After many years of dedication as a coach and a player, Shannyn Leach from the Thomson Tigers will celebrate her 200th club game.
Since joining the Tigers in 2016, Leach has worked hard to solidify her place at the club by taking on multiple coaching roles and receiving numerous netball awards.
“It’s come up on me pretty quickly but it means a lot to me,” Leach shared.
“What we’ve been able to achieve as a group and as a club has been pretty special.”
Sharing the 200-game milestone with Leach is D Grade goaler Errin Lang, who has been a close friend of Leach’s throughout her netball journey.
“We joined Thomson together and also played our 100th game together as well,” Leach said.
“It’s just been really nice along the way to share those milestones with her and to have this achievement at a club like Thomson.”
This year marks a decade since Leach first started playing netball for Thomson, a club that has provided her with friendships that will last a lifetime.
“Netball is about the friendships that you make. That’s the real beauty of it,” Leach said.
“I think we all do it because everyone is so passionate about the sport. I like to see our club do well, and I like to see the league do well too.”
Besides from playing a strong brand of netball, Leach started coaching at Thomson in 2018 as her love grew for the club.
Leach currently coaches the A Grade team and previously coached B Grade as well but decided to step back in order to fully commit to her coaching role.
“I’ve found that just playing in B Grade and coaching A Grade to focus on them entirely has been an easier transition,” Leach reflected.
“Playing as well as coaching A Grade can be quite challenging at times.”
As a result of her impressive commitment to coaching and genuine love for netball, Leach was also assigned the coaching position at this year’s Interleague competition.
Regardless of her achievements as a coach, Leach remains humble and thanks the community at Thomson for supporting her along the way.
“The most important thing is getting good support networks, so I’ve been lucky to have had good support along the way,” Leach said.
“The coaching staff make your days easier, they make conversations easier, they commit, and they have passion, which is all you can ask for.”
As she looks forward to her milestone celebrations this weekend, Leach recalls her early days at Thomson and how those moments helped shape the player and coach she is today.
“The grand final in 2017 was a really special moment, both personally and as a group,” Leach reflected.
“We were the underdogs against Werribee (Centrals), I think they’d won four grand finals straight, so they were an absolute powerhouse.”
“It will definitely go down as one of the best memories.”
Leach also received the Margaret Webb medal during that same season, which recognises the best and fairest A Grade netball player within the league before finishing runner up to Lang by a single vote the following season.
With her 200-game milestone quickly approaching and an impressive list of past achievements, Leach has no intention of shying away from her ultimate goal.
“At the end of the day, a premiership would be amazing, but you achieve a lot through coaching with the players and the friendships they create,” Leach shared.
“You also hope to leave a bit of a legacy once you’re gone.”
Leach successfully lead her A Grade team to the grand final last year but were defeated by the Belmont Lions in a heartbreaking 39-37 loss.
Despite this, Leach never took her role at Thomson for granted and could always find the positives regardless of the result on game day.
“Losing last year’s grand final really hurt, but you just see how passionate people are when they play so I’ve been really lucky to coach some amazing netballers,” Leach said.
“I’ve really enjoyed coaching A Grade and seeing them achieve what they can, especially over the last few years.”
Leach will be taking on Bannockburn in round ten for her 200-game milestone, hoping to come away with wins in both of her teams.
“It will be a tough game for A Grade and B Grade,” Leach said.
“Bannockburn have really turned themselves around from last year. You could see them progressing really well throughout the season and they’ve done a bit of off season recruiting as well.”
Whilst her milestone will be the focus of the day, Leach will be eager to secure strong wins across the board and take on the second half of the season.
With only eight rounds remaining, the competition in A grade is proving to be highly competitive and unpredictable.
“The top eight sides at the moment are all as strong as each other on the given day,” Leach acknowledged.
“There’s been a lot of surprising games with draws here and there, small losses, or big wins, so you just never know what you’re going to get.”
No matter the conditions, Leach has proven that she can take on any challenge that is thrown her way, and her 200th game won’t be any different.
“It gives us a good competition which is what you play netball for. You want to play against the best,” Leach shared.
Thomson will host Bannockburn during round eleven this Saturday, where the celebrations are sure to be huge in honour of Leach and her 200-game milestone.
With an unconditional love for all things netball, the sky is the limit for Shannyn Leach and what she is yet to achieve at the Thomson Tigers.
