With plenty of excitement throughout the netball community about the game’s potential growth, there are many who are eagerly anticipating what lies ahead including West Australian National team shooter Jerome Gillbard.
Gillbard, who is now the President of West Coast Men’s & Mixed Netball Association and a West Coast Fever training partner, is looking forward to playing in the first National Championships to be held in Perth in more than 15 years.
“I cannot wait to play in a National Championship in front of a home crowd,” Gillbard said.
“It’ll be the first time the competition has been in Perth since 2007, so we are looking to capitalise on a home ground advantage.”
Gillbard, along with Fever training partners Daniel Cools, Dravyn Lee-Tauroa and Dylan McPherson are fresh from taking on the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball Champions with the WA State team.
“It’s such a huge opportunity for us to be able to play Fever in our build-up to the AMMNA Championships each year,” he said.
“Fever set the benchmark for training environments and it’s such a privilege for our team to see that first-hand and try to replicate in our own sessions.
“The match play is such a valuable piece of our program as it allows us to see where we are at, test our skills, structures and combinations and identify gaps to work on before the championships over Easter.”
Gillbard fell in love with the game as a five-year-old, watching his mother play netball in the small country town of Narembeen. He played up until the age of 12, before being informed that he was no longer allowed to take part as there were no pathways left - a familiar scenario for many boys with a passion for netball.
“I took the sport back up again when I was 18, after finishing high school in Perth and fell back in love with it,” he said.
“I think at one stage I was in eight different social netball teams, doing hundreds of kilometres every week to play, fill-in and be involved with the sport.
“After a few years of that, I joined the WA & Australian Men’s teams and fell in love with the competitive, professional side of the sport.”
Whilst the prospect of a national league might be too far away at present, Gillbard is eager to see some positive steps in the game’s growth.
“I think the next step for men’s netball is two-fold. Firstly, the creation and implementation of a consistent pathway from NetSetGo to WANL to Thunder Men’s open and Australian teams, and hopefully further integration of the elite product with the Diamonds,” he said.
“And secondly, building on the success for the Australian Men’s 2022 Trans-Tasman competition alongside the Diamonds.
“I can’t wait to hear what’s in store for 2023 and I hope to be part of the action.”
