Having a Netball in Bendigo

Thursday, 15 December 2011
RECENT VIXENS NEWS:

Netball will hit the City of Greater Bendigo big time on March 23rd, 24th and 25th 2012 with a huge weekend of community netball activities. Culminating in the first-ever league netball game to be played in regional Victoria, the Melbourne Vixens will take on the Adelaide Thunderbirds in their final game before the 2012 season.

The weekend of netball, developed by the broader Bendigo community in partnership with Netball Victoria, aims to increase the profile of netball in the area, including netball at the highest level.  Local stakeholders involved in coordinating the event include the three major netball associations in the region Golden City, Strathdale and the BFNL, Bendigo Stadium and major partner the City of Greater Bendigo.

Bendigo is a great netball centre, producing one of the biggest stars of the game in Sharelle McMahon, and hosting hundreds of games every week. Netball Victoria is looking forward to working with the Bendigo community to bring this exciting event to life.

Russell James, Acting CEO of Netball Victoria acknowledged the role Bendigo has and will continue to play in the future for the sport.

Its encouraging to see the major netball associations and leagues in Bendigo working in unison to promote and grow the sport. We see Bendigo as a key Victorian region; it will be exciting to bring an event to the city that leaves a legacy by developing people and the community.

City of Greater Bendigo Director City Futures, Stan Liacos said Bendigo welcomes the announcement.

Bendigo has the facilities and the ability to host international and national elite sporting events and we are excited to host this match.

The Bendigo region is gaining a solid reputation as a destination for major sporting events. The people of our region have shown they are keen to support quality sporting events and this has been evidenced by good attendances at events like the recent WM Loud Tennis International, Australia versus Argentina Volleyball match, Australian Opals versus Japan Basketball match and AFL pre season matches.

Netball is one of our citys most popular sports and we expect there will be an enormous amount of interest surrounding this match in 2012,

CEO of the Bendigo Stadium Eric Pascoe is excited at the chance to have this level of netball at the stadium.  This is the first time that we have been able to bring a first grade game of Netball to a mass audience in Bendigo.  Last year when we replaced the floor on our show court we moved the playing area 80cm to comply with national netball standards, the Vixens and Thunderbirds coming here vindicates that decision.
The weekend will include a raft of activities such as school visits, leadership, coaching and umpiring forums, clinics and a VNL curtain raiser game prior to the Vixens v Thunderbirds match.