500 games for Bunga’s legacy legend

WHEN Amanda Clarke walks out on court for her five-hundredth senior game of netball in the Central Highlands league on Saturday, her mind in part will be on the journey that’s led to the milestone moment.

But she won’t focus on the 21 club best & fairest awards she’s won during her 35 years with Bungaree FNC, or the six league equivalents, or the premiership flags, or even her rep duty and time in the State League.

For Clarke, it’ll be about all those who have travelled with her along the way.

“This is a celebration of the people I’ve played with and that have been along for the ride and journey,” she said.

“We never took it for granted, and we enjoyed and celebrated the success we have had, but the best part about it was it was always the team and the friendships.

“A lot of my gratitude goes to my family. I have four kids, and my family have supported me along the way, especially when sometimes netball seemed like a priority.

“It just goes so quickly and that’s probably what I can’t believe.”

A Bungaree FNC lifer, Clarke was born and raised in the town across the road from the Demon’s home ground.

She joined the club in 1986 as a 13-year-old junior and remarkably, every year since she’s never missed playing finals.

It’s a personal record, in a long list of personal records and successes that Clarke attributes to the people around her.

“There was a stage where for about 15 years, maybe 20, the same group of people played. For me the friendships that grew from that is what I feel like needs to be celebrated,” she said.

“A lot of those teammates played 400 games and we we’re all committed to the same thing.”

As for how she’s feeling about stepping on court for her 500 senior appearance for the same club, in the same league, Clarke said her emotions would be mixed.

“I feel like it’s a satisfying way to finish after feeling like I’ve probably spent the majority of my life committed to the club,” she said. “For a long time Saturday’s and netball was the priority above all else.

“Now that you get to the end and you reflect back, the years have gone very quickly and I feel like I really value the sense of community and the belonging.”

When she’s not passing out of the centre circle or charging up and down the wing in the CHNL senior grades, Clarke can be found on the sidelines coaching the 15 & Under side and providing leadership across the junior squads.

“The 15 & Under team we have this year, I believe are very capable of playing grand final netball,” she said.

“All but one of the girls are from Bungaree families, so for me I feel positive about the future.

“We’re lucky at the moment that we have the numbers. They are really talented netballers, so fingers crossed for the next generation.”

With her daughters playing for Bungaree, Clarke’s family’s involvement with the club now spans three generations, as her father Jim O’Keefe also has a long legacy with the Demons.

At 500 games, her effort locks down a dual record.

“The thing that I love the most out of all of this is my dad,” Clarke said. “He’s the games record holder for footy at the club and probably a Bungaree legend.

“At the end I’ll probably be the club’s games record holder as I’m not sure they’d be anyone foolish or mad enough to hang around and play as many as me. But there might be and if there is I’ll be holding them up on my shoulders.

“But between dad and I, we’ll be the games record holders for now.”

As for what the future has in store for Clarke, nothing is set in stone.

Netball is clearly a way of life, however, after 35 years she said she was considering putting down the bib.

At least that was until COVID-19 hit before the start of the 2020 season, which subsequently delayed Clarke’s 500th game by over 12 months.

“It’s a satisfying way to finish after feeling like I’ve probably spent the majority of my life committed to the club,” she said.

“Now that you get to the end and you reflect back, the year’s have gone very quickly and I feel like I really value the sense of community and the belonging.

“I kept thinking before COVID that I was so done and so finished, and I just wanted to step away, but once you step away from it for a year, and when we came back, I realised what a big thing it was to belong somewhere.”