Nicki gets up at 7am every Saturday and by 8am is on radio talking about netball before heading to the ground. When she’s finished at the netball, she watches the footy and helps out around the club until about 6pm or 7pm.

For Nicki, South Rovers has been her second home for 26 years. 

“I’ve been there since I was born. My dad played there when he was growing up. So I’ve been there forever,” she said. “It’s home to me.”

As well as playing netball, for the past six or seven years she has been putting a lot more hours into volunteering around the club.

She was secretary of the netball for four years, and last year followed in her dad’s footsteps by becoming president of the footy club. This year she is the netball senior coordinator, organising team managers and making sure everything is right to go before the season starts.

“I just think if we didn’t have the volunteers there would be no netball or footy club,” Nicki said. “We just do it for the love of the club.”

Being part of South Rovers has been a family tradition, with Nicki’s sister, brothers, uncles and dad all playing games for the club.

She said watching the A-grade netballers win a premiership in 2011 and the footy players win in 2007 were some of the most memorable moments. 

“We were the underdogs coming up against Merrivale and that was our first A-grade flag. It was wonderful to be able to witness that,” she said of the netball win.

The footy premiership was special for her family because her Nan – a regular at the games – had passed away the week of the grand final and her brother went out and played.

Holly Powell, 27, who has been at South Rovers for six years, is secretary for the netball while also helping to make sure Saturday’s games run smoothly – things such as finding umpires and making sure people are available to offer first aid. While her volunteer role involves plenty of paperwork, it’s the time spent getting things organised before the start of the season that add up. 

“It’s good that we have a lot of people here that help out, so it makes it a bit easier. Everyone chips in,” she said.

The commitment means there are very few weekends away during footy season.

“But that’s alright. I love it. It’s good fun being here with all your friends. It’s a good club to be a part of,” she said.

Holly said winning a premiership with South Rovers was an amazing experience.

“I’d like to win another one one day. That’d be nice.”