Contax Netball Club are an Australian netball team based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Their senior team currently plays in the

Netball South Australia Premier League The Netball South Australia Premier League, also referred to as the Netball SA Premier League is a state netball league organised by Netball South Australia. On a national level, the league is effectively a third level league, below Suncorp Super ...

. Between 1989 and 1996, Contax represented

Netball South Australia Netball South Australia is the governing body for netball in South Australia. It is affiliated to Netball Australia. It is responsible for organizing and managing the Netball South Australia Premier League as well as numerous other leagues and co ...

in the

Esso/Mobil Superleague The Esso Superleague, later known as the Mobil Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netball A ...

. They were premiers in 1994. They were originally known as Contax Basketball Club, when

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

was known as women's basketball. During the Esso/Mobil Superleague era, they were also referred to as Adelaide Contax. Between 1995 and 2012, when the club was sponsored by

ETSA The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999. Precursors Early days (1882–1900) Charles Todd, an e ...

, and then

ETSA Utilities SA Power Networks is the sole electricity distributor in the state of South Australia, delivering electricity from high voltage transmission network connection points operated by ElectraNet. It is the successor to the Electricity Trust of Sou ...

, they were known as ETSA Contax.

History

Early years

Contax Basketball Club was formed in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

by a group of young girls who had played for the 1951 junior

team. The team was originally based in Woodville. The team was named after the ''

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Zeiss intercha ...

'' camera. It was suggested by the brother-in-law of the inaugural captain, Margaret Rankin. He was a camera enthusiast and suggested using a short and simple name. Contax won their first South Australia state league premiership in their debut season, defeating Tango in the 1952 grand final. The team was captained by Rankin and included three future Australia internationals – Gaynor Flanagan, Betty Rowe Whelan and Lorraine Wright. Contax initially only organized adult teams. However, from 1966 the club started to introduce junior and youth teams with training taking place in

Hectorville Hectorville is a small suburb of Adelaide in the City of Campbelltown. It is one of eight suburbs within the City of Campbelltown. The public primary school, East Torrens Primary and Catholic primary school, St Joseph's School, Hectorville, is ...

. In 1970 Contax won their second premiership, defeating Garville in the grand final. In 1980 Margaret Angove was appointed head coach of the senior Contax team. She remained in the position for sixteen years until 1997, when she was appointed head coach of Adelaide Thunderbirds. In 1986, with a team that included sixteen year old Kathryn Harby and

Michelle den Dekker Michelle den Dekker , also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of A ...

, Contax won their third premiership, defeating Tango in the grand final.

Rivallry with Garville

In 1988, with a team that included

and Kathryn Harby, Contax won their fourth premiership, defeating Garville in the grand final. This marked the beginning a rivalry between Contax and Garville. Between 1986 and 1996 Contax and Garville contested every South Australia state league grand final. The rivalry saw the two clubs compete in nine consecutive state league grand finals, plus one Mobil Super League final, with both clubs winning five finals each. With a team that included Harby and Julie Nykiel, a former Australia women's basketball international, Contax won their fifth and sixth premierships in 1990 and 1991. After finishing as runners-up to Garville for four successive grand finals, a Contax team featuring

Jacqui Delaney Jacqui Delaney is a former Australia netball international. Between 1997 and 2002 she made 21 senior appearances for Australia. Delaney was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 1999 World Netball Championships and th ...

won the club's seventh premiership in 1996.

National leagues

;Esso/Mobil Superleague Between 1989 and 1996 Contax represented

in the

. With teams that included Kathryn Harby, Michelle Fielke and Julie Nykiel, Contax played in three successive grand finals between 1990 and 1992. In 1990 they lost to 52–42 to Melbourne City. Contax then lost out to Sydney Pulsars in both 1991 and 1992. In 1994 Contax won the title after defeating Garville in controversial circumstances. A Contax team captained by Kathryn Harby and featuring

Vicki Wilson Vicki Wilson, OAM, (born 11 February 1965 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian netball coach and retired international player. She is the current head coach of the Netball Fiji side. Netball career Wilson was a part of the Australian nati ...

and Tania Obst, took on a Garville team featuring

Natalie Avellino Natalie Ann Allison Avellino (born 15 December 1970) is a retired Australian netballer, and former assistant coach of the Southern Steel netball team in the ANZ Championship. She made the Australia national netball team from 1994–1995 and again f ...

