It may not be as big and as colourful as the famous Rio Carnival parade, but Canberra Netball Association’s (CNA) Club Carnival will be filled with cash prizes, the glory of winning, netball (of course), and the best part is it’s all for a worthy cause.

Shannon Priestly, Vice President of CNA’s representative program, has been with the club for just over 20 years and fell in love with the sport while competing in the under 12s division.

“This pavilion has been my second home, and at the moment it’s not big enough to throw the doors open and allow people in,” said Shannon.

“Right now, it’s not a welcoming pavilion and we want it to be open for our current and any new members, and for them to feel they can go in and out at any time.”

The current facility, built in the 1970s, is on its last legs and, being over 50 years old, it hasn’t been keeping up with the times.

With around 5,000 Canberrans walking through the gates each Saturday, having just two available toilets creates quite a problem each weekend.

“They’re also awful and dark. We have a policy at junior training that the kids have to go in pairs or with a supervisor because they’re also outside our gates,” said Shannon.

“We literally have to have safety procedures to use the bathrooms.”

The trainwreck continues through to the classic canteen, which Shannon said it simply no longer fit for purpose.

“When it’s raining, we can’t use the entire back room because it floods, the office roof is caved in, and we struggle to use the tiny canteen when trying to prepare the food,” she said.

“We prepare all the food ourselves because we want everyone to have healthy and fresh food options, but it’s such a tight space.”

With the sheer numbers of people coming through the pavilion each week, a dilapidated facility isn’t good enough, according to Shannon.

Her hope is that the new pavilion will feel like a second home to the juniors coming through the ranks, just as the old one did for her all those years ago.

“These kids deserve new facilities because they put so much time and effort into their netball, and they wear their hoodies with so much pride,” smiled Shannon.

“All the different teams literally compete rain, hail or shine, and the pavilion just offers no shelter to them when the weather conditions become hectic.”

CNA’s fundraising Club Carnival will be held on Saturday 5 March and has been split into two time slots to cater for all ages – the juniors (under 15s) will be at 8am-12pm with a presentation to follow, and the cadets and seniors (under 18s and open) will be at 1-5pm, followed by a presentation and adult refreshments.

“This is a big fundraising year for us because 2020 was supposed to be our big 50th anniversary year, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by something bigger,” Shannon smiled.

“We really need to hit $150,000, and if all goes well, we might have a new clubhouse by the end of the year.”

The Club Carnival is one of three fundraising events to raise money for the new facilities, and although the club has received a Commonwealth grant for the rebuild, it only covers part of the cost.

“We are also having a gala fundraiser ball in June, and an ongoing campaign called ‘brick by brick’. It’s such a clever idea – people can make a donation and have their named immortalised onto brick in the new club house,” Shannon said.

“I’m trying to get my husband to let me buy the platinum brick because I want to be on the very top of the wall!”

Visit canberranetball.com.au/newclubhouse to register to attend the CNA Club Carnival.

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