SUCCESS STORY Natimuk Football Netball Club Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Netballers and Slaughtered Rams Keep Natimuk Alive The people living in the tiny hamlet of Natimuk, located halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide, know the importance of sticking together no matter what. They know their future and the future of the town depends on the connections made either through adversity or shared triumph. The town of around 500 people has been reinvigorated as a base for mountain climbers heading to Mt Arapiles and also hosts a thriving artists’ community. But epitomising this small town’s courage is the Natimuk Football Netball Club. Only combining this year, the club is made up of two different sporting clubs with very different histories and fortunes. The 120 year old footy club – ‘The Rams’ – has recently received attention for breaking all the wrong records. In 1997 the club reached the preliminary final but then started to experience some massive losing streaks, including one that lasted 46 games and stretched over 3 seasons. The club won one game in 2005 and has lost all matches since. A well publicised loss of 341 points to Laharum this year still didn’t crush it’s morale. “We just had to keep going. Some junior players from the under 16s played three games for the club on that day and quite a few seniors were out with the flu. A few of us have played two games a day many times just to keep the club going. The club has been around a long time and we just have to keep working together. Now that we have a few junior teams we have to keep it going for them. We may not have won many games, but off the field we have had great successes”, club president Willie Hanson explains. Ruckman, passionate climber and co-author of guide books of local climbs, Simon Mentz documented the club’s on-field losses with a video ‘Rams to the Slaughter’. Simon’s exposure to a large number of climbing tourists led to an innovative recruitment strategy. “Simon would persuade climbers from all around the world to play for us. Some couldn’t speak English and many had no idea about the game. He would take them to his place on a Friday night, show them the video and get them all motivated. Then they would come all excited and play for our reserves the next day! Some of them would even play in their glasses!” Willie laughs. Simon says his recruitment process also involved watching Friday night footy on the television and explaining the rules to the tourists. “What the climbers lacked in ball skills, they often made up for in fitness and tenacity. The local supporters loved watching the overseas visitors play and appreciate anyone who is willing to run out there and have a go regardless of their ability,” Simon adds. UK climber Mike Weeks said “It’s not often that I am scared of anything that I do in climbing because it is second nature…even climbing hundreds of metres above the ground without ropes. But playing Aussie rules football and playing for Natimuk scared the crap out of me!” But while the Rams were struggling, the Natimuk Netball club was one of the most successful clubs in the Horsham and District Netball Association with 3 senior and 4 junior teams all competing well. December 2006 Natimuk Football Netball Club “At the same time the footy club was on the verge of folding, we were having a lot of on-field success and had so many players. We felt so sorry for them. When I saw ‘Rams to the Slaughter’ I nearly cried. They had such a terrible run of losing. With us, if we lost one week we wouldn’t care as we had a chance to win next the week,” past president of the netball club, Debbie Keyte says. Although thriving with 70 players, the netball club wasn’t without it challenges. A major health and safety issue facing the club was a lack of toilet and change room facilities for the players and umpires. The closest facility was a pavilion that was essentially a public toilet which was 300 – 400 metres away from the courts. Some players had to change in their cars. “It was a major problem – some visiting players were leaving their bags in the pavilion which was a real safety issue. My dream was to get something for the future of the club. We kept missing out on grants so we fund-raised through hundreds of hours of volunteer labour,” Debbie adds. The Netball Club raised enough money ($54,000), to buy a Safety Steel ‘Granny Flat’ that was constructed over a Queen’s Birthday long weekend in 2004. “About five blokes and three women chipped in over those days. We finally had some change rooms that were safe with toilets and showers,” Debbie says. The club was rewarded with the opportunity to host a netball semi-final with over 150 participants and spectators enjoying the facilities. Netball Victoria awarded the club its Worksafe Safety Initiatives Award 2005 for the new change rooms that also now include disabled access and security-coded locks. Debbie has played 470 games for Natimuk and hopes to get to 500 and then retire. Three of her sisters have also played for the club and between them she estimates they would have played 1200 games of netball representing Natimuk. The club is very family friendly and proud of the fact that many generations of the same families have played for both the footy and netball club. “Our oldest player, Shurlee Skiller is 52 and has been a role model for me since I was young. She really represents the values we have at the club. I think we have real respect from other clubs and we have always tried to put something back into the game through coaching and umpiring. We have never had any trouble with any team and I think our court behaviour contributes a lot to that. I also think our facilities have become a benchmark for the league now,” Debbie adds. Things have turned around spectacularly off the field for the footy club recently. In 2004 the club won a $20,000 competition held by Channel 9’s The Footy Show and sponsored by NAB. All it had to do was prove that it had the worst clubrooms in Australia. A quick video scanning the rooms and an interview with a junior player quickly convinced everyone who saw it that the club needed help quickly. The win was a real high point for the club giving it some much-needed publicity and the $20,000 was a handy contribution to a new multi-use community building currently being built. The footy club then combined with the netball club, something many had wanted for some time. Combined football netball clubs are common in the Wimmera area. “I wanted it to happen years ago as it is a matter of working together for the community and the clubs. It’s been great; the social side of having the clubs together is fantastic. A local footy club folded in a nearby town in 2000 and it is having a severe effect on the town. We know how important it is to a small country town to have a footy and netball club. A footy club has a huge effect on a town. It affects businesses, schools and the pub. These clubs are vital to the town,” Willie says. The clubs are also vital to keeping the spirits of those in the town alive too. “Once a Rams player collapsed on the field with an aneurism. It was a really hard time for his family and 40 people turned up to a working bee to cut up wood and deliver it to his family,” Debbie says. The footballer has since recovered. “Another time one of our netballers – a beautiful goalie – lost her eye from melanoma and then the cancer spread through her body and she died. She was only in her 40s. The club organised a sporting memorabilia auction and raised about $15,000 for a trust fund for her children. This is what clubs do in small towns, they stick together and help each other out”. More Information The Natimuk Football Netball Club can be found at www.natimukfc.vcfl.com.au Through its Partnerships for Health Scheme, VicHealth is supporting 49 State Sporting Associations and their affiliated clubs to create healthy environments and promote the physical and social benefits of belonging to a sporting club. VicHealth 15-31 Pelham St, Carlton 3053 PO Box 154, Carlton Sth 3053 Phone: +61 3 9667 1333 Fax: +61 3 9667 1375 Website:http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au .