It's fitting that Wendy Sidebottom is the unofficial historian for Congupna Football/Netball Club in Victoria's Goulburn Valley, given she wrote herself into the record books this year, playing her 550th game of senior netball for the club.
The 60-year-old mother-of-four, and aunt of Congupna's most-famous export, Collingwood star Steele Sidebottom, only came out of retirement to pull on the red dress this season to help make up the numbers in C-reserve grade.
Sidebottom hit the 500-game mark a decade ago, playing alongside her daughters Ashlea, Hannah, Sophie and Ella, and sisters Helen and Sue, after her mother Barb tossed the coin, in what she describes as her favourite netball memory. And she filled in "here and there" until she ostensibly retired five years ago.
"I knew when I retired I was close to 550 games, but for me, my 500th was so special it didn't matter. I hadn't got there, it was no big deal. I was happy to step aside and let the young ones take over."
But in early 2022, Congupna, like many other sporting organisations across Australia, was short of players after several COVID-disrupted seasons. The club she's a life member of caught Sidebottom at the right moment.
"I'd just played in a tennis grand final, I felt fit and it was warm out. They were so short they asked if I could maybe play, I said yes and then someone pointed out that I was only three games away from 550.
"I was a bit embarrassed about it to start with because I felt I'd retired from netball really and I was only helping out. Everyone wanted to make a big deal out of it but I insisted they didn't. It was more a tick-box for me, I'd got there."
Unity Cup marks milestone match
In early May, aged 59, Sidebottom "ticked the box" in round six of the Murray Football/Netball League season, when her beloved "Roaders" (Congupna started as a settlement called Congupna Road) played Rumbalara. She "slipped on and off" the court with little to no fanfare.
While her team lost, the milestone match coincided with the league's Unity Cup, a day honouring the contributions of women in community sport like Sidebottom, who not only play, but coach, umpire, sit on club and league committees and generally keep grassroots clubs ticking over with countless volunteer hours.
"I guess it's a pretty great thing to have achieved and it was nice for it to be on that day in particular," Sidebottom said.
"I was asked to be one of the guest speakers at the women's lunch that day to talk about women in sport and my involvement at Congupna and league level.
"But the games I played this year were more about helping the younger girls and teaching them, not about me or a number. I was like the old grandma out there with a bunch of 18-year-olds!
"Counting games wasn't really a thing when I was younger, though. The club only started calculating my games, backwards, once I'd started having children. Imagine if they included my junior games as well?" the teacher said.
A lifelong love of the game
Sidebottom's netball journey began when she was nine and Congupna played in the Tungamah Football/Netball League. She started as a shooter, then moved to defence and finished in the midcourt as a wily wing attack.
"Growing up, we were a sporting family, so netball became my thing. I loved it from the very start and kept playing and playing. It's been so many years."
Fifty-one, in fact.
Premierships and friendships are the stand-out memories.
"I won a C-grade flag with my daughter Sophie, who was 17 at the time, just before I retired the first time and that was pretty cool. We were premiers in C and Sophie's team was premiers in the 17s and she filled in for the C-grade team.
"I was lucky to have lots of success when I first started playing A-grade as a young woman. In my first 16 years we made finals every year and were either premiers or runners-up, except for a couple of seasons," Sidebottom said.
"The amazing friends you make along the way stay with you too, which is very special."
Also rewarding has been her work away from the court.
"I've umpired, coached and been on the committee at the club. I think I've probably done every job except president and loved every bit of it," she said.
"People like to spend their time doing various things, it's just that I've always been very passionate about netball."
Ensuring history is recorded
Sidebottom's passion extends to preserving her club's proud history.
"I think that side of things is really important. If you don't record that, respect it and pass it on, it can maybe die," she said.
"I want people to understand what the club stands for, so I like to be really involved in ensuring the history is recorded."
While netball record-keeping is generally left up to clubs, Julie Walsh, the president of the Murray Football/Netball League, who has known Sidebottom for 15 years and worked alongside her on many committees, said it was "very, very rare" to see a player reach 550 games.
Only one other Murray league player, veteran player and administrator Karen Donkin, might one day reach the same watermark, Walsh said.
"I am in awe of Wendy reaching this … not only reaching it but having the opportunity to play with her sisters and daughters is something all mothers dream of doing in a competition that's all about community," she said.
"Wendy is a competitive person and played to win but as time progressed, she played for the love and development of others around her. Development of juniors was a real passion for her."
This contribution as a coach, as well as a club and league committee member, and as an umpire who has also mentored countless young officials, are as impressive as her playing resume, Walsh said.
"Those coached by Wendy not only learned the skill and craft of playing a team sport, how to bring others into the game and how to play as a team, [she also taught them] how to act off the court and the importance of giving back to the community and the club.
"Wendy is what we all aspire to be on a committee, too. She's measured and well-thought-out. She thinks about the whole picture when it comes to what is best for players, clubs and the league," she said.
Angela Banbury, the general manager of netball development at Netball Victoria, the sport's governing body, described Sidebottom's effort as incredible.
"Games aside, it's also the added preparation such as trainings and pre-season that also adds up through your netball career," she said.
"To hear Wendy is not only a great contributor on the court, but gives back to the community through coaching, umpiring and being on the committee is the spirit that embodies netball.
"We are so lucky to have someone like her in our netball family."
Now "definitely" retired, Sidebottom intends to spend more time with her immediate family, following her daughters' netball exploits.
There is life after netball … more netball.
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Erin Delahunty is a freelance sports and feature writer.
