Netball stalwart wins fame

WA netball player and official Elsma Merillo has been inducted as a member of the Netball Australia Hall of Fame.

Merillo (pictured) was a player, coach, administrator and volunteer in netball for more than 50 years.

On the global stage, Merillo represented Australia from 1966 to 1971, including the 1967 World Tournament in Perth and the 1971 World Tournament in Jamaica.

She represented WA at a junior level between 1962 and 1964, at an open level from 1965 to 1970 and again in 1974 and 1979, captaining the side on two occasions.

Merillo was the head coach at the WA Institute of Sport ( WAIS) from 1989 to 1992, including leading the WAIS Gold in the national Mobil Super League in 1992.

She was also the head coach of the Open State Team between 1990 and 1992 and the 19U State Team in 1994.

She helped develop and implement the WA Netball League in 1989.

She served as coach of the Coastal Sharks in the WA Netball League from 1990 to 1996, with the team making regular appearances in the grand final, which included one premiership.

Merillo was a WAIS board member from 1993 to 2004, was awarded life membership in 2016 and received the Service to Sport Award at the 2017 RAC SportWest Awards.

Netball WA chief executive Simon Taylor said the Netball WA community was incredibly proud of Merillo’s achievements.