By David Nagel
It’s hard to know if deep down Bunyip Netball Club Life Member Barb Giblin really wants the club to win its next A Grade premiership at all.
You see Barb has a deal in place – a handshake agreement if you like – with club president Jade Taylor that she will continue to score for the club’s A grade netball team until it next holds up the precious piece of silverware.
But you get the feeling that Barb would be a tad disappointed if she had to give away her weekly scoring duties through the middle of winter, such is her love and dedication to the club.
“Yeah, you’re probably right, I don’t know what I’d do on Saturdays without my netball,” Barb said with a giggle.
Barb first got involved at the club 31 years ago, when her daughter Karen started playing in the juniors. She immediately joined the committee and began her scoring duties and has continued with both roles ever since.
Barb, who lives in Iona, has stuck at Bunyip despite Karen getting married, having kids, and moving to Gembrook, while four of her five sons who played football at Bunyip, Scott, Michael, Stephen and Matt, have all moved away from home and are no longer involved at the club.
“I genuinely love the Bunyip Netball Club, there’s something about being part of that community that makes me not want to walk away,” Barb said.
“I stuck around, kept scoring, and I’m a life member now which I’m very proud of. My grandson has started playing in the under 10s but apart from that I’m the only family member at the club.”
Barb has held down numerous roles in her 31 years at the club, a committee member, a 30-year netball representative on grounds management, and president and vice president just to name a few.
She has also represented Bunyip at Ellinbank and District league meetings, a league she has a very soft spot for from her experiences in years gone by.
“The Ellinbank days were fantastic, it was so friendly and we got to meet so many people and you would look forward to seeing those people at least once or twice a year,” Barb said.
“I still love it but this new league is a little bit different…it was just a great atmosphere back in the Ellinbank days.”
Barb never had the opportunity to play netball. Her dad worked hard in the old butter factory in Drouin and her mum never drove so it was a tough task to get to training and games. She says volunteering is the next best thing and she has great respect for those very few that put their hand up on a regular basis.
“Without volunteers clubs would not be able to function, and you find it’s the same people that do all those jobs,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re involved in it seems to be the same people involved and I admire all of them, past and present volunteers at Bunyip, and all clubs, for all the great work that they do.”
And there’s not a lot that happens in Bunyip that Barb doesn’t know about, with her years of volunteering and one-day-a-week employment at the local kindergarten giving her a unique insight into the changing demographic of the community.
“Bunyip’s a small community, I know a lot of people from over the years but there’s also a lot of new people coming through with young kids and hopefully they embrace our local community,” she said.
Barb’s husband Peter also played football at Bunyip, while his dad Martin Giblin was a premiership player with Garfield before a falling out with the club changed the family’s allegiances.
“I can’t remember the full story but from that time on the Giblin’s vowed to only ever play their footy at Bunyip,” Barb recalls.
“We’re all fine now, but I remember it being a bit of an issue back in the day.”
Barb said the Bunyip netball club really does hold a special place in her heart.
“It means a lot actually, my daughter played there, my boys played at Bunyip, my husband played footy at the club, it’s been a big part of our family for a long time,” she said.
“I just don’t know what I would do without it.”
Well Barb, let’s hope that Bunyip A grade netball team of yours doesn’t win a premiership and you don’t have to find out!
