THERE has never been a former Queensland Firebird elected to the Netball Queensland (NQ) board until now, when Clare Ferguson (nee McMeniman) decided it was again time to harness an opportunity to thrive in a high performance environment.
A strong pull to experience and deliver during pressure moments has been instrumental to the 39-year-old’s soaring success so far, as has her refreshingly honest and positive perspective.
It’s this same ego-free attitude she’s applying to her current phase of life - as a stay-at-home mother to three young children - which in itself presents its own challenges.
“The intentional slowness is forcing me to view things differently, to stop and appreciate, to not always be rushing, not always be on a time schedule,” Ferguson said.
“I have the opportunity to be at home with my kids at the moment, and I’m embracing it but it’s a challenge in itself for me, if that makes sense, because it’s such a switch-up from the pace I’m used to.”
Ferguson’s beautiful Darling Downs upbringing, evolving around Friday interschool sport, was set on a course for change during a road trip in 1997.
“When the CBT (Commonwealth Bank Trophy) launched, Warwick Netball organised for us to take a bus to watch the Firebirds,” Ferguson said.
“That was a highlight of playing netball in my primary school years. I told Clarkey (Karen Clarke) when we played with her in the 2007 season, that I had her player card and had stuck it up on my wall at home.”
Netball, and in turn the Firebirds, quickly became Ferguson’s first loves, offering a world where she felt more like herself than anywhere else.
“I loved being with my friends and I just fit,” she said.
“Here was this place where I could use my talents. I loved the girls I played with and I had purpose, and just really enjoyed it. It wasn’t until I moved to Brisbane to go to high school that I gained an awareness of being relatively good at it, and ideas and aspirations started that one day I could play for the Firebirds.”
The self-described “product of Netball Queensland’s pathway system” seemingly went on to win it all, as one of only three players to have secured the trifecta of Firebirds’ premierships (2011, 2015, 2016).
Named the league’s best new talent in 2005, while representing the Canberra Darters, Ferguson went on to debut for the Firebirds in 2007, alongside her childhood favourite “Clarkey”.
The intelligent defender was swiftly noticed by Australian selectors, who included her in the Diamonds squad in 2008 and 2009.
“Dad passed in 2009 so I didn’t have a great year and got dropped, but I was included in 2010 and had a really good year in 2011 however didn’t get selected to go away to the World Cup in Singapore after my best year of netball,” Ferguson said.
“I was my most consistent across wing defence and goal defence, coming off the bench for the Firebirds but still playing really good netball in our undefeated season when we won the ANZ Championship. It was when I was going away with the Diamonds as a training partner to Singapore, and I was ok with missing the team, that I realised maybe it was time.”
Ferguson admits there was more to it than the toll of elite competition draining her during this period, as her mother passed away at the beginning of 2012.
“There was so much going on in my personal life,” she said.
“I’d just graduated from university, was in my first year of working full-time, and trying to grieve. I needed to step away from the game to find happiness and purpose, and to live a little to then realise netball was such a big part of me and who I was, and that I got so much enjoyment out of it.”
A coffee with then-Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke, whom Ferguson had trained under since 2010, sealed her return for season 2014.
“Coming back with perspective was great, in terms of the concept of balance and what I needed,” she said.
“I wanted to be back in the Firebirds because I loved it so much, loved the girls so much, and enjoyed being coached by Rose. I was searching for that high performance environment, being surrounded by like-minded people that were pushing themselves for excellence.”
This fresh perspective again elevated her in front of the eyes of Australian selectors, although wearing the green and gold wasn’t Ferguson’s motivation for returning to the court.
“It was really hard to press into the Diamonds at that time and I was just fortunate that Bianca Chatfield retired, an opening became available at the end of the 2014 season, and I played well enough across the course of that year.”
Ferguson herself retired in 2016 after captaining the Diamonds to Quad Series and Constellation Cup victories, and securing her third premiership in the purple dress.
It was straight from the court to coaching, which was always on Ferguson’s radar when the body became too tired to push on.
“Rose was aware of that, and Lisa (Alexander) as well,” Ferguson said.
“Lisa had awareness of the fact I was moving through accreditation processes, and external coaching, so I was going into underage pathway stuff and she invited me to come down and take care of the ‘talls’. A lot of those girls are now playing in Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) so that was a really great opportunity for me.”
Following on from that, an offer was put to Ferguson from Alexander in 2018 to join her at the Diamonds as assistant coach.
“I know lots of people were sceptical about it, and judgemental, as a result of the fact I hadn't come through a set coaching pathway and hadn’t coached in the SSN at that point, but it was an opportunity presented that I couldn't say no to,” Ferguson said.
“You can't turn down an opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world. I knew them and how they operated but it also just provided me with the opportunity to learn and grow, and be flung in at the deep end which I love. I got a lot out of that experience and was in some ways able to bring some of the skills back to the Firebirds when I was given an opportunity to coach with them.”
In 2024, once again Ferguson is pushing herself to thrive in a somewhat unfamiliar environment, as newly-named Elected Director on the NQ board.
“Bertie, my youngest child, is 15 months now so I feel I’m ready for the challenge and that’s probably why I took the opportunity to nominate for the board and transition into the area of governance in sport,” she said.
“We’re in a really competitive space for women’s sport at the moment, with the growth we’ve seen in the past 12 months. I want to make sure we're still the number one choice for girls and women, and that we’re providing people with fulfilment from our game. Netball has given me purpose and direction, and I’d love to be able to have as many people experience that as possible.”
