Netball volunteer lauded for ‘tireless’ contribution

Katanning’s Gail Butterworth has won the Great Southern Netball Volunteer of the Year Award for her continuous service for the past 18 years.

Mrs Butterworth has been volunteering with the Katanning Netball Association ever since her daughters were old enough to play netball.

Over the years, she has occupied various roles for the Association. She is the association’s development officer and coaches the junior and senior netball teams.

Mrs Butterworth has completed multiple accreditations as a coach and is a qualified intermediate coach.

Mrs Butterworth also co-ordinates the teams’ uniforms and organise their travel and accommodation throughout multiple netball carnivals across the Great Southern.

She spends the majority of her weekends volunteering for the Katanning Netball Association

“I’ve got four daughters and we live on a farm, so I need to manage my time well — but I do this because I love it,” Mrs Butterworth said of her volunteering efforts.

“I love watching the little kids learn and (then) you see them all grown up and (they’ve) turned out to be great netball players. You do it because you love it — and that’s how you’ll find time to do it.”

Katanning Netball Association vice-president Sara Anderson said they nominated Mrs Butterworth for the volunteer of the year award because of her endless work for the association.

“Gail Butterworth is a tireless volunteer for KNA,” she said. “It would be impossible to quantify the hours Gail dedicates or measure the value she is to our association.

“Gail is an asset to our association and is a much- deserved recipient of this award.”