1st July 2010,

Netball Breaking Down Barriers

Article provided by Netball Queensland

NETBALL Queensland is putting a call out to its members to lend some support to Deaf Netball Queensland as they prepare for the biggest event on the deaf netball calendar.

Queensland has been chosen as the host state for the 11th Margo Allen National Deaf Netball Club Championship to be held in Brisbane from September 18-19.

Deaf Netball Queensland president Siyu Gao is expecting at least 12 teams to compete in the championship across the weekend.

There is a women’s competition and a mixed competition with the only age restriction being players over 16 years.

It is up to team managers to recruit players and organise registration and all players must be a member of a deaf netball club or registered with Deaf Netball Australia.

Mr Gao said it is expected around 200 people will attend the event, which means a lot to the deaf community.

“The event provides a link for deaf and hearing impaired people to collaborate and compete in netball at a national level as well as form a network across Australia,” he said.

“It also gives players the confidence to compete against similar people at a national level as well as give them a unified goal towards playing for the nationals.”

Because Deaf Netball Queensland would like the event to be bigger and better than ever before, they have approached Netball Queensland to jump on board to support the event.

Mr Gao said they would love for a number of volunteers to help out during and in the lead up to the event. 

Volunteers will receive Deaf Sport Awareness Training, courtesy of Deaf Sports Recreation Queensland, that will go a long way to providing understanding and overcoming communication barriers in sport.

“It is not necessary for volunteers to know sign language as there will be interpreters on the day,” he said.

“Volunteers will associate with the deaf really well if they are willing to learn how to communicate using visual cues.”

Netball Queensland Sport Development Manager Margaret Monaghan said for volunteers this was a great opportunity for those who would like to upskill or gain practical hours for their accreditation.

 “Deaf Netball Queensland require umpires, B badged and above and they will be up-skilled in umpiring the deaf, while technical officials who are doing their accreditation will be able to log practical hours,” she said.

Ms Monaghan said as this is a national event, Queensland will be on show to the rest of Australia.
“For Netball Queensland, this is our opportunity to give back to the wider sporting community,” she said.

“We need to unite under the netty banner and make it the best ever Deaf Nationals.”

Those who wish to volunteer can email Deaf Netball Queensland on ndnccbris@hotmail.com  and the organisation will allocate tasked depending on where or what they would like to do.

For technical officials or umpires wanting to help out they can fill out the Expressions of Interest Form found here.

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