Orange Netball Association (ONA) had one of its biggest seasons in recent memory, and is looking to develop even more opportunities for local players.

“This is very exciting for the future,” ONA president Dana Standring said.

“We had some fantastic results throughout our representative season including players and officials across all levels from Netball Australia to Netball NSW to Regional Netball.”

Some key achievements for the ONA have included increased umpire accreditations, new sponsorships, and greater registrations across all competitions. Orange Senior Winter Netball had six divisions and 43 teams which, for any sport in 2024, is a large number.

However, the ONA is always looking to improve and has set some key goals for 2025, including the continued growth of netball in Orange and surrounds.

“This is important for us to keep people healthy and active, promoting inclusivity within the community,” Standring said.

Other priorities are to start all-abilities skills days and competitions as well as a men’s competition.

“This carries as an important part of inclusivity and we at ONA feel that everyone deserves to be able to play sport within our community,” Standring said.

“We had a huge number of registered players this winter season and we credit that to creating a safe, fun and inclusive environment,” Standring said.

“Netball has been around for a very long time and it is still one of the desired sports to play, and I think it is really exciting to see netball as a whole changing and growing to allow expansion such as men’s competitions.”

Noting that Joe Miller grew up in Orange (playing basketball) and is now part of the Australian Kelpies men’s netball side, Standring said the ONA is trying to entice more boys and men to play the sport.

“We have a great number of males playing in our midweek competition and we would love to see this expand in the future into an all-male competition,” she said.

“At the moment we are talking with Netball NSW representatives about trying to bring a boys’/men’s representative competition to the region.”

Standring finished by thanking the ONA committee for a terrific 2024 season and for all their voluntary efforts throughout the year.

“It was huge,” she said. “Our competition would simply not be able to run if people did not put their hands up as volunteers.”