The Good Shepherd Lightning Netball Club (GSLNC) was formed in 2009 by school parent, Sue with support from and in affiliation with The Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary School (GSLPS). Sue is very passionate about netball and still plays herself. Brittany, her daughter and a few other GSLPS students had been playing with another club in the winter season of 2009. Sue wanted to give students of GSLPS the opportunity to play netball with their school friends , have fun and socialise outside of school while representing GSLPS, and so an U11 team was formed and entered into the Lilydale & Yarra Valley Netball Association (LYVNA) competition for the spring season of 2009. The players were asked to vote on a name for their new netball team/club and “Good Shepherd Lightning” was the unanimous decision. Sue, the girls and their parents designed the GSL netball uniform. Sue coached this foundation team and an umpire was supplied by LYVNA.
In the 2010 winter season GSLNC welcomed 2 new teams, an U9 team and another U11 team. It was in 2010 that the original U11 GSL team won back to back premierships in both the winter and the spring competitions! The focus in 2010 was to introduce more players to GSLNC. In 2011 number of teams grew to 6 which included one team of U15 girls from Luther College, the majority of players being past students of GSLPS. We continued to grow the netball club and in 2012 there were 8 teams entered into the LYVNA competition. We also had our first OPEN girls team that year.
GSLNC currently has 12 teams registered in the 2024 Winter season. Our goal is to continue to develop and grow GSLNC by welcoming new players and encouraging existing players to continue to play through different age levels. Existing players are also given the opportunity to develop umpiring and coaching skills. The players, their families and the dedicated committee are very enthusiastic and committed to creating a club environment which promotes participation and fun whilst giving the opportunity to build friendships and develop a love for the sport. GSLNC welcomes all players from the age of 7 upwards from beginners to advanced and encourages all families from the school and wider community to get involved.
