Turning Back The Clock!

The Albion Netball Club was formed in 1977 by a group of ladies associated with members of Albion Rugby.  After forming a committee they ran an advertisement in The Press and Christchurch Star for players.  The response was massive and enabled them to form 26 teams!  Alma Tibbetts was President of the club and the first uniform colours were black, red and white.  Skirts were plaid wraparounds and an Albion crest made the complete ensemble.  Fund raising was done the old fashion way with raffles, dances and local business donating goods.  The hard job was finding practice facilities but with the help of Kirkwood Intermediate, Riccarton Primary and others this was over come.  The Council also helped with the supply of some lighted courts but the hope of the Council building courts at Albion Rugby grounds never became a reality due to the cost.

The Albion Club went on to have many successes in annual tournaments over the following 20 years.

Unfortunately the early history of the Marist Club is a little more unknown however, the results show many a success on court year after year!

The Marist Albion Netball Club (MANC) was formed in 1997; one year after the Marist and Albion Rugby Clubs had amalgamated.  During the early days the club had its fair share of challenges and due to large setup costs found itself in debt for a period of time.  In the years that followed the club worked tirelessly to ensure it turned that around and there was no turning back!  In those days sponsorship came from places like DB and Montana while other funds were raised by raffles and making and selling lamingtons!  Whilst these were  very successful fund raisers I understand these events still haunt many of those involved!!  Today much of our funding comes through grants from various Trusts and Foundations and the reality is that without this support we would be elbow deep in chocolate icing making more lamingtons!

The first MANC committee was ably led by Karen Furness and a group of very dedicated ladies.  In the first year our top team,  who began the season in Senior Reserve,  won the section and was promoted to Senior grade under the coaching power of Sue Wardrop and Sue Hayton.  Since then we have played several seasons at Premier - often taking the title. Our A team currently play in Senior 2 grade.

With the amalgamation the MANC became and still remains one of the larger clubs in Christchurch.  There is something to suit everyone from Future Fern, Juniors to Senior 2, Social to Competitive and in 2008 MANC introduced Future Ferns teams to the ranks.  Another group of players we are very proud to have in the club is our KiwiAble team.  KiwiAble  is an outreach programme ensuring people with disabilities can equally enjoy the game of netball.  In 1996 with the help of volunteers and support of Christchurch Netball  two teams were established.  In late 1997 MANC was approached to include these players under the MANC umbrella and in 1998 the KiwiAble team officially became part of the MANC club.  This programme is a wonderful thing to help develop confidence on and off the court and many a friendship!

In the years that have followed we have had many a success.  Players such as Belinda Colling, Maree Grubb, Sonia Butler, Kelly Hutton, Helen Mulligan, Cherie Irwin and Amanda Siave to name just a few have provided us with some awesome displays of netball skills.

The list would be too large to name all who have served the club since its conception but you know who you are and MANC thanks you for all you have and continue to do! One thing that hasn't changed in all these years is the purpose of the club and the immense satisfaction of seeing so many players enjoying the game of netball.

The rest as they say is history!