Hundreds of netballers descended on Penrith Netball Association’s Jamison Park Netball Complex on July 30 for their annual Carnival Day, which featured week 10 of their Winter Competition and final day of the Net Set Go junior program.
The community event was not only a chance to watch players of all ages in action but promote broader participating in the sport.
As a long-term sponsor of the Association, employees from Greater Bank’s Penrith Branch were also on hand to lend their support hosting a BBQ, shouting coffees for parents, and providing giveaways for the kids.
Penrith Netball Association President, Joy Gillett, said they were delighted with the turnout and support of the day.
“The sport is still in a bit of a recovery phase as we continue to emerge from the COVID pandemic, with player numbers down slightly, but events like this are a great opportunity for us to promote netball to a wider audience,” Joy said.
“As well as carnival days, we run Come & Try Days for men and boys to have a go at the sport to see if they like it, as well as a range of modified games for players from ages four and up to help them develop the hand-eye coordination and ball skills needed for netball.
“We currently have 3,800 players and 400 teams competing in our local competition, but we’re hoping to get those numbers back up to and beyond pre-pandemic levels very soon.
“The impact of COVID makes the consistent support from the Greater even more important as we know we can rely on that funding to ensure we can continue to meet our obligations and get the game back to where it was heading into the 2020 season which, of course, was shut down."
Joy Gillett, Penrith Netball Association President
“Without that support, we’d have to charge players higher registration fees, which is a big ask for families facing stiff increases in the cost of living, especially if they have a number of kids who play a number of different sports.”
Greater Bank Penrith Branch Manager Natalie Murphy said the day was a great success.
“It’s the first time we’ve been able to attend an event like this for a few years, so it was terrific to be out amongst all the activity meeting members of the local community,” Natalie said.
“Our lolly guessing competition was a big hit, with more than 100 entries, and our winner forcing her mum to turn the car around halfway home to come back and collect her prize!
“Greater Bank has been supporting netball for over 20 years, and we look forward to continuing our long association with netball for years to come, especially here in western Sydney.”