A grade coach Georgia Cann said while a lot of hard work had gone into building a strong presence off the court – in and around the club and the wider community – the players and volunteers now felt a part of something greater than the game. 

“It is that sense of community and knowing there are so many people who are there for you that keeps people coming back every week,” Cann said.

“We’re really proud of the culture that we’ve got existing now.”

The experienced netball player and coach has moved into the vice presidency role, which has benefited her with a big picture view of the club. 

“This is my sixth year at the club now and when I started I think nearly every grade was on the bottom of the ladder and senior netball was really losing by significant amounts,” Cann said.

“I had come from Central Highlands after winning a premiership with Dunnstown. I knew I had a skill set to offer the club.”

In order to build a winning culture in the Ballarat Football Netball League, Cann has focused on how the club engages with each other and made clear the standards and expectations around how the netballers conduct themselves on court and improving the perception of the club within the wider community. 

The Burras have made themselves more visible and accessible with footballers running school clinics, netballers and footballers attending services together such as Anzac Day, fundraisers to support people in need and even taking training sessions to public spaces. 

“The way we interact and engage with each other as a whole club, footballers and netballers together, I feel is an area of strength and celebration for us,” Cann said. 

“The footballers come and watch the netballers and the netballers watch the footballers, we train together, we have meals together after training.

“There is a great level of respect between them, care and concern for each other and a genuine interest in how each other go.”

Meanwhile, the introduction of E grade competition has provided the club with another opportunity to improve performances.

“I sat down with the girls at the end of last year and we had a really honest conversation,” Cann said. 

“We made a conscious decision to move half of our D grade team to E grade, then half of C grade to D grade… we have used a filtering down approach in order for us to be successful across the board and that’s the first time in my six years we’ve been really strategic.”