Grubbers to celebrate 50 years of netball

Club legends Paula Birch and Lorraine Birch (far left and right) with senior players Emily Quinten, Emily Moroney, Rhiannon Whitson and Mia Smith. Photos: PETER MARSHALL

SHELL ROAD will turn into a sea of red and white next weekend for the Ocean Grove Netball Club’s 50th anniversary.

The “Grubbers” will mark the half a century milestone on August 11 with a special luncheon event in its clubrooms.

Plenty of classic memorabilia will be showcased, guest speakers will take to the stage and the Ocean Grove netball team of the past 50 years will be announced.

Ocean Grove’s netball will celebrate 50 years next weekend.

Event organiser and club committee member Lorraine Birch said the day promised to be full of celebrations.

“We are certainly keen for it to go well and are hoping to get close to 100 people there into the space.

“It’ll be a great walk down memory lane. The changes in our uniforms, the milestones along the way, and our journey from The Avenue behind the Scout Hall to Draper Street and then onto the four courts at Shell Road.

“We also look forward to recognising the special people who have had an impact and supported the club both on and off the field.”

Paula Birch, Emily Quinten, Emily Moroney, Rhiannon Whitson, Mia Smith and Lorraine Birch.

A BFNL life member, Mrs Birch has seen the club evolve drastically during her near 50-year tenure at Ocean Grove.

She joined the club as a player in 1975/76 and has since moved into coaching and onto the club’s committee.

Her daughters Paula and Tina Birch have both lined up in hundreds of games for the club, with the former becoming a 400-gamer in June.

Senior players Emily Quinten, Emily Moroney, Rhiannon Whitson and Mia Smith are leading the charge in season 2024.

“When we started, we had three senior teams. Now we’ve got six of them, and 25 teams in total starting from Under 11s,” she added.

“We are proud to have all five of our open grade teams from A through to E firmly entrenched in the top five, and plenty of our juniors’ teams up there too.

“Let’s hope we can bring home some more premierships this year. It’s certainly been an amazing journey so far.”

The A Grade squad will be looking to go back-to-back in 2024 after breaking a 19-year premiership drought last year.

Tickets for the 50-year anniversary celebration are $30 per person and include lunch. Drinks are at bar prices.

For more information, head to the club’s Facebook page.