Netballers bounce back

A new netball rebound wall is about to become a training asset for the Parkes and District Netball Association. The club has received $20,000 in state funding from the Local Sport Grant Program to help construct the wall at the McGlynn Park netball courts. The rebound wall will help build on players' skills and accuracy, and will be particularly useful when training sessions are light on numbers. "It's just handy to have," club president Kim Orr said. "Especially when you only have three or four girls turn up to training. "It's been in the pipeline for a few years. "We've been raising the money and we've been lucky to receive this grant, it's great." The wall will be a concrete slab, seven metres long and two and a half metres high, its total cost at $25,000. Construction is expected to begin in October. The Parkes and District Netball Association has a membership of just over 100 players, ranging from five-year-olds to opens and seniors. The club was heavily impacted when the NSW Government cut back on its Active Kids voucher program in 2023, a program which has helped families reduce the cost of sports for many years. Vouchers were cut in half from $100 to $50 and the program was changed to a means-tested system. "Our juniors are slowly climbing back up," Kim said. "We're definitely feeling the impact of having an Active Kids voucher and not having an Active Kids voucher. "We saw a significant decline but we still managed to get five rep teams together. "And we hold our own down there." During their season in winter, from March/April to July, players compete in a night competition on Tuesdays. The club boasts representative teams that regularly go away to state titles. Just in March Parkes won division 2 of the Central West Regional League in Orange. Rep trials are now only around the corner with 26 and 29 October dates set for development teams and 12s through to 17s. Member for Orange Phil Donato congratulated the club on its successful application and met with Kim and some of her committee members to talk about the project. "It's going to be a very useful training resource for them," he said. "It's great to be able to support the club." The club has been training and playing at the McGlynn sporting complex for at least 10 years now.