By Gabriella Vukman
New uniforms for Mountain District Netball Association’s (MDNA) Ranges team are being donned by the club’s ’19s and under’ groups, in efforts to represent the entirety of the Ranges community.
The new dress features kangaroo tracks scattered throughout the design, symbolising the divergent journeys and paths that are taken at the MDNA from the players to skill building and friendship.
MDNA Marketing and Communications coordinator Danielle Colosimo said, “A lot of it started with wanting to bring back what the Ranges club was back in the day.”
“We wanted to find a way to encompass our community a bit further and we are very proud of the indigenous players in our community and we were really lucky to have Miah Pierce, a player that plays for us from the Basin netballers who was very passionate about supporting some change as well.”
“We are hoping that this new uniform change brings us together,” Ms Colosimo said.
Four meeting places that represent the plates, umpires, clubs and people adorn the new dresses and it is the first time the Ranges club has sported an indigenous design on their uniforms.
Ms Colosimo said, “We are in a massive transformational stage at the moment and are focussing on playing as one and being a tight-knit community.”
“Miah Pierce from ‘The Basin Netballers’ created the indigenous designs and then I myself worked with Sherwood Sports to collectively design the dress.”
“Working together to design the dress has been a really fun thing that I have been a part of,” Ms Colosimo said.
A survey and some questionnaires were sent out to MDNA members, past and present Netballers as well as committee members and coaches from the association.
Ms Colosimo said, “We asked them some simple questions such as ‘what does the Ranges club mean to you?’ and ‘what do you remember of the Mountain District Netball Association?’”
“From the questionnaires and surveys there was a really strong theme of bringing our darker colours back.”
“There was a strong passion for the inclusion of our indigenous community and finding a way to encompass all of the clubs on a Saturday that make up the association into the design,” Ms Colosimo said.
The design was worn by the Ranges under 19s side for the first time last week.
“It was great to see the pride on our players’ faces when the under 19s wore the dresses for the first time,” Ms Colosimo said.
The option to wear shorts and shirts is also in the pipeline at the Ranges club.
Ms Colosimo said, “We have just released the dresses for now but we do have the top and shorts design ready to go and released to our athletes in 2025 for those who are interested.”
“This year we just have the under nineteens wearing the new uniform and the athletes in that age group are happy wearing the new dresses.”
Stereotypes surrounding women in sport and the predominance of women in the Netball sport is a topic of ongoing conversation for the Ranges club.
Ms Colosimo said, “We are now referring to our players as ‘athletes’ and it can encompass males or females, whereas previously it might have been ‘we need the girls to do…etc.’”
“We do have boys playing for us on a Saturday and in our junior competition as well which is something that we are wanting to grow and encourage,” Ms Colosimo said.
“We are in the current planning stages of having a Friday night boys comp as our current boys have expressed that they would love to have their own boys competition as well.”
The mountains at the bottom of the dress design represent the Ranges.
