At the the Netball NSW State Dinner at the end of this month, New South Wales’ 1980 U16 State Team be formally inducted into the Heritage Category of the Netball NSW Hall of Fame.
This squad had a profound impact on youth netball across the state, and marked the beginning of an era of sustained NSW success at National Championships from 1980 onwards.
This induction is accredited to their significant victory in the inaugural All Australia U16 Championships in May 1980, becoming the very first under-age National Champions and leaving a lasting legacy on future generations of netball in NSW.
Competing in Penrith, this competition was the precursor to what is now known as the Underage National Championships, held annually around Australia. These initial championships represented the beginnings of talent identification programs for players, coaches and umpires, and in the 1980 campaign, this squad certainly left their mark.
The NSW team was made up of diverse talent from ranging areas of the state. Lisa Beehag OAM represented Sutherland, and was one of the seven NSW players selected in the 20-player Australian squad following the National Championships.
“I hadn't really thought about that team in the sense of it being something that would go into the Hall of Fame... But once I found out, and on reflection, I think we set the bar pretty high for all underage teams to follow on,” Beehag shared.
In what was a high-achieving group, Beehag credits the team’s togetherness and success to their coach, Judy Malcolm.
“I think a lot of why we came together so well was due to our coach, Judy. She played for New South Wales, so she brought a lot of knowledge about what to expect and set the standards really, really well for what we had to do, and how we had to play.”
Malcolm led this group with a wealth of experience, having represented NSW as a player for nine years, including the 1979 team who shared the National Title with South Australia.
Coaching the 1980 NSW squad, Malcolm would then go on to face South Australia again in the grand final of the All Australia U16 Championships; a thrilling occasion Beehag remembers competing in against the odds.
“The game against South Australia was hard. I reckon that was probably at that point in my time, the hardest game I'd ever played… The other thing that was amazing about it was that most of us were fifteen, except Carolyn [Bond] who was fourteen.”
“We didn't have the knowledge that we know now as far as sport goes. So, you know, I'm quite sure Netball New South Wales and all our coaches learnt a lot from that first year of under 16s, and what that meant in preparation for future competitions and how much it’s all grown since,” Beehag said.
The NSW side emerged victorious in the final 21-19 to become National Champions, with approximately 3000 junior netballers from around NSW surrounding the court for the occasion:
“The noise before the first whistle… I can still picture and remember that. I don't remember much once the whistle went,” Beehag remembers.
“I'm sort of good at putting crowds behind me, but I know when we won and because we were up by a few goals towards the end of it, yeah, it went wild, like, yeah, it was really amazing.”
As well as Malcolm, Beehag has high praise for both Shirley Barker as their umpire, and team manager Betty Berg OAM as core contributors to the team’s success. Berg’s contemporary account praised the team’s combination of personalities, as well as the players’ discipline, willingness to listen and commitment to representing NSW.
The team were recognised for their achievements in a variety of ways, including being presented a cloth tracksuit badge as a memento at the tournament presentation dinner, and being featured in the October 1980 edition of Netball Magazine.
Now being acknowledged as honorary members of the Netball NSW heritage list, Beehag reflects on what she believes this team’s legacy is moving forward.
“I'm hoping one of the legacies for this team is that some of the people sitting in the room that are a bit younger might start to think, oh, who else played? Where did they start? How do they do that? How can they find out more about our history?”
“I hope that from recognising this, everybody will continue to learn about all the amazing teams that have come before them, and maybe find some new role models or heroes that they can look up to and learn from.”
The 1980 NSW U16 State Team’s induction into the Netball Hall of Fame stands as a fitting tribute to an inspiring team, who’s contributions to youth and state representative netball will be remembered for years to come.
The Netball NSW State Dinner & Awards will take place on 31 October 2026 at Waterview in Bicentennial Park, with further Hall of Fame inductees and award recipients to be announced in the coming weeks.
You can purchase tickets for the 2026 Netball NSW Awards Dinner directly through the official Netball NSW Shop on PlayHQ.
