When competitive under-18 sport was finally cleared to resume in Victoria in October, the Terang and District Netball Association decided to organise a six-week mini-season to bring some late joy to a frustratingly inactive and socially distant year.
What happened next was something it did not expect.
Even pre-Covid, the issue had not been attracting junior - or primary school level - teams, as the sport remains, with football, at the heart of community life in the small town of just over 2000 about 45 kilometres from Warrnambool in the state’s south-west.
But with the two local footy-netball league clubs dominating as participant numbers typically dwindle in the mid-teen years, the secondary school cohort has proved harder to retain. Indeed, in 2019, there were insufficient players to even field a senior division in the TDNA’s long-running Tuesday indoor program.
As for 2020, of course, that brought an entirely different set of challenges that no-one had forseen.
“We met every time we could to get something off the ground, and every time we had plans that was thwarted by Covid,’’ says association president Alison Kenna. “So as soon as we saw the opening in October we just wanted to provide an opportunity for kids to play.
“We could see all these bored kids sitting at home after a long day on the computer, just wanting something to do, so it was just like ‘let’s just see what happens?” And they all just jumped at it. The response was unbelievable.’’
The fact that it would need to be run very differently was proof that administrators, too, can pivot. There would be a flat $5 entry fee for the season to relieve any financial strain, and a call put out for extra volunteers.
With health protocols precluding use of the usual indoor venue, contact was made with the local recreation reserve, and the four usable asphalt courts earmarked as a temporary new home.
“They were like ‘go for it. We’d all like to see kids playing any type of sport’,’’ says Kenna, who also acknowledged the support and co-operation of the Terang-Mortlake Football Netball Club, the Corangamite Shire and Netball Victoria. “Pretty much we got the same response from everybody: what can we do to help you?
‘’So then it was just a matter of seeing if the interest really was there, because at that point there was a return to community sport, but some people were still reluctant, I suppose.’’
Mostly the parents of younger children, it turned out, although enough players for five junior teams soon committed. It was the older kids who came in far bigger numbers, drawn in part by the more relaxed and flexible organisation. Thus, the 10 teams that entered more than doubled even the most optimistic estimates - among them 29 boys, including a handful of first-timers. Who knew?
Instead of allocating senior players according to ability to try to even out the competition, complete teams were registered, comprising friends, sometimes family members and whatever gender mix was preferred. That meant all girls (three teams), all boys (one) or mixed (six). Whatever worked.
“It was just ‘let’s see what’s out there’, and that’s all you can do really, is just provide opportunity. We’ve all got kids and they really didn’t have a lot to talk about all year and that’s what they were talking about: the netball,’’ Kenna says.
“They just loved it. Brothers playing against sisters, and cousins. It just added a whole new dimension. So many people have said ‘oh, I hope you do that again’.’’
No uniforms were required apart from the obligatory positional bibs, and latitude given to umpires in penalising the less experienced competitors. Sometimes, in one-sided matches, the result from half-time would stand but then the line-ups would be mixed around and the second half played strictly for fun.
Questions around why teenage girls in particular drift away from organised sport and how to keep them engaged still linger, but part of the answer may have been found. “We’re like ‘how do we get them back? Why is it that they’re not playing? Is it because they’re not with their friends, or is it because they’re just not interested?’,’’ says Kenna.
“So that’s why we thought we’d try something different, and it certainly was successful. Whether that’s because of Covid, or whether it’s because they could play with their friends, we don’t know. But it was a formula that worked, so we’ll probably go with something similar, I suppose, next time.’’
It was also a reminder of what netball means to the small Terang community, as well as its south-west neighbours such as Camperdown, Cobden and Mortlake, whose competitions did not go ahead.
“Obviously there’s the winning and losing aspect, but it’s about inclusiveness, and it’s a big part of people’s social lives,’’ says Kenna, a local primary school teacher who has noted how much the team sport connection was missed by young and old(er).
“Many of the mums said how nice it was to be able to stand and talk to someone and watch the kids play. We had to keep them outside the playing area and they were very understanding of that. It’s just any excuse to get out and enjoy, really.’’
So many beaming faces more than compensated for a couple of scraped knees, courtesy of the unforgiving asphalt. “We patched them up and put them back on and they were all good,’’ says Kenna. “All us 40 year olds said ‘this is how we learnt to play’. So it just had a nice feel to it, which I guess was the whole idea.’’
One that for the people of Terang added a happy late twist to the tale of a difficult year, and prompted a more positive outlook heading into 2021.
“It showed that there’s hope, I suppose. Even people that didn’t have children playing were like ‘I drove past, and it was so good just to see kids out playing’,’’ says Kenna.
“I had people personally coming up and saying ‘thanks for getting it off the ground. Thanks for the effort that you’ve gone to. My such and such has missed so much netball, and this is just great, so thank you’.’’
Written by Linda Pearce
