Delwyn Berry steps back after helping build one of Victoria’s biggest netball competitions

The Northern Football Netball League is one of the biggest netball competitions in Victoria and one of its pioneers Delwyn Berry has called time after 18 years at the league.

Delwyn Berry is calling time at the Northern Football Netball League. Picture: Nick Sacco

Pioneer. There’s no other word for Delwyn Berry.

After 18 years, Berry has called time at the Northern Football Netball League, leaving a lasting legacy that has given women and girls a sporting opportunity so long denied them.

For country kids, football and netball have always been intrinsically linked.

However, for metropolitan netballers it has only been since 2008 that football leagues provided an organised competition.

Berry was one of the masterminds of the inaugural competition.

Grace Markovic in action for the NFNL inter-league team. Picture: Stephen Harman

Beginning with seven clubs and eight teams it has grown into one of the biggest netball competitions in the state with as many as 105 teams from 26 clubs expected to take part in the coming winter season.

From humble beginnings, Berry has seen the popularity of the sport explode.

“There were lots of junior competitions and lots of associations that went to under-17s but from a senior perspective there wasn’t anywhere, unless you went to Netball Victoria at Parkville or across to Waverley,” Berry said.

“We did it on a Saturday because the only space we could get at RMIT was after Plenty Valley (Netball Association) finished at 11am but it didn’t really work because people wanted to get back to footy.

“I remember (Diamond Creek’s) Kristie Gannon ringing me at the time and asking what the competition’s going to be like and saying ‘we’re VNL players, we all want to play’.

“We moved it to a Friday night and it exploded from there – more clubs, more teams, more participants and it’s given people an opportunity to play a good game of netball.

“It then gave the footy clubs more membership, more inclusiveness and became more of a family environment.

“I see it as creating a lot for a lot of clubs, a lot of people but I never expected to probably get to what it has and I certainly never expected the summer (competition) to get as big as it is.”

Netball is now played year round under the Northern banner with 11 senior divisions and four junior age groups competing in the recently completed summer competition.

Berry grew up and played netball in Eltham.

Delwyn Berry is calling time at the Northern Football Netball League. Picture: Nick Sacco

Starting out as secretary of Lalor Stars juniors and then Mernda, where her daughter AFLW star Deanna Berry started, she moved into the then Diamond Valley Football League.

However, just a few months in the league was dissolved and taken over by AFL Victoria.

Berry said netball wasn’t even a consideration until the Northern Football League was formed in 2007.

“When AFL Vic took over administration of the league, I was here probably five or six months – if that,” she said.

“The whole time was a whirlwind, it was certainly not what I expected, because Diamond Valley was in the hands of administrators.

“I was fortunate enough to be kept on and work with the AFL through the process until a board was appointed, a general manager was appointed and going through it all with the clubs.

“For me it was a great learning experience but also challenging. It was exciting seeing what the future of footy was going to be.

“I was always trying to bring women into the club and get them out of the cars but it was never going to eventuate in that time.

“When we went into the NFL, and it was all brand new, with Leigh Hartman who was footy ops manager we spoke about women’s footy but also about what we could do in the netball space.

“I also talked about netball and Frank Rosbrook who was the (NFL) chairman had also been president of (Melbourne) Phoenix previously.

“We’ve gone from what I called the dungeon with no windows in Greensborough to a state of the art place like this and secured the netball courts for the next 20 years.”

Long-time NFNL general manager Peter McDougall said Berry was a rare commodity in community sport.

“The one constant for the NFNL has been Delwyn ... she’s seen a lot from the Diamond Valley to the Northern,” McDougall said.

“She should be recognised for her passion, motivation and drive to commence the netball back then and you look at it now, it’s grown substationaly, which is in large due to herself.

“She was instrumental in the netball but the one thing for Delwyn - her main motivation - is to be there for the clubs - whether it’s football or netball.

“She will help the clubs in any way she can, her record will show she always put the clubs first and would go above and beyond the call of duty to support a club.

“That’s great legacy for her to leave.”

The NFNL will expand again in 2024 with Broadford and Oak Park accepted into the netball competition, while existing football club Old Eltham Collegians is expected to return to the netball court.

Bundoora and netball only club Heat could field as many as 11 teams each this season.

The creation of metropolitan netball leagues has opened up new pathways for talented players to reach higher levels, including the Victorian Netball League and even Super Netball.

The NFNL will have under-13, 15, 17 and open representative teams this season and has opened an under-11 academy.

Berry said the creation and success of the netball league wouldn’t have been possible without a number of dedicated people.

“I haven’t done it with a lot of help from a lot of other people,” Berry said.

“The likes of Sue Drummond, who was with me from the start at Plenty Valley, she helped with umpires and has been instrumental.

“Then Annie Castles who works for us now as our umpires coach, she was at Netball Vic in those days, helped adapt the rules and those rules have worked in favour of the competition because it’s made it stronger.

DIV 1: BE BETTER: NORTH HEIDELBERG’S ‘SIMPLE REALITY’

LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE

DIV 3: KILMORE TO PUT TRUST IN YOUNG TALENT

“Lauren Theodosis, who came into work with me as an intern, has progressed to getting the juniors up and running and will be the successor to myself.

“She’s an amazing person, she’s just a whiz at everything she does, netball is her passion so it will only continue to grow.

“And Peter McDougall was the one I probably worked the longest with over the journey of it all because he was with AFL Vic and Craig Braddy and Bob Tregear were other ones.”

The new NFNL netball season kicks off on April 12.