Kate nets top honour
NETBALL has been part of Kate Milentis' world for more than half her life and she was celebrated for that love on Australia Day.
The 18-year-old won the junior citizenship award at the Manjimup Shire Council's Australia Day celebrations for her involvement in netball. While she does not know for certain who nominated her, she had a sneaking suspicion it was someone within the Manjimup Netball Association.
About four years ago, Kate's netball career graduated to umpiring, a role she said she enjoyed immensely.
"I like being the boss, plus you get a very different perspective of the game," she said.
"One thing you do as an umpire when making a decision is you think about how you'd react as a player."
Kate had a background in playing centre position, so she had a firm knowledge of both attacking and defence positions.
Despite that broad knowledge, she said she was not infallible and had made mistakes in the past.
"Every day as an umpire, you learn something new," she said.
"You never know enough and you'll still never know it all."
Kate said umpiring required confidence but also fostered confidence in those willing to take up the challenge.
"When I was growing up, there were only a few up-and-coming netball umpires," she said.
"Now there are so many and I really encourage to take it further."
For Kate, "further" means acquiring national ranking in umpiring, which she started in September by achieving her National C-Badge netball umpiring accreditation.
"I certainly want to go further too and receive my B-Badge and higher," she said.
That journey begins later this month when Kate moves to Perth to start at Curtin University.
"I'm hoping to get a few umpiring gigs while I'm up there and approach someone about applying for the B-Badge," Kate said.
"From there, you can umpire at country week and other more high-profile events."
Kate said she encouraged people to give netball umpiring a go.
"Although, that's only a suggestion for people who enjoy it, doing it for the money ruins the fun for you and the game for players," she said.
Kate said she was quite sad to be leaving behind her Manjimup Netball Association days.
"I'm very sad because I've played in that one team for the last time," she said.
"Our team has won the last three grand finals and we've had so much fun together." Kate urged other young people to become involved in the community.
"It's so beneficial, you get so much out of it and you meet some great people," she said.
"I'm so grateful for the recognition I got with the Australia Day award, it's a great way to end a wonderful period of my life."
