Ladies Day to carry extra meaning at Katandra

It is Ladies Day at Katandra Recreation Reserve today — in every sense of the word. Not only are the Kats celebrating all of the women in their lives — and raising funds to help the next generation — with a function during the final Murray Football Netball League clash of the regular season against Moama, they will also toast to some extraordinary milestones on the netball court. A trio of Kats will notch up outstanding milestones across the day, with nods also given to more achievements already completed this campaign. Tamara McLarty and Jacinta Pollard will take to the court for their 300th games of senior netball today, with Teagan Hickey running out for the 200th time. Earlier this season it was Rachael Ford who joined the 200 club, with Nicole Damon clocking the target twice over, completing her 400th match. It means that by the time the dust settles on today’s action, the five will have celebrated 1400 games of senior netball between them — a brilliant effort in any book. When you add a 100-game celebration for netball director Dani Goudie into the mix as well, it has certainly been the year of the milestone out at Katandra. But what keeps these netballers coming back for more, especially when most no longer live in the area and run around after a combined total of nine children? The answer is simple — family. The Kats are a family club through and through, something all of the milestone women attested to. ‘‘It’s just like a big family, you come off the court and you tag team (and help out with looking after the kids),’’ Damon said. ‘‘When my child was diagnosed with an illness, the club just rallied around us, it was something I would never have thought that a club would do, but the whole town was totally amazing, they were fantastic.’’