Bundoora junior netball coach Emily Duggan is hopeful that the early success of the NFNL junior netball program will inspire more children to get involved in the sport.
The Bulls are one of six clubs that compete in the first edition of the NFNL junior netball summer competition and are one of five clubs to boast two or more sides, with both teams competing in the under-13 section.
Duggan explained that the formation of the junior sides came about thanks to a great amount of interest from both the kids and the parents, going on to say that joining the NFNL was a convenient choice for everyone involved.
“I was made coach at the Primary School that I work at as an integration aid and gained quite a bit of interest from the students… they always kept asking me about different competitions that I might know of because they wanted to play netball outside of school,” she said.
“I created a bit of a presentation for the parents just to grasp interest from them and we just had so much interest that we were able to create two teams.
“That then created two options, one was to play in a Saturday morning competition where I used to play, but I was more drawn to the other option, the NFNL competition, not only because I play for Bundoora but also it was quite convenient being on a Wednesday night rather than a weekend. That was more of a factor not just for me, but for parents too.”
Duggan has been involved with the Bundoora netball program since 2013, playing 171 matches and scoring 2130 goals across both summer and winter competitions as of the end of the 2022 year.
She was also a member of the Bulls’ 2018 Section 3 premiership and the club’s 2016-17 Section 1 triumph.
The joy and excitement Duggan gets out of playing netball with Bundoora is something she hopes to introduce to her players throughout the summer season, saying that while learning and improving their skills is important, the most crucial thing is that they enjoy their experience on the court.
“I just want to see them gain a passion for netball, that’s what I had when I grew up and I guess it’s just more of what I want to see, just them continuing on to play netball and just being passionate about it and having fun,” she said.
“The thing that I like the most is just seeing their faces, whether they score a goal or they do something well, that’s the most important part for me.”
Duggan hopes that the expansion of the junior netball competition will create a fundamental path for children to get involved in netball from a young age.
“When I grew up, there were quite a lot of teams and you could see the pathways, but between then and now, there weren’t as many competitions, and participation in the sport for young children had gone down,” she said.
“That’s why it’s very important for this junior competition, so we can get kids back playing not just junior netball, but sport in general.”
