Diamond’s gold builds 2026 anticipation

IN just under four years, the Australian Diamonds will be in Bendigo defending their recently won Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Netball is one of seven sports that will be contested in the Bendigo hub for the 2026 Games, alongside lawn balls, T20 cricket, para powerlifting, weightlifting, squash, and cycling.

Red Energy Arena will play host to the event and local netballers are getting excited, including juniors at Golden City Netball Association.

Golden Square Primary School student Yikira McKenzie said she’s excited to see netball stars up close and personal.

“I’m feeling pretty good about it, it sounds really cool to have the Commonwealth Games netball here,” she said. “It’ll be a great thing to watch.

“[When I watch] I try and pick up on the different strategies they use while they’re playing and the different ways, they do things. If it’s in person you pick on a bit more stuff [than] on TV.”

McKenzie plays in Golden City’s grade 6 development squad with Ruby Kelly, who said Bendigo hosting the netball is a big deal for the region.

“I think it will be a big achievement for Bendigo itself just to have something so big,” she said. “It’ll be really cool to see netballers that have been successful playing where I play.”

Players in the team will be 15 and 16 years old when the Commonwealth Games roll into town, and coach Rachel Thompson said it’s important to be able to see pathways in the sport.

“A Comm Games coming regional is really something for the kids to get up close and personal,” she said.

“It really does raise the level of participation; I think it’s an opportunity to do that. They get to see who they follow, and the Aussie Diamonds, play right here.”

Bendigo has a history of producing netball talent, including Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Melbourne Vixen premiership player Caitlin Thwaites.

Red Energy Arena, formally known as Bendigo Stadium, hosted a Super Netball game between Collingwood Magpies and West Coast Fever in 2019 and a spokesperson for the stadium said the facility is well prepared to host the sport.

“We’ve had some awesome netball games in the past and we’re keen to host more in our arena,” the spokesperson said. “Hopefully we’ll have a few more events like that in the pipeline.”