The Hampton Hammers Netball Team was born in 2013 (thanks largely to Kerrie Thornhill) and joined the Springvale Districts Netball Association through the Southern Football Netball League. Upon joining the League, the ‘Hammerbirds’ as they were called, enjoyed moderate success narrowly missing finals. Rach Cooper and Olivia Cook were joint coaches for the team, whilst Rachael was Captain. Ashley Simon took out the inaugural Best & Fairest award. Kerrie Thornhill slid into the role of coordinator.

In its 2nd season; the club acknowledged its commitment to its netball program and officially changed its name to the 'Hampton Hammers Football Netball Club'.

The Ladies also received their first official uniform (not having one the previous year). Kerrie Thornhill jumped into both netball coordinator and coaching role with Rach Cooper, again being named Captain. The netball club continued to grow (albeit with 1 team) but the importance of the Saturday afternoon netball game was paramount with the Senior Footballers. Unfortunately no finals this year, however the ‘Best & Fairest’ award for season 2014 was split evenly between Captain Rach Cooper and Milly Cain.

Season 2015 saw a changing of the guard for the ‘Hammerbirds’ with Kerrie Thornhill departing and a new coach stepping into the Role in Jess Murphy. Rach Cooper was again named Captain. Jake Chitty took over the netball coordination but the team struggled with numbers and by seasons end, finished with a total of 3 wins for the season. Ashley Simon won the ‘Best & Fairest’ for season 2015.

Season 2016 saw Millie Billings appointed as Coach and Cassie Hughes as Captain. Jake Chitty was reappointed as Coordinator.

The year got off to a tough start with virtually a new-look team, the ladies took some time to get going but finally got their first, and unfortunately only win, for the year with a gutsy 8 goal win in Round 8. It may have been the only success the ladies had for the 2016 season but they record a total of 8 games lost by<4 goals in a very frustrating but enjoyable year for the new look team.

One of the highlights for the year was most notably Captain Cassie Hughes scoring a record ‘32’ goals in a single game – a feat in which she still speaks about to this day!

Melissa Peet finished the B&F in 3rd Position while Rebecca Cormick finished in 2nd place. Eleanor Bevilaqua took home the ‘Most Improved’ award.

It was also the first year the club was introduced to a young, energetic and future star named Abby Dougherty who was named ‘Best & Fairest’.

Season 2017 saw a new look team with a number of new players down to the club. It also saw the return of Millie Billings as Coach and Jake Chitty as Coordinator. Abby Dougherty retained the ‘Captaincy’ for season 2017 and the team started the year with a pre-season tournament in March played in 30+deg temps!

The girls had moderate success this season winning the 6 games (by far their best season), unfortunately they lost 4 games by <5 goals along the way. In a lopsided division, our ladies only missed finals by 2 games in what was an improved season with so much potential.

One of the highlights of the season went to Tori McLure and her radio interview for the League and her insight into the team!

This was the first season whereby the first Annual Netballers v Footballers Netball Game (over a bye weekend) took place – A fantastic way for the club to come together. However it was the Boys and their height that saw them get the win on this day by the barest of margins.

Abby Dougherty had an outstanding season finishing equal 4th in the Division 7 League BNF, which coincided with her taking home (for the second season in a row) the Club BNF. Erin Moody took home the top goal scorer award and finished Runner up in the BNF. Whilst Tori Mclure took home the coaches award.

Division 7 Squad: S.Houston, M.Peet, A.Dougherty (c), M, Cook, V.Mclure, P.Meares-Whitty, A.Lei, E.Moody, M.Billings (Coach), N.Braid, T.Kaul, R.Cormick, A.Mitrovic, E.Savvidies and N.Cormick

Season 2018 saw the appointment of Marc Scaife as Coach and Erin Moody as Captain. Tori Mclure and Jake Chitty jointly coordinated the team which saw a number of new players in Alana Bain, Cara Johnson, Sophie Derwin, Ashley Beckett, Ellise ‘smiley’ Heitmann recruited down to the toolbox. Not to mention the teams official #1 supporter and everyone’s favourite Joshua Brown-Lowe!

A big change for the team this year was of new uniforms which had immediate effect as the ladies jumped straight to the top of the ladder with some very impressive wins in the first half of the season.

The back half of the season saw the ladies drop a few games and ultimately finished in 3rd position – Qualifying for their first ever finals appearance!

The elimination Final was played against the 4th placed team Dingley, without their ‘Super Coach’ Marc Scaife, but in the pouring rain, the ladies were able to prevail, securing a gutsy 3 goal win (33-30).

The preliminary final was played against season rival Lyndhurst (who finished in 1st position) in again, some of the worst conditions for a netball game. Tensions were high throughout the game but the ladies came away with the W (33-25) to make their very first Grand Final!

