This club was formed by Joyce Waite (nee Lister) and Dot Doe in the early 1960’s. Joyce resigned as President of Queenscliff to become the first President of the new Manly Warringah Netball Association formed in 1966.

In its formative years Queenscliff had very strong junior teams but were lacking in strength in its senior ranks The juniors won several competitions and in 1970 the 15 year old team were State Premiers.

In the 1970’s with the influx of junior players now becoming senior players (age 16) and melding them with other senior players they had very strong “A” grade senior teams and the club went on to win the Manly Warringah “A” grade day and night competition 13 times over a period of eight years.

The 15 year old team and the senior teams were coached by Mrs Vera Wiltshire.

Anne Sargeant, Karen Smith and Wendy Etherington were also coached by Vera when she coached Manly Warringah representative teams.

Terese Kennedy played with Queenscliff for two years after her representative years and was coached by Vera.

The first year that Manly Warringah entered the Interdistrict competition seven players from the Queenscliff Club were selected out of the ten players to be selected for the Manly Warringah Interdistrict Team. (The forerunner to today’s State League competition)

Queenscliff has had many Manly Warringah representative players as well as many State players since its inception in the early 60’s.

In the 1980’s Queenscliff teams continued to enjoy further success.  However the club started to lose the influx of juniors. During the middle and later stage of the 80’s and early 90’s this changed due to the efforts of Lesley Pagett with the club gaining more junior teams into it’s ranks. Junior teams are the lifeblood and the future of any club. By 2018, Queenscliff has grown to be one of the largest clubs competing in the Manly Warringah Netball Association.

GENERAL

Netball is still only played in Commonwealth countries. In 1994 netball was trialed as a Commonwealth games sport in New Zealand and in 1998 was first played in Kuala Lumpur as a sport. Australia was the first winner of a Commonwealth Games Medal for netball beating New Zealand in the grand final in a very thrilling match.

– Les Wiltshire –

NETBALL IN MANLY WARRINGAH

During the winter of 1937 (or 38) the successful Manly Domestic Science (the forerunner to Mackellar Girl’s High) School’s basketball team was encouraged by the school’s sports teacher to enter the NSW WBBA competition after the members left school.

As there was no other teams on the north side of the harbor the team had to play with the YWCA and played as “Y” Manly.

In 1939 a Manly basketball club was formed and played in the Sydney competition. Players from the above team and other players formed two teams and started playing as Manly in their own right.

The number of teams grew over the years. They still had to play in the Sydney competition. It was not until 1965 that Manly Warringah was allowed to form its own association and become a member of the NSWWBBA as from the beginning of the 1966 season. In 1965 the Manly group had 72 senior teams and 156 junior teams.

1968 saw the Manly senior team win the State Premiership and the Curl Curl Youth Club were joint premiers with Newcastle for the Junior State Championship. Also in 1968 NSW held its first championships and once again Manly Warringah was to the fore by winning the 10, 11 and 13 age groups and was runners-up in 12 and 14 years.

In 1970 the NSWWBBA officially changed its name to the New South Wales Netball Association – hence the Manly Association became the Manly Warringah Netball Association. (Some years later it became an incorporated body.

Since 1970 Manly Warringah has had several players who represented their country in Netball.

The first was Terese Delaney (nee Kennedy) – Vice captain in 1971 and 1977
Then Anne Sargeant (nee Simmonds) – Captain in 1982, Vice Captain in 1983 and Captain in 1984, 85, 86, 87 and 88.
Karen Smith (nee Bullock)
Wendy Glassman (nee Etherington)
Carissa Tombs (nee Dalwood) Vice Captain in 1996, 1997 and 1998
Mo’onia Gerrard

A SHORT HISTORY OF NETBALL IN AUSTRALIA

It is recorded that the rules of netball were first published in England in 1901 and that the first game was played by women, outdoors on grass, using “close props for posts and wet paper bags for baskets’.

Netball arrived in Australia and New Zealand around the turn of the century. In both countries it soon acquired the name of Women’s Basketball, but it was the game netball that was played from the start.

Netball rules were very different from basketball and the court was differently marked. With typical female resourcefulness, ingenuity and flexibility and with women’s concern for sharing the fun (in this case, the ball) our netball forebears quickly solved all the problems posed for basketball “fin de sickle” women’s apparel and footwear. Long skirts, bustle backs, nipped waists, leg-of-mutton sleeves and button-up shoes did not allow for ladies throwing a (large) ball or running and “dribbling” it from one end of the court to the other. That was all easily fixed. The court was divided into three equal parts, a smaller ball was used, an extra four players were added (making nine players in each team, later reduced to seven), players were allocated certain specified areas to play in, the ball had to be caught at least once in each third, no-one was allowed to run with the ball and to get rid of that unsightly backboard, five seconds (later reduced to three) were allowed for an attempt to shoot a goal. Out of the “Adam’s Rib” of basketball an entirely new creature-netball- had been created.

In 1970 New South Wales Women’s Basketball Association (in line with a decision by All Australia) became the New South Wales Netball Association, and it has never looked back since.

What is so special about netball? What is it about the sport which makes it so persistently popular with women? How has it become unquestionably the doyen of women’s sport in Australia?  The Answer is simple Netball is special because it is unique.

NETBALL IS THE ONLY SPORT FOR WOMEN WHICH IS NOT AN OFFSHOOT, A”SUB-BRANCH”, OF A DOMINANT MEN’S SPORT.

Women’s golf, women’s tennis, bowls, cricket, basketball and life-saving are only a few of the whole sphere of examples that come to mind.

Netball from the word “Go” was designed, organised and administered by women as a sport for women. As a result netballers have never had to “break in” to the men’s game.

LIFE MEMBERS

Joy Lister
Vera Wiltshire
Les Wiltshire
Lesley Pagett
Margaret Davson
Lynn Delaney
Narelle Leathem
Susan Marinan
Sue Brown
Julie Card
Bronwyn Reeve-Parker
Norma Ward
Fiona Pearse
Lyndall Pamp

Menu