Steering a sturdy ship...
Natimuk United Football Netball Club leaders plan to front the Horsham District Football Netball League 2022 season with a well-run and consistent operation.
Finishing midtable in the senior football and netball ladders, club leaders are confident their foundations are strong and ready for the first full-year of competition since 2019.
President Greg Radford said with some luck and a strong club culture, Natimuk United had maintained a ‘sturdy ship’ since the end of the interrupted 2021 season.
“Our playing lists haven’t changed much other than our younger players are another year older,” he said.
He said their success was measured through the club’s high returning participation rate.
“We run four football and seven netball teams,” he said.
“With a town population of just over 500 people, we are doing pretty good.”
Mr Radford said the club had injected money into making its facilities the ‘best in the league by a mile’.
“We can host night games and the football ground’s surface is exceptional,” he said.
“It was a decision by the committee a while ago, to have the best facilities around, as well as an incredibly high community feel.”
Mr Radford said with community sport participation rates down in recent years, his club wanted to support the wider health of the league’s junior programs.
“We want everyone who comes to Natimuk to walk away feeling welcome,” he said.
“We have drilled that message home within our club. If we need to help opposition clubs to support local community football, then that is what needs to happen. If an opposition team is short on kids and we want to still play a game, we will make sure that two teams can play on the day.
“It is about community spirit and we all need to help each other out in that space.
“If everyone can leave through our gates at the end of the day and remember it as a great, fair day’s play – then that’s where we stand.”
Netball director Kate-lyn Perkin said the club had implemented a ‘big’ support network for players and coaches after a tough past couple of years.
“We’ve recognised the past couple of years have been hard and our coaches have so much work to do, especially outside of game day,” she said.
“We want to give them as much support as we can and we know the support we can give them makes a big difference.
“We don’t want to burn out people. So, if we can lighten the load, make their job easier and make sure everything continues to be fun, player and coaching retention rates will remain high at the club.”
Mrs Perkin said the club had secured all their netball coaches ‘reasonably’ early and brought on a fitness coach, coach mentor and development coach as part of their new coaching-support structure.
She said the club would enter the new season with a completely new A Grade netball team.
“We have been fortunate to have a really strong A Grade side for a few years. But now our young guns will have an opportunity to step up and be the next best thing,” she said.
“It will be a huge transition year for us, but we are really excited by it. Our recent A Grade netballers will still be involved in the club but will be taking a backseat this year.”
Senior football coach Jarred Combe said his side’s focus in 2022 would be on achieving consistency.
“Last season we sort of struggled for the first three quarters of the year with having performance and team selection consistency,” he said.
“With so many changes we had to make each game, through injury and availability, it was hard to build a strong team platform.
“And with the interrupted season and lockdowns affecting training, it was hard for our injured players to get the recovery support they needed, or to muster a strong block of training to build that post-injury confidence to fully move past their injuries.”
Combe said pre-season training had generated positive vibes and enthusiasm, however he was under no illusion the side still had to improve on its performances.
“Last year we were not effective or efficient when we were in control of games,” he said.
“We want to develop a consistency with our playing that means we keep the same level head as the game situation changes.
“We really want to limit the fluctuations between are best and worst.”