school clinics, boys competitions, NetSetGO, Saturday competitions, social competitions, Fast5 competitions, walking netball, like the whole thing!”
It’s all part of their 10-year plan to reinvent themselves; where they once competed on the VNL courts, they’ll soon take pride in creating its future athletes, and hope to write a history that Ariels stalwarts can be proud of.
“We want to have a really strong representative team that is creating a great pathway into the VNL and wherever they go after that. That's the goal – is the pathway,” Le Nepveu said.
“We want that pathway going through in 10 years to be able to look back on… not just for our players, but for our coaches, our umpires, our volunteers, everybody that's involved. We want them to be able to look back and go, ‘I was really proud to be a part of the Ariels' grassroots story’.”
