The Club were awarded the Rigter Group Atlas Inclusion Award after a successful year running their programs and expanding their club to three teams.
Team Manager Sharon Gould said sport is an essential part of life and for people with disabilities it needs to be easier to access.
“Champions is purely a club for people with disabilities. The idea is to work with Geraldton Netball Association to support our players and keep them playing the beautiful sport,” she said.
For the first time, the Club has grown from one team to three in 2025.
“This year we introduced a No Limits program in Term One and Term Four which has brought in six new participants in the program, with three athletes going on to game play,” Sharon said.
During the winter season, two teams play within fixtures, and supporting clubs from Geraldton Netball Association provide a mix of players to play the third team to help develop and maintain skills.
“We see improvement in the athletes’ socialisation skills, skill development and the enjoyment they get out of seeing the same people every Tuesday night,” she said.
“They thrive being able to participate in fundraisers within the association and just getting out there in the sporting community, it has a flow on effect on the town.”
The Club plays netball year-round, running their term one and term four program as well as the winter season to maintain memory and skill levels for the players.
“This has been great because we are able to keep that skill set going since there is such a big gap between the winter season starting and ending, so the levels and memory can go down.”
Such important work was deservingly recognised at the Midwest Sport Awards, with organisers working with the Club to provide them the most comfortable experience possible on the night.
“Being acknowledged in any program is always an honour,” Sharon said.
“The excitement the players felt of being nominated, being up on stage with other sports and dressing up to be part of the ceremony, it was really great.
“It was a night out for everyone, including parents and family members and to tie with the cricket program was great because we got to stand on stage together and acknowledge each other’s hard work.”
For Sharon, although awards are nice, she doesn’t need them to believe in the important work her Club is doing.
“We believe in our Club anyway, we’ll be going into next year looking to see how we can introduce more people to netball and work with the association,” she said.
Champions Netball Club may only have three teams, but they are proof that all you need to make a club is good people.
“The strategic and formal side of things aren’t familiar to me, but we still call ourselves a club,” Sharon said.
“That’s how our players see it now, they say to me ‘are we a club now Sharon?’
“And I just say well yes, I guess we are.”
