WE WANT ROO!
COURT SHORT: Player shortage prompts call to join the mob
ANAKIE is critically short of netball numbers on the eve of the GDFL season.
The Roos met with the GDFL last week about their plight and have put the call out for players.
Anakie president Heath Menhennet said a number of factors had led to the netball player shortage, including some following their footballing partners in leaving the club.
The club needs about another 20 players to fill its quota of four teams and has only enough numbers for two sides, with the season set to start on April 10.
Menhennet said the popularity of women’s football, last year’s abandoned season, and the departure of many of its footballers had contributed to the low numbers.
He said it was a “challenging time for the club” but it was “committed to exhausting all avenues” to boost its stocks.
“There’s a lot of contributing factors,” Menhennet said.
“Twelve months out of the game for some has made the decision a little bit easier to say, ‘Look, I’m happy where I am, I’ve enjoyed a year off not having to play in the wet, rain with a westerly wind on a cold Saturday afternoon’.
“We’re obviously scouting at the moment trying to advertise as much as we can to see if we can find someone that wants to be part of a great family club.”
GDFL bylaws state that netball teams must be filled from the top down, meaning players from the lower grades would need to step up to the higher divisions.
Menhennet hoped it would be an opportunity for any aspiring netballers to join the club. He said the netball teams had become an important part of the fabric of the club.
“We’ve got a great family club that has had a strong tradition in fielding all our grades over the last 20 years since the inception of netball into
WE’RE OBVIOUSLY SCOUTING AT THE MOMENT TRYING TO ADVERTISE AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND
SOMEONE THAT WANTS TO BE PART OF A GREAT FAMILY CLUB.”
HEATH MENHENNET
the GDFL,” he said. “We want to continue that. Hence why we’re putting the call out for any senior A-grade, B-grade players that would be available to start off 2021.”