Letitia Beal is a lover of many sports and in particular Netball. The Murrumburrah Public School teacher and well known local has been playing in the Young Netball Association Representative Side along with fellow ‘Hardenites’, Jenee West and Sheryn Baird.
The inaugural Netball NSW State Championships was first held in 1969 at Moore Park in Sydney with 24 affiliated associations taking part across two age divisions. In 2013 the Championships grew to accomodate 1,350 athletes from 133 teams representing 76 associations and six age divisions.
Letitia has played netball at a high level in Melbourne and London and says she loves the competitive nature of the game. She competed for 3 years in the Ovens and Murray League which is an AFL and Netball joint league, with sides from Victoria and New South Wales competing. After trialling in Young in February, Letitia, Jenee and Sheryn have gone on to compete in tournaments in Temora and Cowra. The Temora tournament saw the side come up against Wagga in the Final. The ladies went down by a goal with seconds to spare. In Cowra they showed their consistency by playing 9 games, winning 6, losing just 2 and finishing with 1 draw. Letitia said “ All of the tournaments have given us the opportunity to work as a team. Our efforts will culminate in a 3 day carnival at Wollongong on the Queens Birthday weekend.”
Letitia said there was no Netball when she arrived in Harden several years ago. “I played all my life and it was dissapointing when I came to Harden and there was no netball, however I soon learnt to play Touch Football and thoroughly enjoy it.” She said “It was great to see some local ladies restart a ladies and mixed competition in Harden last year and it has continued on this year. The only issue is that to play Representative Netball we have to go to Young.” As part of their commitment to the side each of the ladies has had to raise $500 to contribute towards the various costs involved. She said
“I know it is quite late in the process but if there are any businesses who may be interested in helping us out with sponsorship we would be very grateful.” Letitia said she is keen to see more girls and women in town play more sport and in particluar more Netball, “Friendships that I have made through sport have been lfe long. The next phase is introducing our two boys to sport in the future.” If you would like to help sponsor the side please contact Letitia on 0421 162 762.
