Country netball teams in doubt

By Taylor Clyne
February 03, 2021

Doubt has been cast over the future of the Winnaleah Netball Club after they were not able to form a committee at their annual general meeting on Sunday evening.

The move was particularly upsetting for a club with so much history and a special crisis meeting will now be held on February 13 in a last chance bid to continue.

President Bec Fenton said following Branxholm’s Netball Club going into recess last year she didn’t think Winnaleah would be heading in the same direction so soon.

“It’s a real shame but I’m really hoping that people will come along to our meeting in a fortnight and get around us,” she said.

“All positions are available, and nobody put their hand up for any of them, it's that thing where a group of people have carried the club and been the backbone for so long, but they can't keep doing it forever – especially if they’ve moved out of the area or kids have grown up.

“It’s time for new people to rally around us and put their hand up to take on a role for our upcoming local kids.”

Mrs Fenton said she believes it's come to more of a head following the closure of the Winnaleah Football Club.

“They always went hand in hand, it was a family weekend, but now more and more people are moving out of country towns, it's community wide – there aren’t jobs for them here either.”

Since the mechanisation of forestry and agriculture, especially over the past 20 years, it has no doubt resulted in fewer families living in and around smaller towns and fewer employees required to run larger dairy farms and to produce large quantities of plantation wood.

This has been happening right across the state and has placed severe pressure on small country towns, not just for the survival on sporting teams but for the very survival of the town themselves.

The same can be said for the Ringarooma Netball Club with president Belinda Fletcher not confident that they will be able to field teams.

“We’re really going to struggle; our AGM is in a few weeks, but I’m already concerned about the lack of player and committee numbers.

“We need the support. A lot of people buying properties in and around Ringarooma are retirees and not playing sport, it's tricky to ask people to travel – there are a whole range of issues,” she said.

“I’d say we, like Winnaleah, are hopeful and keen to get teams together but we are not confident, not confident at all.” 

If you would like to support the great North-East netball clubs and sport in the region as a whole, please rally your support today and get in contact via their Facebook pages.