The NFNL is delighted to announce the Premier Division 1 Netball Best and Fairest will now be known as the Stacey Gannon Medal, in honour of NFNL netball star Stacey Gannon.
Gannon’s illustrious career with Diamond Creek has spanned nearly 20 years and is filled with both team and personal success – a staggering 13 Premier Division 1 premierships, four Premier Division 1 best and fairest awards, five NFNL Team of the Year selections, a four-time NFNL representative with two best on court medals and over 200 Victorian Netball League games.
It’s a career worthy of recognising with the league’s top netball honour and will sit proudly alongside the Frank Rosbrook Medal for men’s Division 1 football.
“Pretty overwhelmed to be honest, I was a bit lost for words when I found out,” Gannon said of being told the league would be naming the award after her.
“It’s something that I never thought would happen, when I got told about it earlier this year I was a bit taken aback. But super excited that it’s happening.
Reflecting on her career with Diamond Creek in the NFNL, Gannon said playing with the Creekers provided both social and development opportunities to continue build her skills for higher level competitions.
“I’ve been playing for a long time since the NFNL started. I was moving up my netball pathway and ended up playing with Victorian Fury which was my development period and then having Friday night games in the NFNL was a real asset to my netball because I got to play with my friends and have fun – that’s when you play your best netball,” she said.
“Whatever I was learning at trainings [with Victorian Fury], I could come back and practice it in these NFNL games.”
Above: Hear from Stacey Gannon herself as she spoke with NFNL Media about having the award named in her honour.
Gannon also now spends her time passing on the vast amount of knowledge she’s gained to the next generation of NFNL netballers, being involved in the league’s junior representative squads as a coach and mentor for players and fellow coaches alike.
“I just love coming back. It’s a really good club culture [at Diamond Creek] – I’m playing but coaching as well, building that culture and bringing the next group up and trying to pass on my knowledge to as many people as I can.”
“I love to learn, so even as a coach I’m still always learning. At the moment I’m coaching in the VNL and whatever I learn from elite coaches I try and then pass back to the young girls coming through at Diamond Creek.”
NFNL General Manager of Netball Operations Lauren Theodosis said Gannon’s career and contribution to the league made her a standout candidate for the naming of the award.
“Naming the medal after someone is something we’ve put a lot of thought into. When you look at what Stacey’s achieved both as a player and a coach in the NFNL, it really speaks for itself and she was a standout candidate,” she said.
“We’re so pleased that Stacey accepted this honour and it really does cement her legacy as one of the best players to ever step onto a NFNL netball court along her work in the coaching space with Diamond Creek and the NFNL representative program.
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy presenting this award to the Premier Division 1 best and fairest player each season for many years to come.”
NFNL CEO Daniel Kelly said the Gannon Medal would pair well with the Frank Rosbrook Medal, which is awarded to the best and fairest player in Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 men’s football. The NFNL senior awards night will also now be known as the Rosbrook Gannon Medal.
“This is a really significant moment for the league and shows that the history of our netball competition has grown to the point where we have people of Stacey’s calibre who deserve recognition of their achievements over a long period of time,” he said.
The inaugural Gannon Medal will be awarded at the Rosbrook Gannon Medal night at Flemington Racecourse on Wednesday 16th September.
