We have had a fantastic end to the 2018 season with thirteen teams making it through to the first week of semi finals, three teams playing in the preliminary finals and then eight teams playing off in grand finals on Saturday 15 September. To those teams who didn’t make finals this year, some of you missed out by percentage only, which is a great effort and as we know with many divisions of multiple Hamersley teams we were not able to have all of them represent on Grand Final day as there simply weren’t enough spots! What was great this year in particular was the number of parents, current and past players, committee members and supporters around the courts who came down to support the teams in the grand finals. It shows a real commitment to the club and I know that the teams playing appreciated seeing all red, white and blue cheering for them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our coaches, assistant coaches and apprentice coaches. You are an amazing bunch of people who week in and week out rock up to the courts and give everything to your teams. Our players are very fortunate to be in such capable hands. On this year’s grand final day, we definitely experienced the highs and the lows with a mixture of wins and losses, most of them very close. The day started off bright and early with our 15U Division 1 Teams 11 and 12 playing each other. This is a great achievement for the club, considering in this division we had 4 teams out of 8 representing Hamersley and what a high-quality game it was, played with great skill and sportsmanship. It was close throughout, with Team 12 managing to come over the top of Team 11 in the dying minutes to take the win by one goal in a well-deserved and hard-fought win. At the same early timeslot, Team 16 went down in a close loss to Rangers by 1 goal! You also played your hearts out girls and should be very proud of your efforts. At 11am, it was our 12U Division 1 team’s turn to give it their all and that they did, going down to West Coasters in a hard fought match by 7 with all girls putting in a mighty effort. At the 1pm timeslot, our 13U Division 1 team worked together so well, and never gave up against a tough opponent Paua Rose missing out by 3 goals. Our 18U Division 1 team, composed predominantly of 15 and 16 year olds had a very close encounter with no more than a few goals separating them throughout the 60 minutes, going down in the final minutes by 2 goals to Wanneroo Rebels. Such skill and determination was on display and it was excellent netball to watch. Onto our Open teams, and in Division 1 Wanneroo Rebels were just too strong for Team 2 on the day taking out the Division 1 Premiership by 18 goals. However, for me the game of the day would have to be Hamersley 4 in Open Div 3 who came from 11 goals behind in the first quarter to finish strongly and win the game over Steelers by 8. The atmosphere was electric with supporters totally engaged and invested. As we know grand finals don’t come around every day and this group of players played with no fear and left everything out on that court. They took up the challenge and dug in when the chips were down showing us all how to claw back and slog it out for a win. It was an extremley positive end to the day – well done Team 4! The day concluded with a Sundowner at Kingsway Olympic and was a chance for coaches, committee, players, parents and supporters to share stories (the ups and the downs) and reflect on a wonderful day. Thanks to Mel Hunter for organising what is now becoming an annual event.

Our inaugural Hamersley Netball Club Raffle was drawn on Saturday 25th August 2018 and the results were; 1st Prize - $1,000 cash won by Lisa Lemus. 2nd Prize - Keratin Hair Smoothing Treatment won by Colleen Pierson. 3rd Prize - Exofit Training Systems voucher won by Giorgia Pezzando. 4th Prize - Sonos Play 1 Speaker won by Arina Fouche. 5th Prize - Hear Us Raw voucher won by Shailin Mandalia. Three prizes were awarded for the most raffle tickets sold. Congratulations to Lyn Pemberton, Sienna Keeling and Zoe Hunter who sold the most tickets for the club. Congratulations to all our winners!! Due to the generous support of our raffle sponsors and the great efforts of all our Hamersley Netball Club family, we successfully raised $5,800 for the club. This is a fantastic effort, so from the fundraising committee members, a big thank you!!

