It’s been an incredibly tough couple of years for Victoria’s netball community. Clubs have experienced multiple COVID-19 lockdowns restricting community sport, in addition to bushfires just prior in 2019/2020 that ravaged parts of the state.
Swifts Creek Football Netball Club were among those heavily affected by the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, which saw more than half of the East Gippsland local government area burnt (1.1 million hectares). More than 1,000 registered Aboriginal heritage places were impacted; habitats and national parks were seriously affected; and hundreds of homes, businesses, community facilities, roads, and fences were damaged or destroyed.
Across Australia, the bushfires caused 33 deaths and almost 450 more from smoke inhalation.
Barely a month after the fires were contained, COVID-19 restrictions were announced. This made the recovery much more difficult for fire-affected residents, many of whom were living in sheds, caravans, and temporary accommodation after 380 primary places of residence were destroyed across the East Gippsland Shire Council area.
The impacts on socialising and mental health over this time were also significant, especially in rural areas where residents are often isolated.
“It was quite stressful because that natural community recovery process that would happen post fires was delayed significantly,” said Lou-anne Mooney, netball coordinator at the Swifts Creek Football Netball Club and netball development coordinator for the Omeo District Football Netball League.
“Usually, once fire season is dusted off, you come to the footy and netball to catch up with everyone; debrief about everything; give everyone some cuddles and cry together…but you couldn’t do any of that.”
All this followed more than three years of drought conditions in East Gippsland that had already affected the largely agricultural area surrounding Swifts Creek.
Throughout these devastating events. Swifts Creek Football Netball Club remained a shining light and pillar for the community. Circumstances meant the club couldn’t have a 2020 netball season, but they continued to host social events, as restrictions allowed, to bring members together.
The club’s home ground, Swifts Creek Recreation Reserve, was also used as a base camp over the Black Summer bushfires, providing a place for more 400 firefighters from Victoria, interstate, and overseas to eat and sleep.
Fortunately, Swifts Creek Football Netball Club are bouncing back in 2022 with strong participation and enthusiasm.
“People in general were surprisingly really keen to get back into sport,” said Mooney. “I know some clubs went the other way and are really still struggling to re-engage people back to their club, but for us, people were itching to get back into it.”
In another major boost for the club, Swifts Creek Recreation Reserve recently received $1.92 million in funding as part of the Local Economic Recovery Program (for communities and local governments in disaster-affected areas). This funding will go towards new change rooms, a multipurpose building, and upgraded tennis and netball courts at the club’s shared home ground.
“At the moment there’s a lot of foundation issues [to the netball courts] as they were made in the ‘60s and ‘70s…There was also water damage in 1998 floods; and they’re on old concrete slabs that move, so any resurfacing we do, the cracks just reappear,” Mooney said. “We won’t know ourselves with the new ones!”
The club looks forward to the commencement of construction in the following months and the completed upgrades that will benefit the entire community. “There’s a really nice positive vibe at the moment,” Mooney said.
Swifts Creek Football Netball Club is affiliated with WorkSafe Country Netball League. WorkSafe strives to prevent workplace injuries, illness and fatalities and for more than 35 years has raised the standard of health and safety in Victorian workplaces.
