NEW Queanbeyan Netball Association president Mardi Croke says she aims to expand the number of teams in the local netball competition, after she was elected at the association's annual general meeting last Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It came amongst a big shake up within the association's hierarchy, with Sadya Tonelli coming in as vice-president while Peta Harding will take on secretarial duties.
They have also secured the coaching services of Adele-Marie Caesar, who will take over the head coaching role and also coach the ACT State League division one side next year.
But Croke said strategic meetings on how to improve the quality of netball in Queanbeyan had already begun, and part of that was expanding teams in the local competition.
"One of our main aims is to create a bigger competition with more teams and obviously through that we need to get the sport that we love out into the community," Croke said.
Croke added player numbers in the association had been falling in recent years, and plans to increase sponsorship dollars as well as volunteer numbers, and even bring back inter-district competition were on the horizon.
"We really want to bring it back to Queanbeyan, and that's why we've had these strategic planning meetings; to see what we can do to build it [local competition] back up to the competition that we want it to be," she said.
She also said she planned to inject her association into the public eye more, citing arrangements with schools and other public places or events as good opportunities for it to run netball clinics and gage an increased interest in the sport.
"We're aiming to have a 'come and try' session for young kids to get them involved, and we'll be getting back into the schools to see what we can do," she said.
Caesar, a Netball NSW qualified coach who has moved to Canberra from Newcastle, said she had received a warm welcome by the association.
"I'm really looking forward to coaching here, and the netball atmosphere here in Queanbeyan is really vibrant," she said.
Outgoing president and head coach Rena Spears could not be contacted this week, but long serving committee member Jodi Ross said she would be missed from the role.
"Rena's a life member forever and a day and she has done an amazing job as president, and hopefully we can continue to do great things," she said.