Netball Grand Final:

Division 7 saw second pitted against third as Murrumbeena took on Hampton with both sides looking to win their club’s first Grand Final. Hampton were rocked by a pre-game car accident that cost them the services of Ashleigh Beckett, but they seemed unfazed by this setback and by Grand Final nerves as they took what proved to be a decisive 10-3 lead to the first break. This margin gave lie to the way that the game was being played as Murrumbeena had the majority of the ball and control but couldn’t convert. Half Time score was 22-10 which looked like a difficult advantage for Murrumbeena to arrest, and Hampton simply continued to play their game throughout the second half ensuring that there would be no comeback on this day. Led by Erin Moody and Abby Dougherty, Hampton were simply too good. Hampton hadn’t played a single final in the history of the club three weeks ago. Now they have a premiership after winning this Grand Final by 36-26.

Nina Braid finished the Division 7 League BNF count in 5th position which was a fantastic feat! For the 3rd time in as many seasons, Abby Dougherty took out the club BNF.

Grand Final Winning Division 7 Squad: M.Scaife (Coach), N.Braid, A.Dougherty, E.Moody (c), A.Bain, C.Johnson, S.Derwin, A.Beckett, E.Heitmann

The Club expanded its netball program from 2 to 4 teams! With a roster boasting almost 35 ladies! The club soon arranged its teams into 4 teams with the divisions as follows:

• ‘Yellow’ Team – Division 5

• ‘Blue’ Team – Division 7

• ‘Purple’ Team – Division 9

• ‘Black’ Team – Division 10

Our ‘Yellow’ team found itself in the highest ever division the club has been 5/10 and immediately felt the change in skill level.

In a division made up of 11 teams, every single win was crucial but 2 unexpected losses early in the season made the gap too hard to close. Our Ladies finished the H&A season in 5th place with 9 wins, 4 losses and 1 bye with a percentage of 113%. An agonising way to end the season as they were ranked 2nd in defence with a total of only 302 goals conceded for the entire year.

Awards:

- B&F: Sophie Peirce

- RU B&F: Cara Dawson

- Shooter Award: Cara Dawson (298 goals)

- League Award: 2nd Best & Fairest Sophie Peirce (16 votes)

- Netball Coordinators: V.Mclure/S.Peirce/E.Heitmann

 'Blue' Team - Division 7: 

Our ‘Blue’ team remained in Division 7 from the previous year and had an absolutely amazing H&A season with a win/loss record of 14-0-1 with a percentage of 355%. They finished with a total of 618 goals (for) and only 174 goals (against) which no other team could get close to. They were able to continue their winning ways by tearing apart the finals competition – making their way straight into the Grand Final against Heatherton;

A tense first 5 minutes saw our ladies dig deep and apply pressure from both ends of the court which ultimately saw a big half time lead 25-11. The ladies continued doing what they have done so well all season and did not let up, eventually running out 43-28 winners in a dominant display. Annie Mirabile was judged best afield playing from GD with too many interceptions to count. Congrats to Coach Marc Scaife, Captain Tori Mclure and all the ladies for successfully defending their Title!

Awards:

- B&F: Annie Mirabile

- RU B&F: E.Moody

- Coaches Award: Jamila Bird

- Shooter Award: Ellise Heitmann (300 Goals)

- League Award: Ellise Heitmann – Leading Goal Scorer (300 goals)

- League Award: Annie Mirabile – 3rd Place Best & Fairest (15 votes)

- Netball Coordinators: V.Mclure/S.Peirce/E.Heitmann

  ‘Purple’ Team – Division 9

A brand new team emerged in 2019 who were ultimately slotted into Division 9 in a 10 team competition. Immediately our ladies (who had played a lot of junior netball together) blew the competition away not dropping a game for the whole H&A season to finish in 1st place leading into finals. The team were so dominant they held the highest goals shot (465) – which on average equalled 33 goals per game. They also held the lowest scored against (205) – which on average was 14 per game. Perfect form heading into their first finals series.

In the semi-Final they battled 2nd team (Hampton Park) and made light work of them winning 34-21 to progress straight to the Grand Final.

In the Grand Final we came up against 3rd placing Heatherton - by the end of the first quarter they had completely shut down Heatherton and by half time, had an unassailable lead (26-16). Captain Ruby Timms killed it through the middle while the defence continually applied pressure to solidify the win 52-35. Bronte Reark was judged best afield with her crafty goal shooting up forward. Congrats on a wonderful season ladies! Big thank you to Jayne Timms for being Team Manager/Coach

Team Best & Fairest: Jas Hands

Runner up Best & Fairest went to: Ruby Timms

Coaches Award: Lara Walker

Shooter Award: Bronte Reark (264)

Best Finals Player: Jas Hands

League Awards: Jas Hands (Shared) - Best & Fairest (22 votes)

Grand Final: Hampton 52 – Murrumbeena 35. Best on Court – Bronte Reark.

