A game for the ages: Nan and teen granddaughter line up together in country netball

For weeks, the Newstead netball fraternity kept a secret.

Whispers at Thursday night training, knowing nods between coaches, permission quietly sought from the league the tiny central Victorian club competes in.

Then, on a crisp Saturday afternoon in Trentham in late August, the secret was out — a grandmother and her granddaughter would take the court, side-by-side, in the C grade match, making blue and white history.

Scarlett Ramsey, 13, who had already played for her junior Newstead Football Netball Club side earlier that morning, had just finished umpiring and was still in her whites.

Told she was needed by the C grade captain, she thought she was in trouble.

"Then the captain started reading a speech out," Scarlett recalls.

"Next thing I knew, they were telling me to get my dress back on."

Scarlett's nan, 63-year-old Maree Bagley, was already warmed up for her game, but oblivious to the plan.

"I'd said somewhere along the line that it would be lovely to play a game with my granddaughter, as I'd never had the chance to do that with any of my 11 grandkids," Maree says.

"But I had no idea it was happening that day. It was a total surprise; a wonderful surprise."

Scarlett was handed the wing attack bib, Maree pulled on goal shooter.

The whistle blew and history began, with Maree's daughter and Scarlett's mum, Chantelle, proudly watching on with many other family members.

"It was pretty special, that's for sure," Chantelle says.

A lifetime in netball

Maree, now 64, does not look especially intimidating.

She is not tall, and by her admission, is not as quick as she used to be.

"The young girls look at me and think, 'Ha, this will be a piece of cake!,'" she says.

"Then they start getting rough because they can't stop me. I've even been tripped over a couple of times."

The stalwart has played nearly 650 games and her secret is simple: no serious injuries, ever.

"Not an ACL, not an Achilles, nothing but finger injuries … like every other netballer!" she says.

Teammates call her too smart for defenders and say she only takes shots she knows she will make.

Scarlett has been watching that craft for years.

"Nan's shown me it doesn't matter how short you are, you can still get the ball," the towering teen laughs.

Maree's life has been measured in centre passes.

She played on asphalt courts in Castlemaine in the 70s, when there was only one senior women's side.

She coached at Harcourt, Castlemaine and Newstead across a number of leagues and also played basketball with the Castlemaine Cannons.

In 2004, she settled at Newstead Football Netball Club, where she has been player, coach, umpire, mentor and all-around matriarch ever since.

She was awarded life membership of the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League nearly two decades ago.

In 2019, she played her 600th game, a rare feat in any form of netball.

"I thought about stopping then," Maree says.

"But the C grade girls always ask me to play the next season and the next season. It's hard to say no.

"I still love netball as much as I did when I started however many years ago. The laughs at training, the functions all together, watching players get better, seeing young umpires develop … everything."

The small but mighty club has made it hard to walk away.

"It's just a really friendly place. Everyone gets along. It attracts good people," she adds.

The rising star

Scarlett is just beginning her netball journey, but she is already immersed in it.

She trains or plays six nights a week in-season and the talent-identified teen can "play pretty much anywhere on the court", according to her nan.

This year, she won the league best and fairest, the club best and fairest, a premiership, and was best-on-court in her grand final.

Her nan calls it the "full Dustin Martin sweep", referencing one of the Castlemaine region's favourite sons.

Scarlett's ambition is simple: "I don't really mind (which team), as long as I go all the way," she says of her netball dreams.

Her idols — shooter Kiera Austin and defender Jo Weston — are both Australian Diamonds and Melbourne Vixens and she hopes to follow them into elite netball.

The dream team

For Newstead, the day went beyond wins and losses.

Before the game, C grade captain Tenille Thomas's speech summed it up.

"Remember, the best things in life are not things, but memories we make together. Maree, we love you and we hope you enjoy creating this special memory with Scarlett," she said.

Photos show Maree steady under the post, Scarlett feeding the ball, smiles etched on both faces.

Abbey Misso, Netball Victoria's general manager (community), says the moment captures what the sport is about.

"Netball has long been a cornerstone of communities across Victoria, connecting generations through a shared love of the game," she says.

"Stories like this highlight how the sport transcends age and that there's a place for everyone on the court. It's that inclusiveness and lifelong connection that make netball so special."

Maree has 11 grandchildren. She jokes about her "dream team": Scarlett at goal attack, herself at shooter, Scarlett's younger sister Paige in centre, others filling out defence and midcourt.

"And Chantelle can coach," she adds, of one of her three daughters.

Whether it ever happens doesn't matter. One game with Scarlett was enough.

For the teenager, it was a memory formed at 13, playing senior netball earlier than she expected.

For Maree, it was another chapter in a career already full of milestones.

Country sport has always blurred the lines between the formal and the familial.

Rules bend, generations mix and moments that elsewhere would be unthinkable are made possible by the will of a club.

"It was really great," Maree says.

"Teammates obviously stood aside so Scarlett could take the court. They made sure she had her moment. That says everything, doesn't it?"

That memory will long outlast the result on the day. It will be retold at presentations, at reunions, in family kitchens and group chats.

Scarlett says she wants to be playing when she's her Nan's age.

Maree, closing in on 650 games, smiles at the thought.

As Tenille reminded them before they ran out: "These are the building blocks of our cherished memories."

And in the goal circle that day, two players — one at the start, one (maybe) near the end — created one together.

Erin Delahunty is a freelance sports and feature writer.