Scholarships

The name Bette Allison is synonymous with Netball in this State. Her lifelong passion made her life very rewarding and successful for herself, others and Netball. She began playing at the age of fourteen and was a WA Open State player and whilst at University received a Half Blue for athletics and netball. She realised early however that her real love for the game was in coaching players and educating others to do the same and devoted her energies accordingly.
Bette coached at all levels from Kent Street High School Teams, her beloved Royals Netball Club for many decades, State Schoolgirls Teams, WA State Open Teams (5 of which were outright winners of the National Championships) and the All Australian Team for the Golden Jubilee Tests in 1978.
After graduating as a primary school teacher, Bette transferred to high school teaching and later moved on to lecture at Graylands Teachers College and Edith Cowan College of Advanced Education. She also fostered the game of Netball whilst lecturing in Fiji, Tonga, West Samoa, Montreal and Vancouver. She continued her own development receiving a Master of Education in 1977.
In 1975, 1983 and 1991 Bette coached the Singapore National Netball Team and often spent her holidays there conducting clinics for teachers and students living her passion for the development of coaches at any level.
Bette was instrumental in establishing the WA Junior and Sub-Junior Netball Associations, as she believed involvement in such activity was essential for the development of young girls and for the game.
During her lifetime Bette was the recipient of many awards including:
*1955 Life Membership Netball WA
*1977 British Empire Medal
*1989 May Campbell Award (for outstanding services to female sport in WA)
*2000 Australian Sports Medal
*2002 Citizen of the Year (Sport Category)
Bette was also a Life Member of Royals Netball Club, School Sport WA, Perth Netball Association and was number one ticket holder for Perth Orioles in 2005. Bette’s coaching style was analytical, meticulous, demanding and exact. She prepared thoroughly and expected players to show commitment. She was a passionate, forthright well-educated woman and role model to many.
Passing away in 2014, Bette ensured that her love for coaching would continue, bequeathing funds to Netball WA for Coach Education. The Bette Allison Coach Scholarships bear her name in recognition of her generosity and services to coaching in Western Australia.

Fay Bevan, a well-respected umpire was a West Australian state umpire for many years and the youngest umpire to receive the All Australian Umpire’s Award in 1952. Besides her own umpiring achievements, Fay spent countless hours nurturing and developing other West Australian umpires, encouraging them to aim and reach the heights that she had attained in her career. Fay’s career highlights include being selected as the Australian umpire to officiate at the 1971 and 1975 World Netball Tournaments held in Jamaica and New Zealand respectively. In 1967 Fay umpired at the World Tournament for another country as not all countries could provide an umpire. She was also selected as the umpire for the 1978 Golden Jubilee Series between Australia and Trinidad & Tobago.
With Fay’s commitment to umpiring, and her position as Netball WA Executive Committee Member and President during the 1970’s and 1980’s, it is of no surprise that Fay was awarded Netball WA Life Membership in 1970. Fay was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

Flo Starcevich will be remembered as the jovial, fun-loving Manager of West Australian 21U teams. She passed away in Melbourne in December 2008 following a trip to attend the annual Netball Australia Awards. With such a deep passion and involvement in all areas of netball she was determined to be there and see her netball friends. "Flo was a well-respected and much-loved member of the netball family, who contributed enormously to the netball community from the grassroots to the Australian teams," Netball Australia President Noeleen Dix said. Flo was heavily involved with Western Australian netball as a player, coach, selector, team manager for many State and State League teams and a Board member of the West Australian Netball Association from 1994-1996. Flo was awarded Netball WA Life Membership in 2002. Flo was team manager of the Perth Orioles in the inaugural year of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy in 1997 and in 1998. Flo was also the Team Manager for the Australian 21U team from 1992-2000, where her empathy and understanding of athletes and support for team officials was invaluable.