Olivia McEvoy is well aware that good things come in threes — she is the middle of three Colbinabbin siblings, has three young children of her own and was named the Heathcote District Netball League’s best netballer for a third time this month.
Twelve years ago, she was first awarded the league’s best and fairest honour in the highly regarded A-grade competition.
She won back-to-back titles in 2001-02 and was back to her best in 2023 as her team made its way into the grand final.
The big gap between titles is probably best explained by the fact two seasons were cancelled due to COVID-19 and a further three were impacted by the arrival of children.
September is always a busy month in the Colbinabbin household, two children have birthdays on September 17, which this year fell the day after the grand final.
Aside from her three titles, she has also been twice runner-up in the league award and has now played more than 200 A-grade games.
The best and fairest award was not as big a shock as her team making it into the grand final as they had been ranked third for most of the season.
McEvoy’s influence on the season was enormous, following in the footsteps of her mother — who was still playing high-quality netball when her daughter first started in the A-grade team at 14.
Nowadays, Anne McEvoy has a more important off-court role as she provides the primary care service for her daughter’s three young children.
She was a star herself, winning two league awards and playing in what her daughter guessed was almost 10 netball premierships.
Anne McEvoy and husband Ray (known widely as Meathead) offer a great support network to McEvoy and her football coach partner.
Their other children, Carling, is three years older than Olivia and Mitch is three years younger. Carling still plays at Birchip, while her brother is in Brisbane.
Olivia McEvoy’s partner is Julian Bull, who has coached Colbo for the past four years, so there is rarely a full moment in the household during the winter.
The mother of Indi, 5, Jax, 3, and 11-month-old Billy is a well-known and popular figure in the Rochester community as a teacher at St Joseph’s Primary School.
There is also an extended Rochester connection through her A-grade teammates Tamsyn Myers, Elle Palmer and Ella Kerlin.
McEvoy has worked at St Joe’s for five years, between kids, working as its physical education teacher one day a week and grade 3/4 teacher on another day.
Last weekend was her 11th grand final, her record now slightly in the negative with a handful of premiership titles.