Woodend-Hesket christened its new netball courts in the best possible manner with the big win against Melton South on Saturday in the Riddell District Netball League.
After years of having netball facilities that weren’t the best, the hard work to construct new courts down near the club rooms has been completed.
Hawks coach Ty Coppinger said it was a really big day for the club on Saturday as they opened the courts.
“They are so amazing,” she said. “The work Kel [Kellie Duff] and everyone has done to get them open and there for us, is absolutely amazing.
“The courts themselves and the facilities that we do have are second to none, to be down and part of the action has bought everything together.
“It was a really good atmosphere and we could celebrate the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes the last few years.
“Everyone was really excited to get out there and play on the courts.”
On court, the Hawks continued their strong form that they’ve shown this season,
They jumped out of the blocks early and kept building throughout on the way to a 91-19 win.
Coppinger said they didn’t expect a scoreline like that.
“I think we still just took each quarter as it came and tried to make sure that we stuck to what we wanted to do, rather than coming complacent,” she said.
“We weren’t too focused on the score then as it kind of got bigger you look and go, wow 91 is quite big.
“It was more about processes and what we could do, then necessarily the score. The score was a nice reward in the end.”
Natalie McDonald scored 35 goals for the Hawks, as Rebecca Hicks scored 30.
Akira McCormack in her Hawks debut scored 22 goals.
Coppinger said the Victorian Netball League player would be part of their side for the rest of the season.
“Akira came out and her first game for us and we’re super excited to have her part of the team,” she said.
“We are very lucky we have a lot of versatility and she has been a really good addition to the team so far and excited to have her.”
Coppinger said it was nice to have some younger players including McCormack take on a lot of the load in the second half.
“We had Ange [Angelique Doherty] came up from 19s, so we had quite a young side out there by the end of yesterday [Saturday]
“The whole second half we were quite young and it was really exciting to see, and exciting for the club to have some girls who have come through juniors and some locals could be out there and playing A-grade and get a win like that.”
The Hawks sit on top of the ladder with eight wins from as many games.
Coppinger said they don’t take anyone lightly and take it week as it comes.
She said they want to build on the first part of the season in the back half of the season.
“I don’t really focus on the wins and losses, it’s a great start,” she said. “But anything can happen.
“To keep building and keep building those connections and fine tuning what we want to do and how we want to do it will be our focus moving into the back half of the season, that is for sure.”
Other winners on Saturday were Romsey, Wallan, Riddell and Macedon.
