History
Diamond Creek Netball Club began from very humble beginnings in 1982. A group of year 5 and 6 students from Diamond Creek Primary School wanted to play netball. At that time, there were no clubs in the area so a couple of parents who played themselves took on the task. Interest from other parents started straight away and within 2 years the club had 15 junior teams and a couple of adult teams.
The juniors played in a competition run by Barbara Rush on 2 courts at Sacred Heart Primary School on Saturdays. In 1985 the teams transferred to a competition played at St. Helena Secondary College run by Lesley Scotson and Carol Szekfy. In subsequent years the club purchased and took over the running of the competition and in 1990 the Diamond Creek Netball Association was born. The club, as an Association became an affiliate of the Victorian Netball Association Competition was held for seniors at the old Bini Shell, which was pulled down after a few years to make way for the Community Centre which had just a single court and so most divisions played at St Helena Secondary Club stadium. In 2012 the senior competition moved to the new purpose built, 3 court stadium, the Community Bank Stadium at Diamond Valley College and Diamond Creek East Primary School.
In the early days the netball club had no base or clubrooms and meetings were held in peoples homes, namely Barbara and Roger Pike’s place. Training was where the current NFNA complex is, but in those days it was the site of the disused Diamond Creek swimming pool. It was clear, as the club kept on growing, that netball needed a home base in the area. So began a campaign to lobby the then Diamond Valley Council for a place for hundreds of players to play netball in their local area. Proposals were put together to lobby council for a venue for female sport.
This was a protracted process and on occasions, hundreds of Diamond Creek Club netballers attended council meetings as a means of bringing attention to their plight, in addition to lobbying through the local media. As the state government was in the process of amalgamating councils, it became imperative to secure funding for the project, and funding was granted by the Diamond Valley Council as one of its final actions.
The complex on the corner of Diamond and Chute Streets began in 1993/1994 and was officially opened by the Commissioner; Don Cordell in December of 1995. Some committee members who were involved in the early days were Barbara and Roger Pike, Diana Hay, Sue Taylor, Janet Gannon, Kaye Wadeson, Tilleka Wadeson, Pat Glass, Judy Mellor, and Lyn and Lance Jones.
Alongside the urgency for a home, was the need to improve coaching for the players. At this time, we were fortunate to meet up with Kate Palmer who was an ex-Victorian player currently playing for Kyabram in the State League Championship division. Kate was invaluable with her expertise and for a short time Diamond Creek combined with Kyabram in order to expose our better players to higher competition. From this association with Kate, we put teams in to the Royal Park and Waverley competitions.
It introduced “Force” into it’s name and thus became Diamond Creek Force Netball Assocation. The competition continued to grow. It included other clubs; Sacred Heart, Yarrambat, Laurimar, Hurstbridge, Panton Hill and other independent teams playing in the competition, and with some of the clubs training at the complex.
In 2014 some of the committee members decided that the Diamond Creek Netball Club should become a separate entity to the Diamond Creek Force Netball Association so, like it’s humble beginnings, Diamond Creek Netball Club was re-born.
2024 Club Committee
President:
Brooke George
Vice President:
Stacey Gannon
Secretary:
Elissa Pogue
Treasurer:
Steven George
Club Coordinator:
Kaye Ralph
Coaches Coordinator:
Janet Gannon
Representative Team Coordinator:
Kate Arnot
Umpire Development Coordinator:
Kylie Beddoe
Child Safety & Integrity Coordinator
Emily Borg
General Committee:
Roger Pike
Melissa Ennis
Nichole Chapman
Katherine Aggett
Kylie Spencer
Kristie Gannon
Briony Ralph
Life Members
Barbara Pike
Roger Pike
Sue Taylor
Janet Gannon
Rachel Piastri
Carol Szekfy
Kaye Ralph
Bob Hudson 2014
Helen Hansen 2014
Kate Arnot 2024
Brooke George 2024
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