A DECISION to fully commit her playing time to Port Fairy’s division three team has paid dividends for Seagulls’ coach Naomi Harman.
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The newly-crowned Hampden division three best-and-fairest netballer, who polled 33 votes, stepped back from division two this season to play for the side she coaches, starring when she moved back to defence.
“Last year I coached division three and played division two, but it was too hard to commit to both,” Harman said.
“At the start of the season, we only had eight players. We only had one shooter, so I swapped from playing defence into shooting, which we quickly worked out that was never going to work.
“So we got one of our under 16 girls that plays on a Sunday to commit to our team for the season – Molly Evans – which was really great for her development and she really contributed.”
Harman said she was enjoying the chance to play alongside her sisters Amy and Sarah, while her mum, Wendy, was team manager. She also had the joy of watching her team transform into finalists this year.
In division two, Koroit’s Kylie Grayland won her sixth league best and fairest award, polling 36 votes to finish nine ahead of runner-up Rebecca Bloomfield, from Camperdown.
As her Saints prepare for a grand final, Grayland said she was happy with the season to date. “It’s really good – we’re in the grand final, so it’s a goal to get that,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be tough … (but) we’ve had a great season. It’s a great group of girls.”