The Far South Coast Eagles Netball group will head to its first ever carnival competition on the weekend.
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The group is the first sporting team specifically targeted at including disabled people, organiser Karen Taylor has worked in conjunction with the Wollongong Eagles to arrange the trip.
The team will take on five other teams from around the state with the special event to run in conjunction with the Illawarra District Netball Carnival.
“When we launched a similar program in Wollongong we only had three members for the first couple of years, so the community response has been immense,” Ms Taylor said.
The Eagles program was launched by Taylor, who worked in unison with Bega’s Disability Trust group and weekly skills and game sessions have been running for about six months.
“The first week was fairly straight forward just working on catching and throwing the ball, but it’s great to see the development in not only their skills, but confidence too,” she said.
“One girl was very timid when she started and shied away from the ball, but now she’s getting her confidence up and this competition will help grow that even more.”
NSW Swift star Susan Pettit has thrown her support behind the local branch of the Eagles, signing on as official ambassador for the team.
The former Bega netballer and Australian player is a hopeful to host a special training clinic for the team.
“She has plenty of play commitments, but hopefully one day when she’s back home she’ll be able to come down and run a session for them,” Ms Taylor said.
Based on the success of the program Ms Taylor said there was potential to expand into other sports as well and said she was astounded by the community response and support for the Eagles.
“It has had huge interest, which is great to see.”
Ms Taylor thanked Sue Hayden from the Disability Trust as well as the many volunteers who help out tirelessly each week to run the program.
Sapphire Coast Buslines has provided a coach to send the team north in style, while team uniforms have been made specially for the tournament courtesy of Clubs NSW and Stacks Heard McEwan Legal.
The team will travel in the coach before heading out to a group dinner with members of the Wollongong Eagles that number in the 30s with accommodation Saturday night and play to run on Sunday.
Ms Taylor said the team was fairly excited for the trip away and encouraged everyone to show their support.
“If you see any of the guys before the weekend, be sure to give them a big cheer ahead of the carnival,” she said.
Anyone interested in joining the program or volunteering can contact the Disability Trust on 6492 0094.