Senior netball

Pearcedale Netball Club president Christie Coates and secretary Diane Robertson are looking forward to their inaugural senior netball teams taking to the courts this weekend. 29465 Picture: Luke Plummer

By Stuart Teather
SATURDAY afternoon at Pearcedale Recreation Reserve will no longer be the sole domain of football, with two senior netball teams taking to the court for the first time in Pearcedale colours.
The Pearcedale Netball Club has long fielded junior teams but the 2009 season will be the first time the senior women suit up, marking the beginning of a new era.
The women will finally don the blue and white after years of attempts to get a team started, and will compete in the Nepean Football League’s new netball competition.
Club president Christie Coates and secretary Diane Robertson will lead the Pearcedale teams, and Robertson said they were ironing out the last minute issues before the season opener against Hastings this weekend.
“We’re just trying to get the girls to come to training to find out who is actually playing,” she said.
“A lot of them do come from Pearcedale, but there’s some girls with their partners playing at the football club who’ve come in to join as well.”
Some of the football clubs will not field netball teams throughout the season, and Robertson said on days off the two Pearcedale sides would play each other.
Despite leading one of the teams herself, the coach would not buy into the debate about which Pearcedale team was the better one.
“They’re both equal,” she said with a laugh.
The timing is perfect for the new team, with the recent Federal Government funding grant going towards a new court and a pavilion at the club.