For as long as I can remember, a winter Saturday morning has only meant one thing: netball. Ever since primary school, my mum, my sisters and I have spent countless Saturdays down at our local netball association, where we play, coach, umpire, and, every so often, enjoy a bacon and egg roll from the community-run BBQ. It’s often an all-day, if not all-weekend, affair. As juniors, Mum and Dad would cart us all around Sydney for representative carnivals, and we’re now avid fans and members of our national league team, the NSW Swifts, and frequently head out to Olympic Park to watch their matches in person. Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to have your weekends not taken up by the all-consuming force that is netball. But despite the commitment, there’s something about it that keeps us coming back every year.
For many girls and women across the country, their winter Saturday morning plans mimic mine. For decades, women and girls have flocked in droves to their local netball courts every weekend. Netball is Australia’s leading team sport for female participation, ranked only just behind AFL for overall participation across men and women. At its core, netball is a sport that was built for women, by women. In fact, Super Netball is the only professional league in Australia where the female code is the main event.
Perhaps that’s what makes the sport so special, and part of the reason I’m so passionate about it. It’s a sport where women have paved their own path, carving out a space for girls to thrive. And at the very heart of the sport is local associations. It’s here where a community is built, where friendships are made, and where the netball superstars of the future are born.
That’s why I have chosen to complete my public history project with Hills District Netball, my local association. Originally founded as the Hills District Women’s Basketball Association, it has been a thriving community organisation since 1968. Each year, HDNA runs a Winter Day competition which takes place every Saturday, as well as Spring and Summer Night competitions, which also involve mixed teams with both men and women. These competitions are run by a group of passionate and committed volunteers, some of whom have been involved in the association for decades. They’ve even had former players go on to become national league players, including Cath Cox, who played with HDNA and went on to captain the Australian Diamonds.
Throughout my project with HDNA, I hope to use my passion for netball to delve into the association’s rich history. Having been a part of the association’s netball competitions for years, I’d love to give back to the organisation through using my knowledge and skills to create an engaging public history project. Along the way, I hope to uncover how HDNA has evolved over the years into the netball-loving community it is today.