DescriptionThis interview consists of one audio recording. Serena Breese was interviewed on 17 February 2022 by Marilyn Gallo at the Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Smithfield.
Interview SummarySerena Breese was a member of the Fairfield City District Netball Association, which folded in 2022.
Born in Fiume in 1939, which has been renamed as Rijeka and located in Croatia, Serena briefly recounts her childhood, moving to Australia in 1950 with her family to rural and metropolitan New South Wales.
She then describes her marriage and subsequent move to Cabramatta where she and her husband had three daughters and one son. It was here in which, through her daughter, Serena became involved with the association. As part of the Sacred Heart club, Serena coached the club’s players due to a lack of volunteers.
From here, Serena briefly overviews the association’s history and engagement with the Fairfield City community. She describes the involvement of the local government such as Minister Janice Crosio, and other local clubs such as Cabra-Vale. She then discusses the voluntary nature of coaching and umpiring for the association, describing the process of becoming a coach or umpire and learning their various responsibilities. She explores the demographics of the association’s players, remarking on the abundance of Italian and Polish girls in the association, and comments on fundraising initiatives, such as lamington drives.
Despite the focus on the association, Serena does briefly touch upon tangential anecdotes as she recalls her memories. Interspersed throughout the interview, she discusses her involvement with the 2000 Summer Olympic torch relay as a torchbearer, her experiences bringing her son to netball courts when coaching, and recalling a connection to Jon Sieben, a gold medallist at the Los Angeles Games.
