Echuca United has had to wait three years to defend its status as Murray Netball League’s top team, so preparation for the 2022 season is on in earnest.
Head of netball Chris Day will be leading the defence of the club’s four netball premierships from 2019 when the new season starts in less than a month.
“We are still the reigning premier in A-grade, C-grade, C-reserve and under-17 grades. And there are still quite a few players involved in those teams,” Day said.
“COVID has not been kind, however, we had a big drop off in 2020. It was almost a disaster, but we will be fielding all eight teams this year.
“There are 80 players on the books and numbers with the four junior sides are very strong this year.”
Such is the strength of numbers that the club will field an under-13 development team in Echuca District Netball Association.
“We did it a couple of years ago at under-15 level,” he said.
“There has been a bit of a push from EDNA, so kids that miss out still have an avenue to play netball.”
Echuca United’s A-grade team should be similar to last year, when the team had a 50-50 win-loss record at season’s end.
Club president Anthony Chapman said the netball club had a strong flow from its junior ranks, into senior competition, which the football club was hoping to emulate.