The Orange Netball Association (ONA) is preparing to publish a new book detailing the long history and incredible growth of the game in Orange.

Written by ONA veteran, Dr Pam Ryan, the book is more than just a sporting record; it is a social history that tells the story of how a small, female-led organisation grew from around 50 participants in wartime to a community powerhouse of over 3,500 members.

“The association's been going for 84 years now, so it seemed like it was time to update the history books, and there's a lot of wonderful stories involved in that, as you can imagine,” Dr Ryan told Orange City Life.

“So many things have changed, so many fabulous things have happened… and there's some very precious people from the Association who have passed away in the last few years. So I thought it was time to write about some of those people and some of the things that have gone.”

The book, “Scoring Goals: 84 Years of Orange Netball”, begins with the history of the sport of netball itself, before diving into the origins of the Orange Netball Association

“It was the first country association in NSW,” Dr Ryan said. “Founded in 1942, which was a time of war and so many of the men obviously were not around. So it grew through women who started having a more prominent role in the community.”

“So I track some of those early days and early teams, and some of the great achievements through to our own Marianne Murphy, the Diamond #111 national player. But also all the little stories in between and characters like Toot Keegan, who was a wonderful figure in our community, and Norma Corse, who founded the association with an Orange High teacher, Bill Knight.”

But more than just creating a history book, Dr Ryan said they hope to use this book to fund future players and grow the organisation. She said the ONA has launched a fundraising campaign to cover production costs and the delivery of 500 books, so that every dollar made from book sales goes directly back into the association’s youth development and inclusive sports programs.

“If we can pay for the book up front, 500 copies of a beautiful hard-covered book, then all the funds raised go back into the kids,” Dr Ryan said. And that's the point of it, that the history supports the future.

The book “Scoring Goals: 84 Years of Orange Netball” is scheduled for release in August 2026 to mark the climax of the local season. If you would like to donate, you can do so by visiting www.gofundme.com and searching for “Orange Netball”.