17-AND-UNDER NETBALL: Ruby Williams of Pimpinio was awarded the Horsham District Football Netball League best-and-fairest award, with Emma Uebergang of Natimuk the runner-up.
UNDER-17 FOOTY: Joshua Taylor, Natimuk, is the under-17 league best-and-fairest, and runner-up Patrick Price, Pimpinio.
15-and-under NETBALL: Winner Ella Schultz, Kalkee, and runner-up Ivy Hofmaier, Laharum.
Horsham District Football Netball League celebrated its top young players on Monday night with best-and-fairest vote counts across all junior football and netball competitions.
Topping the under-17 football vote count was Natimuk United’s Joshua Taylor, narrowly edging out runner-up Patrick Price from Pimpinio.
As the nine-team competition saw teams play an uneven number of games, the best-and-fairest vote count was decided by the number of votes a player received per game.
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Taylor played in all 12 of the Rams’ home-and-away games, receiving 18 votes at an average of 1.5 per game, while Price’s 19 votes in 13 games resulted in an average of 1.46 per contest.
Taylor, 16, said it was the biggest award he had won in his football career.
He said he hoped to begin making appearances in Natimuk United’s senior team next season as a top-age under-17 player.
“It feels pretty good,” he said.
“The year has gone pretty well. We’re not the best team and we didn’t make finals, but it was definitely good to get a few wins and grow together as a team.”
One year after topping the 15-and-under netball vote count, Pimpinio’s Ruby Williams snagged the 17-and-under trophy with another stellar season.
Despite turning 16 only last week and having another season of junior eligibility remaining, Williams cemented herself as the competition’s best player with 31 votes at an average of 2.38 per game, comfortably ahead of Natimuk United’s Emma Uebergang, who polled 24 at an average of two a game.
Williams, who also played every game in the Tigers’ A Grade side this season, said she was enjoying her netball at the club.
“We had a pretty good year. We’ve got a prelim final on the weekend and if we win we’re in the grand final.
“I’m friends with all of my team-mates, so it’s fun to play with them every week.
“I just want to keep enjoying it and see where it takes me.”
Topping the 15-and-under netball count was Kalkee’s Ella Schultz with 23 votes at a 1.92-per-game average, edging out Laharum’s Ivy Hoffmaier by 0.01 of a vote per game.
Laharum junior footballer Angus Crute topped the under-14 count with 28 votes, good for 2.55 a game, while runner-up Judd Oakley of Noradjuha-Quantong had 29 votes at an average of 2.42.
With all 13-and-under netball teams playing an equal number of games, the count was decided by straight vote totals, with Kalkee’s Isla Brown polling 30 to win from runner-up Blayze Kenny of Swifts on 26.
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