NETBALL

MID GIPPSLAND

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

LIVING and breathing Newborough Football Netball Club for close to 30 years, Chelsea Granger celebrated her 450th club game in the earliest senior match of the day at the weekend.

The D Grade girls dug deep for their teammate, getting the chocolates 40 to 24 over Boolarra at Northern Reserve Court in Round 6 of the Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League.

Celebrations were already queued before the game, however to the surprise of the club’s games record holder (in either netball or football).

“It was a bit of a surprise, I obviously knew it was my 450th… but I was sort of just expecting that maybe my mum and dad would come along and that would be nice, with my sister and her family,” Granger said.

“But then when I got down to the courts, the girls just made such a big deal of it.

“I was greeted with all these old phots of me (that) they were wearing them as masks almost, so that was quite funny and just good value.

“I just have so much gratitude towards the club and the people who did all that work, it just honestly still gets me emotional thinking about it because it was just really overwhelming and I just felt incredible to be honest.”

The club organised a guard of honour to take place following the game, with club members and Boolarra surrounding and participating – a mark of respect Granger was definitely worthy of not just for the milestone alone.

Granger arrived at Newborough, starting off in C Grade (the club and Mid Gippsland did not feature junior netball at the time) and has cultivated a great fondness and many relationships at the club, calling it “warm and welcoming”.

“The old guys would ask you how you went and all that, but really what has kept me there is the lifelong friends I’ve made… I’m very lucky, some of my best friends are at the footy club,” she said.

Granger has served many roles across the journey, including as secretary, committee member, former coach and current netball director.

She has won six club best-and-fairest awards, won the Kylie Todd Most Potential Award, and is a life member.

“I’ve been also awarded the Kylie Todd Jacobs Trophy, which at our club that is an absolute honour, someone who lost their life very young and was an absolute club champion,” Granger said.

“For anyone to receive that trophy, that’s sort of like the pinnacle that you can get. I’ve been very fortunate with the accolades and the highlights over the time.”

Highlights for Granger are also two premierships, namely Newborough’s lone B Grade flag in 2005.

She was also a part of the C Grade premiership in 2017, which she won alongside her sister, Kristy.