Club Profile: North Lakes Blues Netball Club

New Facilities Mean A New Chapter For North Lakes Blues Netball

KPI Sports Partner Club North Lakes Blues Netball has an exciting future with construction planned for a brand new clubhouse and courts scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Currently based at the North Lakes State College outdoor netball courts, North Lakes Blues Netball is fielding 31 teams in 2021 making them the second biggest club in the association, with lots of potential for growth.

The Club is benefiting from $2 million in funding to build new netball courts at Aurora Boulevard Park, a ten-minute drive from their current location. 

This ground breaking development was only possible because of the hard work and tireless effort from community members and volunteers. 

Samantha Malopito has been the president of North Lakes Blues Netball for the last 7 years and has spearheaded the project.  But the process to secure the funding was difficult and lengthy.

“My focus has strongly been about getting a home for Blues,” said Samantha.  The key to success?  “Single mindedness and absolutely not taking no for an answer! It takes a lot of petitioning and sometimes you get lucky, and a federal MP will listen to you and help you out” she said.

For North Lakes Blues Netball, that MP was Jody Shipway, herself a former netball player. Jody pushed for federal funding to be allocated to the club.  MP Luke Howarth also recognised the importance of a new netball facility in North Lakes, taking a petition of thousands of community members signatures to Canberra on behalf of the Blues.

To Samantha and the Blues, these new facilities mean more than a place to play. North Lakes Blues Netball can now field more teams with more training nights available to accommodate the growing popularity of community sports in the area.

It also means the Club remains affordable to members and provides new fundraising opportunities for the Club. 

“It means that we don’t have to charge our players for the exorbitant price it costs us to lease the courts” Samantha said.  “Now that we have our own facility…we can fundraise through the facility and we’ll have more people coming through who didn’t know about us because we didn’t have a clubhouse!”

A member of North Lakes Blues Netball for 17 years, Samantha joined when the club made the move to North Lakes from their original home in Redcliffe and has seen a lot of development.

“We’re still seen as the new club in town but as we’ve grown, we’ve gotten some really good coaches.  We’re one of the clubs with the highest-level coaches in the association now and that reputation has been fantastic.”

“We’re growing every single year and we can’t see that stopping. The whole area is exploding.”

“There’s a very committed bunch of families supporting their kids playing sport.  Everyone’s willing to put their hand up and say, ‘what can I do to help?’”

Visit the North Lakes Blues Netball Club website and Facebook page for updates on the development of their new facilities and to get involved.

North Lakes Blues Netball Club is a KPI Sports Partner Club.  KPI Sports Partner Clubs are entitled to product discounts, free product and account credits.  If you are a netball club or local sports club and interested in becoming a KPI Sports Partner Club, contact us today.