Hawkesbury girls take on Australia ’ s best
indoor netballers at Nationals in Perth
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Netball is the one of the biggest participation sports in not only NSW , but all of Australia . NSW Netball proudly announced that 2024 was the biggest year in the organisation ’ s near 100-year history with over 120,000 players , coaches and officials registered in the sport . Not only this , but the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball competition is becoming the most attended female domestic league in Australian sporting history , and grassroots participation are also at record levels .
It was with great delight that I had the fantastic opportunity to host and present a trivia night , auction and fundraiser for some of the most talented junior indoor netballers in NSW at Windsor Bowling Club .
The girls representing the Hawkesbury were under 12s representatives Amity Keane , Hallie Deguara , Mila Micalef and Zoey Bremner , under 14s players Isabelle Kelleher , Jacqueline Ryland , Jenna Gergory and under 16s players Elizabeth Ryland in NSW Blues , Penelope Woodhouse and Porsha Woodhouse –
NSW Waratah Mixed . The girls were all very excited to speak about their experience being involved in the state squad for the nationals , and were looking forward to the challenges of taking on Australia ’ s best in a highly competitive indoor tournament .
The event was extremely well supported and just under 100 people attended . It was a great evening that helped raise funds to offset some of the associated costs of the girls going to the Nationals .
The silent auction was a smash hit and was even extended by an extra 30 mins to give everyone time to bid on the items up for grabs .
All auction items were cleared on the night with a range of donations given , including Super netball gear donated by Paige Hadley of NSW Swifts netball , GWS netball and Tilly McDonnell kindly donated two signed training singlets to assist with the fundraising .
Plenty of other sponsors from the local community got on board to make the success of the event . Lots of work also went in behind the scenes by a group of very dedicated mums who coordinated everything with military style precision . This ranged from the venue through to the menu for the caterers , questions and topics for the trivia night , a highly detailed itinerary which kept everything on track - and there was even time to interview the girls quickly within their age group and ask how their relevant squads , coaches and training camps were looking for Nationals .
Some of the girls representing the district may even kick on further with their careers and represent GWS Netball or NSW Swifts in Super Netball just as local stars Tilly McDonnell and Green Hills ’ junior and 173 game Sydney Swifts star and Australian Diamonds 122 match star and Captain Liz Ellis have done before them . The trivia night brought out the
Girls representing NSW at the Indoor Netball Nationals .
competitive streaks in plenty with some of the tables and participants well and truly prepared to sing for free drink vouchers at the bar , pay money to buy answers and do all that they could to ensure the best outcome for the girls .
Hopefully this opportunity to compete against the best young indoor netballers in Australia will be the catalyst to help some of these girls propel their indoor and outdoor netball careers and make the next step into the Super Netball arena and international stage for the Australian Diamonds in the Netball World Cup in Sydney in 2027 .
Hawkesbury Valley Rugby Juniors fly into 2025
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Hawkesbury Valley Junior Rugby club well and truly punch above their weight in the highly competitive Sydney Junior Rugby Union competition . It ’ s a tough competition with matches all over the Sydney area against local clubs such as Blacktown Scorpions , Blue Mountains , Penrith RSL , Dural , Norwest , Merrylands and Western Raptors . Also , further away ; Newport , Randwick , Allambie , Wahroonga , Terry Hills , Petersham , Oatley and Engadine . There is a large presence of clubs in rugby dominant areas of the Eastern Suburbs , the North Shore and Northern Beaches and Southern Sydney .
The Hawkesbury Valley Juniors are only
Hawkesbury Valley Junior rugby kids in action vs Easts . Credit : Brett Kenna . a small club but do great against some of the more fancied heavyweight clubs in the Sydney Junior Rugby Union Competition . It fields sides in the minis in under 6s and under 8s as well as two sides in the under 11s in the G and B divisions , a team in under 13s and a team in under 16s .
The sides definitely showed enormous potential with Hawkesbury White in the under 11G competition finishing the competition in 4th against Forest , Easts , Mosman , Lindfield and Lane Cove with 4 wins and qualifying for the semifinals before going down in the semifinals 38-17 vs Forest who were the eventual competition winners .
The Hawkesbury Blue team in the under 11B competition finished in 5th place up against sides from Narrabeen , Dee Why , Newport and Norwest with two wins in a tough competition . In the under 13s F / G competition Hawkesbury had a particularly good season , finishing 4th out of 10 competing against the likes of Lane Cove / Killara West Pymble , Wakehurst , Mosman , St Pats , Forest , St Ives / Hornsby , Norths , Sylvania and Wahroonga .
This team of incredibly talented young players had seven wins , one draw and three losses in the regular season , before heading into the semis and having a 19 all draw vs St Pats in the first semifinal match before having a tough loss the following week against Land Cove / Killara West Pymble 33-29 .
They were only one win away from a grand final showdown against Wakehurst who eventually won the competition but have showed enormous potential for the 2025 season . The under 16s finished 3rd in the under 16C competition against Randwick , Wests , Petersham , Burraneer and Newport and made the semifinals before they went down in a tough match 53-20 against Wests . A win would have booked them a grand final date against Randwick Warriors .
The future looks great , and there are plenty of green shoots of potential coming through . There are a few junior girls players at this stage , but they would love to field some dedicated girls rugby teams in the Sydney Juniors competition moving forward . The progression for the older junior players around the 17- and 17-year-old age group in the Hawkesbury Juniors is to move into the senior club .
There have even been occasions when three generations of the same family have all played for the Hawkesbury Valley Juniors or Senior club at some stage . This includes Dennis and Matt Hirini and Preston Woodhouse who have all
Hawkesbury Valley players in a pre-match huddle . Credit : Brett Kenna .
represented the junior and senior club playing in Sydney . It is quite an honour for a club to have .
The Hawkesbury Valley Juniors have big ambitions for 2025 and hope to grow their numbers further , hopefully fielding teams in every age group in the Sydney Juniors competition for 2025 . Training is underway and is at Deerubbin Park in Windsor .
For any new players who wish to register , come down on Tuesday and Friday nights from 6.00pm till 7.30pm . Minis rego which is under 6 and under 7s is free , under 8s and under 9s is $ 50 and the juniors is $ 100 from under 10s to under 18s . You can also register on Rugby Explorer for the club .
Your kids may well be the next Wallaby or Wallaroo !
THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 178 // MARCH 2025 29