QUEANBEYAN Netball Association stalwart Jodi Ross will miss a milestone family birthday party this Saturday to be with her ACT State League division five girls for their grand final, and her last match with the association.
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Ross, an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, will be posted to Queensland next year, forcing her to bid farewell to the QNA after 14 straight years of coaching, umpiring and administrating with them, in addition to playing with them during her childhood.
She said Saturday's grand final against Tuggeranong at the Lyneham Netball Centre would be a sad farewell for her, but there could not have been a better occasion to do so on.
"It was emotional enough last Saturday. It felt like a grand final and to win it [preliminary final against South Canberra] was great, even just to get there," she said.
"I've been with these girls for 12 months now through the representative season. I couldn't ask for anything better after the state championships and all the other carnivals we've gone to, to finish with making a grand final. I'm really proud of them."
She added grand final day would be a good one but a sad one, and said it meant so much to her she had to excuse herself from her brother-in-law's 40th birthday.
"Not even my brother-in-law's 40th birthday in South Australia could stop me. I was supposed to go with my husband and children, but I'm not going because of the grand final," she said.
Ross said the QNA community had treated her with great respect over the years, and she said the thing she would miss most about it was the positive environment and seeing young girls get fit and active.
"I love seeing girls out there playing netball every Saturday, and not just walking the streets," she said.
"Last year I went through breast cancer while I was coaching, so on top, QNA were so good to me as well. It's a real community spirit and hopefully that will continue."
Ross' division five side took a tight 25-23 win last Saturday, and she said their great defence had them in a good position to win the grand final.
"All season we've been really strong defensively across the whole court, and the girls stuck with that for the whole four quarters which paid off," she said.
She added her goal shooting combination of Jacoba Clough, Emily Kerr and Lani Andrews would also be key on Saturday.
