IN an achievement few manage in a lifetime, Vicis netballer Gloria McKinnon celebrated game 550 for her club last Wednesday.
To boast such an achievement one would assume she had been playing netball her entire life, but she in fact only started at Vicis in 1988, at the age of 39.
McKinnon turns 71 this July and has decided to take a year off netball to care for her husband.
However, she insists she is simply “having a season off”, with plans to return to the sport in 2020.
She will also fill in for the club when needed throughout the year and already received the call up for last night’s round five game, which marked her 553rd match.
Currently playing in the Mount Gambier Netball Association B2 competition, McKinnon has had her fair share of success throughout her career, which spans over three decades.
Despite hanging up the full-time bib for this season, she remains busy and currently plays both competitive ten-pin bowling – which he has been involved in for about 25 years – and indoor netball.
In the past McKinnon played both summer and mixed netball, while she also enjoyed indoor cricket for a few years.
Before netball, she played softball for 10 years, which she started after she was married, with her 50th wedding anniversary coming up this year.
“I have played a lot of sports,” McKinnon said.
“I started softball in 1975 and then I went to netball in 1985.
“I started with a group of girls and played with them for three years.
“That was a Saints team made up of girls I played with in mother’s netball.
“When we finished mother’s netball, we joined the Mount Gambier Association as a Saints team, but not the one that is there now.”
That team was successful and won three consecutive premierships in the time McKinnon was involved with it.
After that she played with Outcasts for a short period, before she joined Vicis in 1988.
She won the premiership that year, as well as in 1989 and 1990, then finished runner-up in 1991.
“I have 12 premierships and five runners-up for Vicis, while I have a lot of others for different netball,” McKinnon said.
Presented with life membership at Vicis Netball Club in 2002, McKinnon also served on the association executive committee for two years, along with umpiring and canteen duties.
She also played in the Masters team in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
As a goal shooter, McKinnon has won many goal-scoring awards and gave credit to all the goal attacks she has had who helped her with those achievements.
When asked what has kept her playing netball for so long, McKinnon said she simply likes to stay active.
“It is just something to do on Saturdays,” she said.
However, being able to play with so many good people has been a highlight of her career.
“I have played with some amazing players and coaches,” she said.
Throughout her time playing netball, McKinnon has been lucky with injuries, with the most severe a broken wrist, which happened at training in 2010.
“I do not train, I just go and warm up and do a couple of goals to get my focus before the game,” she said.
“But they were short when they were training so I said I would fill in to help them out.
“What happened? I trod on someone’s foot and went down and snapped my wrist.”
Aside from that, which saw McKinnon need a plate in her wrist, two pinned fingers were the worst injuries she has had during her time playing netball.
McKinnon remains adamant she will return to the court full time next season and if all goes to plan, there will be more milestones to look forward to in the future.
