Celebrating 40 years

By Casey Neill
MOUNT Evelyn Netball Club has celebrated 40 successful and thriving years in the hills.
Current and former players, coaches and committee members enjoyed a sausage sizzle, jumping castle, games and face painting at the side’s Morrison Reserve courts and clubrooms on Friday (4 December) to mark the milestone.
Sheelagh Kleverkamp has been an active Mount Evelyn Netball Club member for almost 20 years, including 11 as president.
She’s also coached and umpired, sits on the Lilydale and Yarra Valley Netball Association (LYVNA) council and became a club life member in 2004.
Kleverkamp said the anniversary was a significant one.
“We’ve survived 40 years, because a lot of other clubs didn’t, and we’re still a big club after 40 years,” she said.
She’s watched the team grow to 13 teams this spring and 15 this past winter. She said the club was now one of the biggest in the LYVNA.
Kleverkamp has stuck with the team ‘for the kids’.
“And I love netball,” she said.
Her daughter Sarah, 27, now presides over the club after joining as an 8-year-old.
Kleverkamp said the club’s move to Morrison Reserve in October 2007 was one of the biggest changes she’d seen.
The side now has clubrooms and floodlit courts they can hire out to raise extra cash.
Mount Evelyn Netball Club welcomes players aged from seven and a half.