By Russell Bennett
WEST GIPPSLAND FOOTBALL NETBALL COMPETITION
REVIEW – ROUND 15
Kooweerup Netball Club has always had a reputation as a family club, but never has that truly been the case more than it was on Saturday at Denhams Road when C Grade player Jodie Oliver got the chance to play alongside both her daughters, Amy and Meg.
It was the first time that’d ever had that opportunity, and it could well be the last.
“I’ve been retiring from netball for quite some time… well, not really,” Jodie said with a laugh following Saturday’s game, a 37-goal win over Garfield 47-10.
After picking up a nasty injury in last year’s grand final, she’d decided that was it – no more netball.
But, as has happened before, she was talked around to playing again.
If she remained steadfast in her decision to retire, then Saturday’s events never would have transpired.
“I think I first went to the club in about 1999 and I’ve probably had about 10 seasons with them, I’d say,” said Jodie, who started her netballing journey at Cora Lynn, where she admired another mother-daughter combination.
“The girls have pretty much sat in the pram watching me play netball with people babysitting them on the sidelines,” Jodie said of her daughters’ formative years in the sport.
“It’s been on and off because it’s quite hard when you’ve got younger kids, and a husband playing football.”
Truth be told, Jodie has no idea how many games she’s played to this point. Not a clue.
But that’s never been a focus.
If she was to start counting games, then Saturday’s would have been a great place to start.
Amy, like Jodie, is a C Grade regular while Meg – an under-17s player – subbed on part-way through the clash.
“It was a real shock,” Jodie said of the moment.
“I just thought ‘you sneaky buggers!’.”
The entire club, plus the Gazette and its photographer Stewart Chambers, had managed to keep Meg’s inclusion into the team a secret. Somehow.
“That speaks volumes of the netball club,” Jodie said.
“They do think about those things. It’s nice that they go out of their way to make you feel special for the day.
“It was just great because I actually hadn’t played netball with the two of them at all.”
Jodie is adamant this time around that 2018 will be her final season, so Saturday might just have been one hell of a memorable one-off.
“Meg got a message on Friday night telling her what they had planned, so it’d apparently been in the works for a few weeks, but Amy didn’t know either,” Jodie said.
“She can’t keep a secret so Meg decided not tell her! (laughs).”
Amy, who’s in Year 12, wasn’t supposed to be playing netball this year but she signed up without her parents knowing.
“I wasn’t going to play and when they approached me to play one more season, she was actually the one who convinced me into playing again,” Jodie said.
After her injury last year, Jodie admits “cracking the shits with the game” but is so glad she was talked into one, final swansong.
“It was just so thoughtful,” she said of Saturday’s game.
“I guess that sums up the club – they try and make it a good family club and to have those moments that are quite unforgettable.”
Jodie won’t be forgetting the game in a hurry, but added there was one moment in particular that’ll be forever engrained in her memory – a passage where all three girls were involved with a link-up play, resulting in a goal for their side.
In A Grade in Round 15, Inverloch Kongwak proved too strong for Bunyip in the second half, winning 55-37 at home; Dalyston outlasted Korumburra-Bena in a repeat of last season’s grand final; Kooweerup was far too strong for Garfield, winning by 70 goals 86-16; Cora Lynn defeated Kilcunda Bass 54-27; and Phillip Island once again showed why it’s the class of the competition to this point of the season, defeating Nar Nar Goon at home 52-28.
