Cairns Netball‘s Darrien Patten farewells her FNQ ‘family’
Cairns Netball Association competitions manager and passionate umpire Darrien Patten has blown the whistle on an eight-year stint with one of the region’s leading sports organisations.
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Cairns Netball Association competitions manager and passionate umpire Darrien Patten has blown the whistle on an eight-year stint with one of the region’s leading sports organisations.
The 25-year-old former Leprechauns player finished up in her role with CNA this week and will relocate to Geraldton, Western Australia, next month with husband Corey and one-year-old daughter Aubrey.
Patten (nee Kumar) started working at CNA as a teenager in 2012, under former operations manager Kym McPhee-Smith.
Now, eight years later, she said she never could have dreamt of finding such a perfect place to work.
“I had just finished high school and walked in as a business admin trainee, and I’ve been here ever since,” she said.
“Before I started there wasn’t a specific role, but then it became this massive position more about events, planning and sponsorship.
“It became something bigger than just netball and that’s probably the big thing that people don’t get to see.”
One of Patten's proudest achievements during her time working with CNA was being involved in the expansion of the Martyn St facility.
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“The company has always been great, but it wasn’t always so glamorous,” she said.
“In the beginning, we were in the old shed building and we used to have to open the roller door if it got too hot to let the breeze in.”
In 2016, CNA unveiled the largest netball facility upgrade in FNQ, expanding its six hard courts to 16 and adding a large carpark and new club house.
“Being involved in the build and all the construction process, even the tendering beforehand, was so exciting and I always said that having that under my belt would benefit me in the long run, and I feel like it has,” she said.
Patten believes the sport has a bright future in the Far North and she wants to see it continue to grow.
“We were actually growing this year before COVID, then we dropped off again,” she said.
“I’d love to see more people playing, more kids coming through and being more competitive at the grassroots level.
“That the one thing that other sports nip us at — they get those kids in earlier than what we do.
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“I’m a passionate umpire too, so I’d love to see more umpires out there. I wish kids loved it more.”
“Netball isn’t just friendships, it’s family.
“The people you meet down here are family to you and I’m probably going to miss that the most.
“Even though it’s a job and we work in an office, it’s so much more than that to me.
“Each and every single person involved in my years here has shaped me to be who I am.
“This place has given me the best start to my whole working career and I couldn’t be more grateful. It’s an environment that you couldn’t ever not be involved in.”
Patten said it was time for someone else to take on the role and add their own flair.
“I’ve done it for eight years — I’ve done what I can and I think I’ve left it in a better position,” she said. “It’s my baby, but I’m handing it all over now.”
Originally published as Cairns Netball‘s Darrien Patten farewells her FNQ ‘family’