Jenny Borlase Jenny Borlase , also known as Jenny Kennett, is a former Australia netball international. Between 1989 and 1999 she made 70 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 1991, 1995 and 1 ...

and Fielke. Wilson was the top scorer and the closely fought match finish level at full time. However Garville claimed they had actually won the match 48–46. It was alleged that during the third quarter, the official scorer accidentally gave one of Garville's goals to Contax. Despite protests from Garville, extra time was played and resulted in a 61–58 win for Contax. ;Commonwealth Bank Trophy In 1997

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administrating the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Nati ...

replaced the

Mobil Superleague The Esso Superleague, later known as the Mobil Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netball A ...

with the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Contax applied to join the new league but the application was subsequently denied by

. They instead opted to form two brand new teams, Adelaide Thunderbirds and

Adelaide Ravens Adelaide Ravens were an Australian netball team that, together with Adelaide Thunderbirds, represented Netball South Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. In 1997 Ravens were founder members of the league. In 1999 they were grand fi ...

. Together with Cheerio, Matrics and Oakdale, Contax effectively became a feeder team for Thunderbirds. With a squad coached by former Contax head coach, Margaret Angove, captained by Contax player Kathryn Harby and featuring several Contax players including

and

Laura von Bertouch Laura von Bertouch (born 4 December 1980) is a former Australia netball international. Bertouch was a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 2007 World Netball Championships. At club level, Bertouch played for Adelaide Thu ...

, Adelaide Thunderbirds won their first two premierships and grand finals in 1998 and 1999.

ETSA Contax

Between 1995 and 2012 when Contax were sponsored by

, and then

, the team became known as ETSA Contax. In 2000 with a squad that included

Laura Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

and

Natalie von Bertouch Natalie von Bertouch ( ; born 16 December 1982), also known as Natalie Bode, is a former Australia netball international. Between 2004 and 2012 she made 76 senior appearances for Australia. Bertouch was a member of the Australia teams that won ...

Bianca Reddy Bianca Reddy (born 21 December 1982) is a former Australian netball player who played for the Adelaide Thunderbirds. In 2010, Reddy did not play in the ANZ Championship, but played for the West Coast Fever replacing the injured Josie Janz. Bi ...

and Tracey Neville, Contax won their eighth South Australia state league after defeating the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in the grand final. Between 2002 and 2004 Contax won three successive state league premierships. Natalie von Bertouch,

Kirby Mutton Kirby Mutton (born 17 September 1984), also known as Kirby Morley, is a former Australian netball player. Mutton played for both AIS Canberra Darters and Adelaide Thunderbirds during the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era. Mutton also played for C ...

Carla Dziwoki Carla Dziwoki (born 29 August 1982) is a former Australian netball player. Dziwoki played with the Queensland Firebirds in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. She played for Team Northumbria in the 2008–09 Netball Superleague for the . She also ...

and

Lauren Nourse Lauren Nourse (born 10 August 1982) is a former Australia netball international. Between 2007 and 2011 she made 25 senior appearances for Australia. Nourse was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medal at the 2007 World Netball Ch ...

were all members of the 2002 winning squad. ETSA Contax subsequently won further premierships in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Premier League era

During the 2010s Contax won a further six premierships. During the 2010s their main rivals were Matrics. Between them Contax and Matrics played in every South Australia state league grand final during the decade.

Grand finals

; South Australia state league ;

Home venue

Contax play the majority of their state league home games at the

Netball SA Stadium Netball SA Stadium is an Australia netball stadium based in Mile End South, Adelaide. Due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, it has also been known as ETSA Park and Priceline Stadium. The stadium is owned by the Government of Sou ...

Notable players

Internationals

; ; *

Emily Beaton Emily Beaton (born 9 April 1987) was an Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they h ...

Maddy Proud Maddy Proud (born 4 December 1993), also known as Madeleine Proud, is an Australian netball player. Between 2011 and 2016, Proud played for Adelaide Thunderbirds in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, she has played for New South Wales Swifts in ...

Kate Shimmin Kate Walsh (née Shimmin; born in 1992) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning. In August 2019, Jess Thirlby the new England Roses Coach announced Shimmin would join the f ...

Maddy Turner Maddy Turner (born 17 December 1995) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the New South Wales Swifts. Turner was born in Adelaide and grew up playing netball at an elite level, representing Australia a ...

; * Tracey Neville *

; * Julie Nykiel

Adelaide Thunderbirds

State / Premier League Best & Fairest

Club Captains

Head coaches

Main sponsors

Premierships

**''Winners'': 1952, 1970, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018: 19 **''Runners up'': 1973, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2016, 2019, 2020 : 15 *

**''Winners'': 1994 **''Runners up'': 1990, 1991, 1992

References

{{Netball in South Australia

External links

Contax Netball Club on Facebook

Contax Netball Club on Instagram
Sporting clubs in Adelaide Netball teams in South Australia Sports clubs established in 1952 1952 establishments in Australia Esso/Mobil Superleague teams South Australia state netball league teams