Julia Gillard's elevation to the Prime Ministership was a watershed moment in Australian political history, as Kira Fitzpatrick and her colleagues would no doubt attest.

Earlier this year Kira, together with a core group of like-minded local northern suburbs women, made their own history, in banding together to form two fledgling netball teams - the Blue and the Green outfits - under the Old Paradians banner. The upshot of it all was that both teams recently played off for their respective pennants, with the Blues - comprising team captains Michelle and Amanda Pratt, together with Julie McLeod, Shay Doolan, Kardie Whelan, Ashleigh McLeod, Lorraine Giusti, Jessica Pratt and of course Kira, going all the way in the Thomastown Netball Association. Down by 12 goals at half-time in the section 3 final at RMIT, the Blues stormed home to take the title by two goals and have since earned promotion to section 2 of the ever-expanding local comp. (see photo below)

Members of the tight-knit unit then followed up with a celebratory Victory Dinner, which doubled as the Blues' Brownlow night, where awards were designated for various categories including most controversial player, the loudest player, most flexible player and the most entertaining player, with prizes for each category. The rise and rise of the Old Paradians netball teams vindicate the association's cause to assist and promote inclusivity within the ever-increasing northern suburbs community. As Kira said: "I do believe that more netball teams will jump on board, maybe the purple and gold teams next".

The idea emerged some months ago when members of the Old Paradians Amateur Football Club committee saw merit in the establishment of a local netball team, whose members included the wives, partners and families of some of the football club's current players. Kira, who met her future partner and Old Paradians footballer Phillip Pratt in London almost four years ago, said that the netball team involvement was designed to serve as an extension of the involvement of women (like Phillip's sisters Michelle and Amanda) with the football club beyond matchdays. "There already existed a group of seven to ten of us ranging in age from 18-40 who lived and worked in the Bundoora area and for two years previous had played in a local team called 'Recycled', Kira said. "We all thought that there was room for a netball team to be associated with a football team. It's a new concept, not really pursued at an amateur level, and the committee saw merit in the establishment of a team or teams to get the ladies more involved in a sporting sense. "It took us a while to find our feet, but we're up and running now and it's become clear in a pretty short space of time that this is a concept which doesn't have too many negatives."

Kira believes that both the association and the school would undoubtedly benefit from the involvement of those in the neighbourhood. She encourages any women with an interest in getting involved with the Old Paradians netball teams to call her on 0448019298 for further details.



L to R (back row): · Michelle Pratt (Team Captain) · Julie McLeod · Shay Doolan · Kardie Whelan · Amanda Pratt (Team Captain)
(front row): · Ashleigh McLeod · Lorraine Giusti · Jessica Pratt · Kira Fitzpatrick