DescriptionThis interview consists of one audio recording. Lynette Quinn was interviewed on 17 February 2022 by Marilyn Gallo at the Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Smithfield.
Interview SummaryLynette Quinn was a long-running member of the Fairfield City District Netball Association, which folded in 2022.
Living in Bass Hill after getting married and having four children, Lynette first became involved with netball in 1970 through her sister, a netball player for the Sefton club. This familial connection to netball soon increased when Lynette’s eldest daughter, aged five, began to play in 1972. As Secretary of her local club, Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Sefton, Lynette has witnessed the rising netball culture in Fairfield City and the Association’s affiliation with Netball New South Wales.
Lynette then briefly explains how the Association were primarily self-funded with the exception of government grants, and subsequent expenses such as paying ground fees to the local council and building hard courts, which occurred in the late 1970s.
Although she began her involvement with the Association as a Secretary and later coach for her local club, Lynette quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a delegate from the district to Netball New South Wales as Fairfield’s representative. This soon followed with appearances at New South Wales meetings and later becoming Secretary of the Association in 1978.
She then continues to highlight key events that occurred after assuming a leadership role in the Association, such as hosting the 1979 State Age Championships and subsequently constructing more hard courts and other netball facilities.
Lynette provides extensive insight into the scope and scale of the Association, with approximately 15 participating local clubs and over 1500 members from various clubs in the district, such as Cabra-Vale and Marconi. She refers to notable members who have gone on to become renowned netball players and umpires, such as Kim Ravaillion and Tara Werner. It is during this time that Lynette expresses a deep sense of pride for the Association’s members, affiliates and the wider Fairfield community.
She follows this by explaining the administrative aspects of the Association, such as the voluntary, unpaid nature of working as a coach for the players, culminating into a discussion of the gradual decline of the Association. She overviews her exit from the group in 2010 before coming back in 2014 as President. But upon her return, she notes only two clubs remained with the Association, which subsequently limited opportunities for competitions and only allowed for small classes teaching netball skills.
This decline ultimately led to the Association folding. Here, Lynette runs through the process of folding the Association, including legal considerations, before quickly pivoting to briefly explore the demographics of members from the past, referring to key figures such as ex-President Betty Greenaway.