Amy joined Hamersley in 2007, playing in Junior Division 1 and came away with a Premiership. What a great start! Amy then moved into the Open divisions where she has played the last 8 seasons in Open Division 1. Amy has also represented WDNA and WCNR (including WANL) over the years as well as being selected to represent the State in 17s & 19s. More recently Amy has been involved with the No Limits program at Hamersley as a coach and has also represented the State as the Manager for the Marie Little OAM Shield. As a player, Amy has proven to be one of the toughest competitors on court, always giving 110% and happy to take on any role that is given to her. You are a fantastic team player and club person Amy and we are very grateful to have your experience benefiting the club both on and off the court. Congratulations Amy on reaching your 150 Game milestone for Hamersley, we can’t wait to watch the next 150 games unfold.

Sarah started with HNC in 2002 as a 12 year old and throughout that time she has represented the association on 4 occasions and the region for 3 years. Sarah represented WA in 2005 with the State School Girls and again in 2008 with the 19’s and under state team. In 2006, Sarah started her State League career with Falcons in the 19 & Under division, quickly moving to Division 2 and League in the coming years. In 2102, Sarah moved to the Perth Lions League team, and in 2015 Sarah was inducted into the West Coast Warriors Hall of Fame. 2014 saw Sarah move to London where she continued playing at a club level, and in 2017 we welcomed her back. Well done Sarah, we look forward to many more years of you playing with HNC.

Hayley has been a member of Hamersley Netball Club since she was 12 years old, in 2002. A stalwart of club, Hayley has been part of 6 premiership winning teams, five as a player and one as a coach. Not only has Hayley played and coached for Hamerlsey, she has umpired for 9 years and achieved her National C Badge in 2011. As a loyal servant of the club, Hayley has been on the HNC committee for 4 years as a member of the Communications team. She has represented her association and region, and played WANL Division 2 for the Wheatbelt Flames. Hayley continues to demonstrate her loyalty to Hamerlsey Netball Club and her leadership on and off the netball court. We look forward to another 250 inspirational games from you Hayls!

Rachel started with HNC in 2002 as a 12 year old. Since then she has represented at association level 11 times and at regional level on 4 occasions. Rachel has also been to Hawaii for the Associated and Catholic Colleges tournament in 2006. In 2007 Rachel was part of West Coast Falcons Division 2 team, finishing 3rd. Most recently Rachel has extended her family to include beautiful Kobe, which saw her take a year off and return this season in Team 2, finishing 2nd in the grand final game against Rebels. Rachel is a consistent and reliable club member, also serving on the committee as Player Representative for 3 years. Thank you Rachel for your loyalty and commitment to the club now and into the future.

Not long to go now! We are all looking forward to our 2018 Annual Awards High Tea in the beautiful and luxurious Joondalup Resort on Sunday 21 October. Proceedings start at 1:30pm and are due to finish at 5:00pm. Please remember there is a dress code: Cocktail attire, strictly no jeans or thongs ladies and gentlemen!

This year Hamersley offered a Leadership Program to provide opportunity for team captains and vice-captains, and non-playing leaders (coaches and committee) to develop their leaderships skills. Former member Karly Guadagnin was bought onboard as the club’s Leadership Consultant and facilitated the sessions. Through the program our leaders learnt the importance of developing relationships with their team mates and being curious - not defensive when receiving feedback. I was truly amazed at the development of our leaders over the season, especially the increased confidence of the younger leaders and the improved self-awareness of our senior leaders. I’d like to thank Karly and Kat McKenzie (Leadership/Culture Subcommittee member) who coordinated the program. Information about 2019’s Leadership Program will be available in April 2019 on the club website.

Name: Connor Rawlings
Age: 19
Occupation: Heath & Physical Education Student Teacher at ECU

"Netball isn’t seen, typically, as a men’s sport. So how did you start playing netball?"

"You’re in the Men’s West Australian Netball League competition, who do you play for and what position do you play?"

"Tell us a little about what other things you’ve done in the netball realm."

"Do you have any interests outside of netball?"

"What do you hope for Men’s netball in the future?"

"What’s your view about the similarities & differences between the men’s and the women’s games?"

"What’s the appeal of playing netball rather than another sport?"