JAMEE Stair’s eagerness to help foster netball development for indigenous Bathurst juniors has seen her named as one of eight winners in the 2018 Australia Post One Netball Community Awards.
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Stair has become an integral part of the Mana Netball Club, which has grown rapidly since its foundation last year, and coaches the first Indigenous netball team to participate in the Bathurst Netball Association.
The Awards, now in the fifth year, celebrate individuals, clubs and associations who are striving to ensure everyone is welcome in netball.
Stair was honoured to receive the award.
“I was a bit shocked,” she said.
“You don’t do these things to be recognised, you do it to see all the smiles on the kids’ faces.
“It’s great to be recognised since it brings a spotlight to the issue of making the game inclusive.”
Stair coaches the club’s netta side, introducing the next generation of players to the game.
She believes, right from the time president Saphai Mitai-Ngatai created the club in 2017, Mana has been a place that has fostered inclusion and community spirit across all its grades.
“I’m indigenous myself and growing up I didn’t have a lot. I didn’t play a lot of sports until I was a teenager when I could cover the costs myself,” she said.
“I just wanted to create that opportunity for younger kids, to be able to start doing those things a little bit earlier. It’s about creating a community not just on the court but off the courts as well.
“All my girls go to different schools and they’re meeting people that they wouldn’t have met before and their confidence is increasing. The game is giving them those extra skills for life.”
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Stair’s netta team is one of now 14 teams the young club boasts this season.
“I remember saying to Saph ‘Should we really go to 14 teams?’ but it was all in or nothing,” Stair said.
“I’m hoping to go up to two indigenous netta teams next year. My girls are pretty spectacular. I’m so impressed with how far they’ve come.
“We did some pre-season work, which may be a bit much for netta, but some of these girls may have never even touched a ball before, and they’ve continued to surprise me every week.”
Stair is part of Mana’s A grade side who are already finals bound in just their second season.
In the penultimate round of the competition this Saturday the Mana squad will go up against the team they will face in finals, Bulldogs Verdelho, in what should be a close contest.
The match is the last of the day’s A grade fixtures, starting at 3.45pm.
In other games Panthers plays CSU Thunder (1.15pm) and Collegians Mystified faces ASC 1sts (2.30pm).
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