From modest beginnings to a thriving netball community:

The history of the Eltham Panthers Netball Club

In 2014, a call went out for netball players to join a newly formed club, affiliated with the Eltham Panthers Football Club.  At the time, the football club had a senior netball team, but no junior teams.  Two keen netball mums, Deb McCurdy and Jo Arrowsmith, saw an opportunity to create a new club, and together with the support of Kirsty and Brendan Cottier, the Eltham Panthers Junior Netball Club was formed.

Their vision was to create a club that was welcoming, inclusive, transparent in its processes, and one that invested in its coaches and had a strong focus on player development.  The link to the Eltham Panthers footy club also provided access to the football clubrooms, along with use of the Panthers name.

The inaugural general meeting was held on 1 February 2015, and the club joined what was then called the Doncaster and District Netball Association (DDNA), now known as the Manningham Netball Association.

A modern uniform was designed, moving away from the old style pleated skirt and polo shirt to a sporty and stylish playing dress.  A head coach was appointed to provide coaching support to all teams and help develop the playing groups.  Grading was introduced to better inform team selections in a fair and transparent way, and opportunities were provided for players to enter the DDNA representative competition. By the start of the 2015 Autumn season, 4 Panthers teams had been entered in U9, U11 and two into the U13 age group.

On 14 March 2015, our U9 Suns were the first Eltham Panthers players to take to court, proudly supported by senior players from the football club on the sidelines (pictured back row).

U9 player Akira Porter scored the first ever Panthers goal, before our U11 Panthers Jets took to court (Coach: Dean Bailey). Our U13 Panthers Rockets (Coaches: Analee & Olivia Cusack) were the first Panthers team to take out a win on their first day of competition, while our U13 Panthers Stars coached by Deb McCurdy narrowly missed out on a win by just 2 points.

As we grew and joined the senior competition of the Manningham Netball Association, we dropped the “junior” from our name. This was formally recognized at the 2023 AGM when we “rebranded” to become known as the Eltham Panthers Netball Club.

Since our modest beginnings, we have continued to grow and thrive and maintained a strong emphasis on coaching and player development, as well as building connections with our player families and local community.  We also continue to play in the Manningham Netball Association, including both the Saturday Domestic Competition and Representative Team Programs.

Fast forward 10 years and the Club has now grown to 17 teams and over 150 players!  We look forward to the next decade at the Eltham Panthers and continuing to build our thriving netball community.