IT’S been a busy few weeks of netball finals for Alyssa Cole – and it’s about to get even busier.
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Cole, who has been involved in netball for more than 15 years, will have dual roles this September.
Last weekend, she was one of two umpires to officiate the LVFNL’s headline game, an A-grade grand final between Pyramid Hill and Mitiamo.
But on Saturday she will trade her whistle and umpire’s attire for a black and red player’s uniform, when she lines up for White Hills in a HDFNL A-grade grand final.
It’s a match she has been looking forward to from the moment the Demons advanced to the premiership decider with a 19-goal win over Colbinabbin a fortnight ago.
The slick goal attack, who chose to return to the Bendigo region to play her netball this season after a few years away, believed the Demons had done little wrong in their semi-final, but would need to again best their best against a Grasshoppers team chasing a third straight premiership win and second in a row against White Hills.
“We had a really big game plan (in the semi-final) – but they’re obviously the benchmark,” she said.
“The actual scoreline was a bigger surprise than winning, but we had been playing well the previous couple of weeks.
“We’re confident we have one more win in us.
“We just need to sick to our game plan and do what we do best.”
While most of her teammates were busy scouting their grand final opponents at Elmore last week, Cole was following her other netball passion as an umpire at Serpentine.
She was not the only White Hills player to get an umpiring call-up last weekend, with teammate Danielle Sawyer taking charge of the 17-and-under and C-reserve grand finals.
Cole said she enjoyed the challenge of umpiring and giving back to the game she loves.
We’re confident we have one more win in us.
- Alyssa Cole
“There’s a couple of girls throughout the club who umpire and play, which is something we (White Hills) promote,” she said.
The 28-year-old is expects to be back umpiring finals later in the month, but not before she hopes to play her part in a Demons premiership.