Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to acknowledge the tireless commitment of a local champion of sport in my electorate of Pearce, Yvette Thomson. Yvette has been a driving force of the Wanneroo Districts Netball Association since 1995 and has been on the board since 1999. Her passion to grow the sport and develop its players is legendary in Pearce.

The WDNA is now a modern complex with 57 floodlit outdoor playing courts and is one of the largest netball associations in Australia, with 6,000 members and, I believe, the largest facility in the Southern Hemisphere. But it wasn't always that way. Yvette recalls the state of the sporting complex when she started in 1995 as 'bitumen courts that tore your skin off, a terrible limestone car park, goalposts in two sizes that had to be manually changed from juniors to seniors'. One of the highlights for Yvette was meeting the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who provided a $10 million grant for redevelopment works.

After decades of service, including roles as president—for two terms of five years—vice-president and director of umpiring and development, Yvette leaves the WDNA board in very capable and committed hands. The association will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, and I know how much Yvette is looking forward to celebrating that momentous occasion. Fortunately, Yvette Thomson will not be lost to our beloved sport. This tremendous champion of netball is continuing as president of the West Coast Warriors.