The rapidly expanding club is in need of essential equipment for its ages five and up NetSetGo team, and has been “scraping by” with the basics as a result of the influx of numbers joining the club since Tahbilk’s football and netball club was disbanded.
To aid this fast growth, the club has been awarded $2000 through a Woolworths Netball Grant.
The club’s junior co-ordinator Catrina Hutton said it felt incredible to have added support for the junior program.
“Our focus in the last few years has primarily been on our juniors ... We’ve really opened up the club to a whole new ball game in terms of juniors,” she said.
“The majority of it (the funding) is going to go towards the NetSetGo cohort, which sort of sits as our entry level to netball.
“We can buy things like adjustable netball rings so they can shoot some goals, considering the goals as they stand are a bit tall for them to reach, and just some new equipment like bibs and dot markers.”
With the growth of their junior team being a recent priority, the club is aiming to expand its inclusiveness through facilitating events such as its junior disco ball.
“We’re doing a junior disco ball this week ... it’s something for the kids — they’re really excited,” Ms Hutton said.
“We decided because we’ve got so many juniors, we’re opening it up to all of our junior cohort. We’re doing all our ages, from NetSetGo and Auskick through to under-12s.
“We’re trying to make it inclusive, and a really fun place for kids to come and learn — it’s not just about the sport, necessarily, it’s about coming together as a club and getting the kids to play with their teammates and have a bit of fun while they’re doing it.”
While the $2000 is a massive help for the club, Ms Hutton said they still had eyes on a bigger prize.
The Lakers have been nominated to score the Woolworths’ 2025 People’s Choice Award, a $20,000 grant, which is an amount Ms Hutton said, would be “huge” for the club.
“At the moment, we’ve focused on the absolute essentials and basic things,” she said.
“The club who receives the most votes actually gets $20,000, which would make such a difference for us.”
Voting is currently open for the 2025 People’s Choice Award, and will close on August 25.
To vote for the Nagambie Football and Netball Club, head to https://tinyurl.com/5n8ck2ad
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