Good news Bears: LVFNL club rejuvenates netball program

This time last year, Bears Lagoon-Serpentine was limping towards the LVFNL netball season without an A-grade team and a general shortage in numbers.

But with the 2022 season less than a month away, the situation out Serpentine way is whole lost rosier.

The rejuvenated Bears are primed for their return to A-grade and ready - not to mention proud - to be fielding teams in all grades of Loddon Valley netball except for minis.

Still to finalise the final make-up of their teams, the Bears have attracted a host of new faces for 2022, headed by versatile former Huntly netballer Sharna Appleby, whose signing was announced late last year.

The talented dual-code athlete has been joined by, among others, another former Huntly player Georgia Harrison, Ella Hocking, who played with league powerhouse Mitiamo in 2016, Leah McErvale (Lexton), Ellysa Hartland (formerly South Bendigo) and Shayna Macartney and Paige Allison, both from Inglewood.

The Bears have also added Tash Whiteside, from Northern District Eagles in Darwin, and have recruited a promising crop of juniors from Eaglehawk for their 17-and-under team.

The signings, together with the retention of several of the Bears' 2021 playing group, has left them in a much healthier position heading into the new season.

Not having to deal with a frantic and last-minute search for players has lifted the spirits of everyone involved with the club, according to Bears Lagoon-Serpentine netball operations manager Leah Walsh.

"It's a magnificent vibe," she said.

"We've got lots of recruits, not all of them A-grade. I'm not saying we will win a premiership by any means, but I am sure we will be a lot more competitive.

"Obviously A-grade will be more competitive for the simple fact we are competing this year, but hopefully we can earn some respect from the other clubs as well.

"We're pretty happy with the recruiting.

"Georgia (Harrison) is doing terrific, her and Sharna (Appleby) work well together. You could say Sharna works well with everyone."

Appleby, who has forged a reputation as a tough and dependable competitor on both the netball court and basketball court with the Bendigo Braves over the years, is tipped to start the season at the defensive end of the court.

The Bears will be led off the court by young coach Stacee Burns, who took over the reins last season, but never got to coach at A-grade level.

The former Eaglehawk player has brought an infectious enthusiasm and dedication to hard work in her time at Serpentine.

Her commitment and that of the Bears hard-working committee is starting to reap rewards, highlighted by their much anticipated return to A-grade ranks.

"It's going to be great having under-13s, 15s, 17s and then the four senior teams," Walsh said.

"We've actually got quite a few (senior) players in reserve too - it's very promising.

"We could still do with a couple more juniors in ours 15s, we lost a couple of players and our 13s have only got eight.

"But there's still a few more weeks to go and we do have a potential (senior) player we are hoping to hear from."

Bears Lagoon-Serpentine continued its march towards round one with senior and junior practice matches against Eaglehawk at Canterbury Park on Thursday night.

The Bears will play Newstead on March 19 at Serpentine before opening their LVFNL season against reigning minor premiers Mitiamo on April 2.

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