Night Netball
This plaque is located on the Circuite de Savage walking track, between McKenzie and Dover sts.
Netball enjoys a high profile with our national team continuing to do well. One of the major reasons for the growth of the sport is the excellent development work being carried out at netball centres around Australia. Cobden is no exception.
When Cobden Technical School built its (small) indoor stadium in 1972, access was encouraged for community user-groups. This created an opportunity for interested netballers to form a committee and begin a competition.
Cobden and District Night Netball Association began in October 1973, catering for netballers of all abilities while providing an opportunity for players, especially juniors, to improve their umpiring knowledge and skills.
The first president was Betty Casey (Giblett) while Lorraine Mackay (secretary) and Sue Hansen (treasurer) were executive members. Twelve teams signed up and it cost 25 cents to play, 20 cents to watch and $1 per player for Victorian Netball Association registration.
Three years later, by 1976, A and B grades consisted of 12 teams each and it was the first competition for four junior teams – so 28 teams or 196 girls in all were playing over three nights a week.
All indoor sports received a real boost in 1983 when Cobden Technical School and the Shire of Heytesbury worked together to add a bigger stadium to the smaller one – it became the Cobden Recreation Centre.
In 1984, the night netball association hosted the Glenelg Games competitions at the Recreation Reserve – 33 teams registered to make it a successful event.
Numbers hit their peak in 1986 and 1987 when 32 female teams were taking the court plus a mixed competition was played over two nights in 1987. In the same year, former Australian netballer Ellen Darcy began a primary school competition with seven teams, a program first initiated by Joyce Roberts about ten years earlier.
Life memberships were awarded to Joyce Roberts (1989), Ellen Darcy and Nolene Watts (1991), Denise Robertson (1993) and the only male recipient, Albert Mounsey (1994).
All indoor sports were given a further fillip in 2006 when the 23 year-old stadium was upgraded with a 250-capacity seating area, plus a meeting room.
Girls and boys from Grade 3 and upwards (boys up to age 16 years) are involved in matches to improve their netball skills. Girls and boys from Grades 1-3 also have the opportunity to be involved in NETSETGO, a development program run by Netball Victoria.
Netball is usually played on the two courts on both Monday and Wednesday afternoons (juniors) and evenings (seniors). In 2023, more than 70 junior players from Cobden, Camperdown, Terang Timboon, Simpson and beyond enjoyed competitions at the recreation centre.
