This special commemorative wristwatch, featuring the outline of a golden netball on its face, was presented to Patricia Kuhne when she won a Distinction Award with the Gippsland Netball Region in 1995.
Pat began playing netball at a primary school in Mordialloc in 1956, and soon after became part of the netball team at the local life-saving club. After moving to Leongatha in 1961, she joined the ‘Town’ Club, and was involved for 35 years with the A Grade ‘Black’ team, winning Association and Club Best and Fairest awards. She took on administrative duties for her Club, and was also the inaugural Secretary of the Leongatha and District Netball Association in 1966, and the inaugural President of the Gippsland Netball Region in 1984. Later she also served as a State Councillor for netball’s Eastern Zone Commission
Skill at umpiring was also part of Pat’s extensive repertoire. In 1969, she attained her ‘A’ Grade Umpires Badge, and by 1980 Pat had been appointed as an umpires’ course instructor for the Victorian Netball Association (now Netball Victoria).
Pat was awarded Life Membership of the ‘Town’ Club in 1983, and after decades of service in a range of capacities, she also achieved Life Membership with the Leongatha and District Netball Association in 1986, and the Gippsland Netball Region in 2002.
Pat’s accomplishments have also been acknowledged more widely. She was the recipient of an Australian Sports Award in 2000, was a finalist in the 2003 Victorian Sports Awards, and was deservedly honoured with Life Membership of Netball Victoria in 2004. By 2015, Pat had also found time to compile and publish a book celebrating the jubilee history of the Leongatha and District Netball Association.
In July 2006, Pat graciously donated her unique ‘netball watch’ to Netball Victoria’s Edith Hull Collection.
