The strength and growth of netball is Dubbo shows no signs of slowing down with a record number of sides now in full swing at the Nita McGrath Courts.
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Saturday marked the second round of the Rawson Homes Premiership competition and it was also the Dubbo Netball Associations’ annual ‘Crazy Hair and Socks Day’ to help raise funds for the Kids’ Cancer Project.
An incredible 151 teams are taking part in this season’s junior and seniors competitions, much to the delight of the association’s president Karen Parker.
We’ve got an A Grade and an A Reserve Grade because of the quality of the teams.
- Karen Parker
“We’ve had a record number of teams this season and this year we’ve got an A Grade and an A Reserve Grade because of the quality of the teams registered. It’s harder to split them,” she said.
Fusions Heat has impressed early on and sits with Fusions Johnies as the undefeated A Grade sides after three rounds.
Both won again on the weekend while Parker stated the Narromine Bombers should not be written off despite having won just the one from three so far as player unavailability has been an issue.
The Bombers defeated the Macquarie Hornets 40-12 on Saturday.
There’s seven sides contesting the A Grade competition this season while there is eight in A Reserve Grade, making in one of the more high-quality divisions in some time.
“This year a lot of our 15s representative players are in A Grade as well so we’ve got the 15s, 17s and open players in so we’re really starting to get those juniors through to the higher grades,” Parker said.
“But the involvement is in the lower grades too, it’s a really good competition.
“There’s seven or eight teams in all the senior grades and it’s been a little while since it’s been like that.”
The addition of Narromine this season has been another boost for the competition while the Nyngan Tigers club continues to be a force in a number of grades.
“It’s great to see and this year Trangie has put in junior and senior teams in,” Parker said.
“And this year we’ve got a new side in Elysium Health and Fitness in A Reserve Grade and then the WMPD and Fusions clubs are growing in numbers and strength.”
In terms of the weekend’s fundraiser, Parker said the final amount of money raised was unavailable currently but hopes were high with one committee members stating “the box was so heavy I can’t carry it.”
“Everyone from seven to 35 or 40 gets involved with the crazy hair and socks and it appeals to everyone,” Parker said. “We were really pleased and Kids' Cancer Project is such a good charity to be involved with.”
This coming weekend shapes as another huge one with teams from all over the state coming to compete in the annual representative carnival on Sunday.
Bathurst, Parkes, Forbes, Tumut, Cootamundra and Scone are just some of the places where sides will be coming from to take on the best Dubbo and the local area has to offer.