Catherine, who has been President for the past five years, said netball has been in her life for three decades.
“I've been a player. I've been an umpire. I've been on multiple committees, but being the President of Port Hedland Netball Association has been probably one of the greatest things I've done,” Catherine said.
Such is her dedication to her association Catherine earnt Life Membership this year, in recognition of her signification service.
In what is an undoubtedly busy role, Catherine said she is constantly planning for the future and ticking boxes to include everyone within the community.
“Being President is not just telling people what to do. It’s making sure that the season is up and running smoothly and the clubs are on board and aligned,” she said.
Like many regional towns, sport is a pivotal part of the Port Hedland community.
“I’m really proud to say that we’ve continually been the highest participatory sport in Port Hedland for multiple years,” she said.
“When I first started as President we had 270 members, we’re now at 452.”
Community support for netball is always crucial to its success, something Catherine works hard on maintaining. She is consistently trying to get the association’s name out in the public and is active on their social media.
“We can’t deliver the things we want to do without our generous sponsors, without the local businesses,” she said.
“Our association went to the Fuel to Go & Play Association Championships this year, which for a regional town is not cheap to do.
“We had sponsors almost fully fund that trip, athletes only had to pay $100 which went towards the thank you to their coaches and managers.”
All of Catherine’s hard work over the years was recognised at the 2025 Pilbara Community Services Excellence Awards, where she was awarded the Champion Volunteer.
Ever so humble, Catherine said she was surprised to get an email notifying her of the nomination.
“When they announced my name at the awards, I wonder what my face looked like because honestly I was like oh, that’s me,” she said.
“I had no speech prepared, but I just went up there and spoke to the importance of volunteering, how one hour, three hours, five hours can really help a club or association.
“I don’t have children that play netball, I do this for the people in my association, in my sport,” she said.
Like many volunteers in the Netball WA community, the sport brings Catherine an incredible amount of fulfilment. This fulfilment is the reason why she dedicates so much of herself to netball, and resultingly is deserving of such an award.
“It’s probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done, being voluntary as well. I’ve learned so much about myself, about the sport and about leadership,” Catherine said.
“I just love netball. It's such a great sport, and it's really brought, you know, our community together.
“I've made so many friends, people that came to my wedding and will be lifelong friends forever because of netball. So those kinds of things are the rewards from doing all that I do.”
