By STEVE MENZIES
Leanne Southam was made a life member this morning of the KFC Alice Springs Netball Association whose AGM set the scene for the 2021 season beginning on Friday evening.
Southam has been involved in many roles within the sport attracting some of the town’s largest player numbers since arriving in Alice Springs in the mid 1990s, firstly as a player, before moving on to being a member of various committees, coaching club and association teams and becoming president of the Rovers Netball Club.
“It’s a shock,” she said. “I had no idea about this. This is a good association to be a part of.”
ASNA president John Gaynor thanked everyone involved for the exceptional 2020 season during the COVID 19 pandemic.
“I’m immensely proud of the way the board responded to the pandemic, the manner in which the season interruption and the recommencement was managed, the way clubs responded and the way players and supporters complied, participated and prevailed,” he said.
“Netball was the first sport in the Centre to get underway when restrictions were relaxed.
“With the support of both the Alice Springs Town Council and the NT Government, and the unwavering support of our sponsors, we were able to offer a greater than 20% discount on fees to help our members weather the financially uncertain time.
“We have turned a net profit that will enable us to reinvest in our facility and our game, for the benefit of all netball players and the future of our game in the Centre.”
Gaynor thanked retiring board members Katie Gill, Kathleen Axten and Susan Turner for their contribution and in particular David Yeaman who is not continuing on the board after more than 25 years as a member.
Over the years Yeaman has been an NT delegate to Netball Australia, coached local, Alice Springs and NT teams. He is the only NT coach to take a team to fourth place in the national titles.
Four new members were elected to the board: Kirsten Bainbridge, Karla Foster, Sarah Bonney and Fiona Bell, while Gaynor, Carly Ross, Tania Collins, Emily Bainbridge and Steve Menzies were re-elected to their 2020 positions.
Other board members are Heidi Wilkinson, Rawina Schwalger, Stacey Dicker and Sally Crispe are in the second year of their term.
The Alice Springs netball community will celebrate 50 years of the sport in the Red Centre on Friday and Saturday May 14 and 15.
This will include a replay of the 2020 grand final between Federal and Rovers at 3pm on the Saturday.
This has meant the first KFC A-grade game of the season on Friday evening will be between Rovers and Wests at 9pm.
All grades from 17-and-under to A-grade are on Friday (the four 9pm games will be in the stadium) with the younger grades on Saturday: Under 11 at 10am, under-13s at 11am and under-15s from noon.
PHOTO: August 2020 – Federals’ Tegan Hatzimihail takes control. Social Media NT.