Hard work pays

Two highly respected members of the Goulburn Valley Netball League community have been recognised for their tireless work at the Netball Victoria Community Netball Awards.

Umpire develop coordinator Leah Saunders was rewarded for her outstanding contribution to umpiring with Robyn Smith receiving the award for an outstanding contribution to coaching.

The Netball Victoria award is another acknowledgement of the dedication Smith makes to the GVNL and to Benalla.

This year she received GVNL life membership at the Wellman Family Medal night as her involvement at the Saints spans across two decades.

Now co-coaching the team’s under-17 side, Smith played 179 games during a brilliant career on the court.

On the sidelines Smith is seen as more than just a coach to her players, with GVNL president Jacqui Hudgson personally inspired by her.

‘‘I hold the greatest admiration for her in terms of what she has done for netball Outstanding contribution to coaching: since she came to Benalla 20 years ago,’’ she said.

‘‘She is an inspiration for me, an amazing mentor. The chats we have about netball and her thoughts and her ideas goes above and beyond. She has become a very special part of netball and promoting the sport.’’

Saunders puts in countless hours trying to prepare and better the quality of umpires in the region.

Involved at Seymour, she took on the role of umpire development co-ordinator eight years ago with the Netball Victoria award recognising how much effort she puts in behind the scenes.

Saunders organised Netball Victoria’s Ann Castles to come to the region earlier in the year to discuss the implementation of new rule rule changes.

Hudgson said that was just one of the many things Saunders organises for the netball community.

‘‘She’s done an awesome job since coming on board eight years ago,’’ she said.

‘‘She does umpiring courses, goes around and mentors juniors and goes to training to discuss rules with clubs. She takes an extremely proactive role.’’

The GVNL pair was honoured on Saturday night in Melbourne alongside six other Victorians heavily involved in netball.

Benalla’s Robyn Smith (back, third from left) was honoured at the Netball Victoria Community Awards for her commitment to coaching Benalla, and with the GVNL. Here she is pictured with the 2014 GVNL under-17 interleague side.