The 2026 GDFNL Winter Netball Season has been a great success so far for the Thomson Tigers.
Sitting second on the ladder, the A Grade team have defeated four out of their five opponents, only losing to the Belmont Lions by two goals in Round 3.
Last weekend, they defeated the Geelong West Giants by an astonishing 48 goals. Looking to continue their winning streak, Thomson will take on Corio in Round 6 who are currently sitting at eighth on the ladder.
Midcourter Ebony Harris has had a strong start to the season, helping her team pull off a one goal win against the Inverleigh Hawks in Round 1.
Despite her successful transition into the side, Ebony’s journey leading up to her netball debut at the Thomson Netball Club has not been easy.
Prior to her involvement in the GDFNL, she was a motocross racer and fell in love with the sport when she was just four years old.
Throughout her racing career, she suffered from endless injuries which eventually forced her to step away from motocross racing.
“Over the duration of my racing, I’ve broken 25 bones and done both of my ACLs,” Ebony said.
“I had a big head injury when I was 16, that was the first head injury I’d had.”
She has sustained four serious concussions throughout the course of her motocross career, retiring in 2023 when her symptoms began to worsen.
After being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, Ebony was forced to leave her childhood sport behind to prioritise her health (see video).
“If I was to race again and hit my head, I could do serious damage,” she explained.
“It’s actually like the choice was taken away from me.”
Whilst her recovery has been long and frustrating, Ebony has rediscovered her childhood love for netball to fuel her naturally competitive nature and connect with a new community.
“I was always playing netball growing up,” she said.
“When I found out that all of this, the motorbike, everything, was taken from me, I moved to Thomson to play netball. It’s really what kept me going.”
The A Grade netball players and their coach, Shannyn Leach, have welcomed Ebony to the team with open arms over the past two seasons providing her with a way to enjoy sport again after such traumatic injuries.
“I feel like when I went to that club a lot has helped me,” she revealed.
“I’ve found a really good group of girls that actually care.”
Ebony admits that she still suffers from concussion symptoms during her games and in her day-to-day life, sometimes having to inject local anaesthetic into the back of her neck just to numb the muscles and numb the pain.
Despite her long history of injuries and ongoing concussion symptoms, she has never given up and hopes that sharing her story will ensure that other young athletes are cautious.
“My advice would be to take the injury serious and don’t rush back to what you love to do because it could be taken away from you forever,” she advised.
Ebony will line up alongside her team to take on Corio this weekend hoping that the Tigers will give another strong performance for the season.
