Life Member Stories
Karen Bennett
I first became involved with the club in 2003, my eldest daughter Taylah (8 years) came home from school saying she "wanted to play for the team that wore the blue dresses.” I grew up at Mountain Gate Netball Club and FTG was always our greatest rival. So you can imagine the excitement, or lack there of.
An early memory was registration day at the Tupperware Swimming pool. I remember registering the girls and buying uniforms while ensuring my children didn’t drown. Early each Saturday morning, my three daughters and I would walk down for the early morning games and be met with the familiar call over the loud speakers desperately searching for umpires. So each fortnight we would trek back for the dreaded 3:20 game while my husband worked.
One memorable match was in 2009 when my middle daughter Taleysha was playing in under 13/3s and my youngest daughter Tyanna’s U11's team was playing in the same section. The girls met in a preliminary final. Taleysha’s team won by a small margin and then went on to win the grand final. We actually got the trifecta that year as all three girls went on to win best and fairest in their respective teams. In 2012 Taylah played her first year in A grade and her team went on to win the grand final. That team then went on to win back to back in 2013. Another highlight was when Taylah and Tyanna played A grade together and won the 2017 Spring season Grand Final against Blackwood Park.
My first official role was as a general committee member, before becoming umpire convenor in 2007, a position I held until 2019. From my time on the committee the biggest contentious issue was moving from the Lycra leotard dress to the Aline. This divided the club for a long time, but eventually we decided to move with the times and ditch the wedgies forever.
The club has changed over the years from training outside behind Woolworths in FTG to moving indoors at Knox Regional Netball Centre, and now to our larger brand new stadium. The club values have remained constant, with a few new faces. One of the traditions that holds special meaning to myself and my daughters is the good old team hampers that are raffled off at presentation night.
I am very proud of all the members that have picked up the whistle who I have worked with mentoring and developed the skill needed to be an umpire. A special milestone was when I received life membership at Ferntree Gully in 2019, the same day that my daughter Tyanna got B&F and Taylah got Runners up B&F in our A-Grade Team. Having known so many of our club's life members I was honoured to join them all in our proud club's history
The advice I would give to current and future members is to be involved. Whether you can give a little time, or a lot of time, it all helps. Enjoy your role and remember “The club is bigger than the Individual!” Netball is much more than a game - it keeps us connected, inspires, and encourages us to be part of a team.
An early memory was registration day at the Tupperware Swimming pool. I remember registering the girls and buying uniforms while ensuring my children didn’t drown. Early each Saturday morning, my three daughters and I would walk down for the early morning games and be met with the familiar call over the loud speakers desperately searching for umpires. So each fortnight we would trek back for the dreaded 3:20 game while my husband worked.
One memorable match was in 2009 when my middle daughter Taleysha was playing in under 13/3s and my youngest daughter Tyanna’s U11's team was playing in the same section. The girls met in a preliminary final. Taleysha’s team won by a small margin and then went on to win the grand final. We actually got the trifecta that year as all three girls went on to win best and fairest in their respective teams. In 2012 Taylah played her first year in A grade and her team went on to win the grand final. That team then went on to win back to back in 2013. Another highlight was when Taylah and Tyanna played A grade together and won the 2017 Spring season Grand Final against Blackwood Park.
My first official role was as a general committee member, before becoming umpire convenor in 2007, a position I held until 2019. From my time on the committee the biggest contentious issue was moving from the Lycra leotard dress to the Aline. This divided the club for a long time, but eventually we decided to move with the times and ditch the wedgies forever.
The club has changed over the years from training outside behind Woolworths in FTG to moving indoors at Knox Regional Netball Centre, and now to our larger brand new stadium. The club values have remained constant, with a few new faces. One of the traditions that holds special meaning to myself and my daughters is the good old team hampers that are raffled off at presentation night.
I am very proud of all the members that have picked up the whistle who I have worked with mentoring and developed the skill needed to be an umpire. A special milestone was when I received life membership at Ferntree Gully in 2019, the same day that my daughter Tyanna got B&F and Taylah got Runners up B&F in our A-Grade Team. Having known so many of our club's life members I was honoured to join them all in our proud club's history
The advice I would give to current and future members is to be involved. Whether you can give a little time, or a lot of time, it all helps. Enjoy your role and remember “The club is bigger than the Individual!” Netball is much more than a game - it keeps us connected, inspires, and encourages us to be part of a team.