Fresh-faced Katanning Netball Association committee saves 2021 season from cancellation

A new-look Katanning Netball Association committee have scrambled through the off-season to save the local netball competition for 2021 with one week to spare. The new netball season will hit the court on Saturday after an incredible community effort by the KNA committee to find 10 new members within a couple of weeks to ensure round one could go ahead. Only two committee members remained from last year after COVID had an impact on their season but newly elected KNA president Tania Wolfe said it was essential that netball in the town went ahead. “As it is we are scrambling to get this season ready on time,” Ms Wolfe said. “It feels like it is coming so quickly. “The previous committee did an amazing job but it was a massive workload on them due to the impact that COVID regulations had on our sport. “We went full steam into our juniors last season as we didn’t want them to miss that season because that would have been detrimental to their development.” A total of 250 players are set to take to the courts of Katanning Leisure Centre this Saturday in what committee members are expecting to be the start of a bumper season. There will be eight senior teams competing in A-grade, four in B-grade and four in C-grade. “We are excited to get the season under way as we are surprised that we got 16 senior teams all signed up,” Ms Wolfe said. This season the KNA have decided on several changes to fixtures and regulations in a bid to make transitions between games simpler. All Go juniors and Net matches are scheduled for 9am each week, all Set games are at 10am and Juniors start at 10.30am. KNA senior co-ordinator Alyce Caldwell urged parents and players to be understanding as the new-look committee gets accustomed to the job at hand. “We are a fresh committee so please be patient because we are looking to create a great friendly and healthy, competitive environment this season,” she said. The KNA is already at work preparing for the annual over-30s carnival, which is set to make a return this season in June.