OUYEN United’s Catherine Brown is enjoying being a leader on and off the court this season, while also developing her own skills.
Brown, one of the SFNL’s top defenders last year, proved how versatile and important to the team she was when she stepped into goal attack this season.
The 30-year-old has played senior A Grade netball since 2009, when she made her debut as a 16-year-old in the Mallee league’s Walpeup-Underbool side.
“I used to play (goal attack) back at my junior days and when I was in Adelaide I also played GA, but it’s been about 10 years since I played a full season there,” she said.
“It is enjoyable, though, playing in a different spot.
“Being underneath Kyra (Nathan) as a coach and playing with her each week at training and on game day, I am constantly learning.
“It is nice to still keep growing even at my age.”
This week’s SFNL Netballer of the Round, Brown said she had been enjoying playing in attack alongside 14-year-old Maggie Smith, who joined the Kangas’ A Grade side a few weeks ago.
“It is really enjoyable with her being a junior and I also coach her in the under-15s, so it’s nice to be on the court at the same time and build a relationship with her,” she said.
“I can understand how she plays and support her as well, just by playing with her and coaching her.”
Brown, who last year was playing alongside the talented and experienced Tsharni Burns, said working with someone younger was a great learning opportunity.
“Being defender with Shan we had a strong relationship where we didn’t have to talk, we just knew where each other were,” she said.
“But being with Maggie it has given me an extra step in that leadership side of things.”
Brown said the team had a really good relationship with each other, meaning they could help each other out on the court.
“Kyra (is) in the midcourt, which is nice to have her to guide us and support us and give us a little reminder,” she said.
“And even Ellen (Morrish) … I actually coached Ellen during the junior days back at Walpeup-Underbool.
“Being on court with her is great, we have a great relationship where we can say to each other ‘You’re in the wrong spot on the court’ and we don’t take offence to it.”
With everything falling into place, Brown said Ouyen United’s draw against second-placed Mildura at the weekend was probably one of the girls’ best games this year.
“We kind of surprised ourselves actually, we started off quite well and normally our first quarter takes us a while to warm up and get our combinations,” she said.
“But we actually started quite well and we were in front and I think we surprised Mildura with that.”
As the SFNL Netballer of the Round, Brown receives $100 courtesy of Mildura Golf Resort and Fairways Bistro
