Euroa's Kelly Hill will celebrate her 350th GVL game on Saturday.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
At some point Kelly Hill stopped chasing accolades and simply became one.
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This Saturday, the Euroa stalwart plays her 350th Goulburn Valley League netball game, further cementing her as one of the league’s most quietly influential figures.
Since that 300-game banner was raised in 2023, Hill has added another chapter to her already storied career.
Another premiership medal — the 2024 B-grade flag — now sits proudly alongside her growing collection.
Another year of mentorship, coaching and umpiring.
Another season of simply being present in the heartbeat of Euroa, still going full tilt while others quietly drift off.
Hill’s story is the kind that lingers long after the final whistle.
It begins at Cobram, bends through premiership glory at Shepparton United, and finds its heart at Euroa, where she not only played but rebuilt.
She arrived at the Magpies in 2010, having already claimed five club best-and-fairests at United and went on to coach and play A-grade up until 2018, where Hill added another handful of BnFs to her mantle.
In 2019, the graceful defender had her best year yet.
Hill snapped Euroa’s 36-year-old netball flag drought — with the team’s average age being 36 — by winning the B-grade premiership, while named best-on-court in the grand final and also collecting the Sandra Cox Medal bestowed upon the GVL B-grade best-and-fairest.
Kelly Hill took home the GVL B-grade netball league best-and-fairest award in 2019.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Post-COVID-19, she’s clinched two more club best-and-fairests, won another B-grade title, finished runner-up in the Sandra Cox and, this Saturday, will inscribe another gold-licked verse into her legacy.
Euroa president Scott Watson had nothing but praise reserved for a living legend of the game.
“Her skill set plus her application is a rarity,” Watson said.
“Sometimes you find athletes have a good skill set, but not the application or the other way around; I think Kelly’s got the two in spades.”
Hill is not only a talented and astute netball player, but is a wise head in the coaching game.
She wears many hats: junior development coach, A-grade assistant and, more recently, a successful mentor of the GVL 15-and-under interleague side that took out the Netball Victoria Association Championships Finals Day with daughter Avie in tow.
“What a wonderful netballer and somebody who has kept herself supremely fit. She’s a very active person all year round; tennis in the summer and netball in the winter,” Watson said.
“She now has daughters playing in the 17-and-under and 15-and-under teams at Euroa, and she’s an outstanding mentor.
“She’s a mentor for adult netballers and she’s a mentor for adolescent netballers and I think that’s reflected in her appointment to the interleague coaching role.”
Hill is a walking, talking example of what talent and application look like.
Sure, she’s got more awards than you could shake a stick at.
But for all her accolades and influence, Hill remains grounded.
She’s the type to deflect praise, pass off milestones as just another week and credit teammates before herself.
But make no mistake — 350 games, of which 268 were played in A-grade, isn’t just a number.
“She’ll be a life member of our footy-netball club at some point in time, she’s a life member of the GVL and somebody who could do with a whole heap of accolades that she probably doesn’t want,” Watson said.
Hill’s milestone will be shared with Euroa star Hollie Reid, who brings up her 100th game on Saturday, ahead of number 200 for fellow Magpie Eliza Hoare in round 14.
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