A great win over 4th placed Hampton Park in the 1st semi-Final (38-17) then saw the girls progress to the Preliminary final to which unfortunately they were unsuccessful against Clayton.

Team B&F: Joint – Maddie Hillier & Maddie Hunter

Runner up B&F: Martyna Zuchowska

Coaches Award: Maddie Hillier

Shooter Award: Maddie Morrow (233)

Best Finals Player: Martyna Zuchowska

League Awards: Jasmin Hands (Shared) - Best & Fairest (22 votes)

Grand Final: Hampton 52 – Murrumbeena 35. Best on Court – Bronte Reark.

League Awards: 3rd B&F: Maddie Hunter (17v) & 4th B&F: Renee Tovenati (14v)

  Year 8 – Season 2021

Season 2021 was another year impacted by the pandemic, however the club fielded 2 teams and were named Hampton Black and Hampton Yellow:

Our Ladies returned to the court after a scrapped 2020 season with Sophie and Abby given joint Captaincy of the team. Marc Scaife was again named as Coach for the season. The ladies found out very early that Division B2 was not going to be a pushover as wins were very hard to come by. Injury and sickness hampered their H&A season from start to finish which ultimately saw them finish the year with 1 win, 10 losses and 1 draw. Only 12 games were played due to Covid lockdown. Highlight of the year went Sophie Peirce who placed 2nd overall in the SFNL Division B2 Netball Best and Fairest with 16 votes! Sophie not only won back-to back Team B&F Awards but she found herself with back-to-back Runner Up awards for her Netball Division which is an amazing feat!

Team Best & Fairest: S.Peirce

Runner up Best & Fairest: M.Dougherty & A.Wells

Coaches Award: A.Wells

Shooter Award: C.Johnstone

Players Choice Award: S.Peirce & A.Dougherty

League Runner up B&F: S.Peirce

 

For season 2021, Nina, Sophie and Elise jointly conducted the netball coordination for the year while Jayne Timms was un-official Coach and Ruby named as Captain. The team rose several divisions from the previous year but were aided with a number of new players to the team. The team was very consistent with regards to results over the year even though the personnel changed heavily from week to week. They finished off the year strong, winning their last 3 games, however it was too little too late, narrowly missing out on a spot in the finals by 1 win. Overall the team ended their season in 5th position with 7 wins and 5 losses (from 12 games). A big shout out to Lara Walker who finished the season as Runner-Up in the League B&F Voting for Division A4.

Team Best & Fairest: L.Walker

Runner up Best & Fairest: O.Earney

Coaches Award: O.Earney

Players Choice Award: J.Hands & L.Walker

League Runner up B&F: L.Walker

For season 2022, Nina took over the coordination of the ladies whilst Ruby Timms was again named unanimously as Captain. This year the ladies rose up the ranks and played in the highest ever division the club has been apart of Division 3 (out of 12). This step up in class was immediately felt as the ladies were not only battling some very good teams but also had issues of their own with sickness, injury and player numbers plaguing the team throughout the season. The ladies did score their only win however against the top team in the middle of the season which was a big highlight!

Overall the team ended their season in 10th position with 1 win and 15 losses and a percentage of 75%. Congratulations to Olivia who grabbed her first Best and Fairest award for the team!

Ladies Netball Division A3 Season 2022 Award Winners:

• Best & Fairest: O. Earney (17 votes)

• Equal Runners Up: R. Timms & J. Hands (13 votes respectively)

• Coaches Award: O. Earney

• Players Choice: J. Hands

Hampton Yellow (Division A4): 

For the club’s 10th year of netball (an achievement in itself!), Jake Chitty jumped back into the netball coordinator seat and the team slotting into Division A4. Our Ladies started the season in a huge way with ¾ wins and rocketed into the top 2. A key departure of captain Ruby Timms early in the season left a gap in the team which was quickly filled by an absolutely stunning run of form from Jas Hands in ‘centre’. From here our ladies battled away with a mixture of close losses and some further wins. A real battle continued at the Goal Scorers end with both Sophie Porter and Olivia Earney battling it out for Most goals (with Sophie coming out on top by the smallest of margins).

In the end the ladies finished their season in 6th position (1 ½ games out of finals) with 6 wins, 10 losses 30pts for a total of 76.92% - Goals: (For – 410) – (Against – 533).

Ladies Netball Division A4 Season 2023 Award Winners:

• Best & Fairest: J. Hands (15 Votes)

• B&F Runner Up: L. Walker (14 votes)

• Club Award: R. Timms & J. Hands

• Presidents Future Leader Award: A. Sheppard

• Goal Shooter Award: S. Porter (157 Goals)

Thank you to all of the players for supporting the club and keeping our fantastic netball program going. The club has really enjoyed watching you girls play this year and we look forward to further expansion next year!

Author: J.Chitty