DIMBOOLA's Ant Toet has been honoured for her contributions at both a club and league level by being awarded a life membership of the Wimmera Football Netball League.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Toet said she was shocked when she heard she was to be inducted as a life member.
"I'm still lost for words, I'm extremely honored," she told the Wimmera Mail-Times.
"When I think about the ones that have gone before me, such as Gayle Leith, Donna, McKenzie, Sharon Fedke... to be held in the same regard as them or at least given the same honour; that's huge in my eyes."
Toet's induction recognises two decades of time spent as a player, coach and administrator.
READ MORE:
On top of being a talented player, she has held a variety of coaching roles across all levels, was netball director and a club delegate for Dimboola in the Wimmera Netball Association before the amalgamation, as well as being joint-club president with Col Campbell.
Toet's passion and commitment to the league is well-known, with Toet having taken home the 2016 Wimmera Football Netball League Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2017 Julie Jones Award for Dimboola's Netball Club person of the year.
Toet joins an illustrious club that includes Wimmera netball legends Vivian Hiscock, Debbie Bach, Anthea Garth, Angela Ballinger, Dian Dent, Donna Winfield, Sharon Fedke, Tracey Dark, Donna McKenzie, Colene Matthews, Jane Robertson, Gail Dunn and Gayle Dadswell.
It certainly isn't something Toet would have expected when she arrived in the Wimmera a little over twenty years ago.
MORE NEWS:
"I'm originally from Melbourne, I only moved to the Wimmera in 1999," she said.
"I didn't really grow up with country footy or netball; it was very different."
However, Toet quickly fell in love with the community feel of the country sport.
Her Wimmera journey began with the Horsham Demons, followed by stints with Beulah in the Mallee League and Noradjuha-Quantong in the Horsham District League before returning to the Wimmera League with Horsham and finally starting with Dimboola in 2010.
"I love country netball; you can't compare it to Melbourne, just going to a court on a Saturday and playing a game and leaving," she said.
"The family feel at country clubs is unmatched, when the whole town is behind a community team.
OTHER NEWS:
"That's been a big part of Dimboola and I've always wanted a club like that for my kids."
Toet said one of the most rewarding aspects of her time at Dimboola, and the Wimmera League in general, has been seeing the youth development in the clubs' junior teams.
Toet also said the growth of women's sport since she arrived in the Wimmera has been fantastic to see.
"You've got four senior grades now that women can be involved in sport at a club level; that's a big thing, especially on the back of COVID last year where people couldn't get out," she said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.mailtimes.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Wim_Mail_Times
- Follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/wimmeramailtimes/