Wonga Park Netball Club

History

Club History

 

WONGA PARK NETBALL CLUB INC.

Wonga Park Netball Club Inc. was founded in 1979 by local resident Carmel Black. At that time, Carmel played netball and umpired games herself and  thought it would be a good idea to start up a club in the local area that particularly catered for young girls.

Being and to this day still is the Crossing Supervisor for the Yarra Road Primary School, Carmel was able to gauge the level of support for the idea of establishing a Netball Club. With the help of Ros Frame, the two ladies set to work gaining interest from the local community and were pleased with the response that was received, with 90% of girls from Yarra Road Primary School and the remainder from Wonga Park Primary School.

The players were all asked to vote on a name for their new club and the result was the Yarra Road Netball Club.

The new teams were entered at M.E.N.A which was located at Heathmont Reserve. This association covered the areas of Ringwood, Doncaster, Lilydale and Montrose. Due to a lack of court space, the home and away games were played at three different venues - Heathmont, Doncaster and Lilydale.

The club had to supply umpires for every game and Carmel Black, Marg Beale and Ros Frame duly offered their services. Yarra Road Netball Club had no practice courts to call their own and so practice was held on a very old court at Yarra Road Primary School. This court was cracked with weeds growing up between the cracks. There were no lines marked on the court so each week lines were marked out using chalk or dry clay. There was only one goal ring so one team would practice on the court whilst the other three teams practiced on the cricket pitch. The teachers at the school all banded together one weekend and painted lines on the court and put up a new ring for the girls.

The end of year Presentation barbeque was held at the Yarra Road Primary School and all players received a trophy. Parents and families were very committed at the beginning of the club. In the early days, coaches had to umpire their own teams.
 
In 2016 the Wonga Park Netball Club plays with the Lilydale & Yarra Valley Netball Association (LYVNA) and has around 150 players across 17 teams registered for the winter season.
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