Last Great Amateurs, The

2004, 55 Minutes

Follows the Melbourne Phoenix Netball Club - the players, coach and administrators - through the pain and passion of a year in elite level amateur sport.

This season, the women of Melbourne Phoenix Netball Club will again put their personal lives and other careers on hold and train to exhaustion at least six times a week for the love of their sport and a shot at glory.

These players are the best in the world yet, in an era of multimillion dollar sporting competitions, the clubs in the National Netball League operate on shoestring budgets and are run largely by volunteers. Despite fielding one of the most successful teams in the league, reigning champions the Phoenix are struggling financially. Sponsors are hard to get, challenging staff and management to find new ways of raising cash and forcing players to add to their workload by holding junior clinics.

Behind the scenes, the women must give their all to meet the extraordinary demands of their elite-level amateur sport. On top of injury worries, some are fighting at the negotiating table to join their male sporting counterparts as true professionals. The Last Great Amateurs follows the players, coach and management through a year of pain and passion, rivalry and camaraderie, fundraising raffles and contract battles.

To watch these talented and dedicated sportswomen on the court is remarkable, but the story of how they make it there is equally enthralling.

A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Apollo Films. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.