![Cath Prow (left) and Michelle Robinson (right) after their grand final victory in 2022. They have played together for 25 years. Picture supplied Cath Prow (left) and Michelle Robinson (right) after their grand final victory in 2022. They have played together for 25 years. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156570134/fab70dd9-e523-4e8d-ab76-cbe4e5e9af72_rotated_270.jpg/r0_0_3024_4032_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Catherine Prow has stepped off the netball court for the final time, ending her 58 year netball career.
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The final whistle of the Eurobodalla Senior B grand final crowned Prow's Bodalla Berries champions in a 48-40 triumph and simultaneously signified the end of her career in the sport.
Prow first played netball - at the time called 'women's basketball' - aged eight when a recruitment drive for the sport visited her school. She played on old grass courts, wearing a box pleat tunic.
"It was just lots of fun and I kept playing," she said.
"It's fun, fitness, good skills and great company."
Now players' fingernails are checked prior to a game to ensure they aren't too long to hurt the opposition. In 1968, players had to kneel before the game to ensure their tunics were within a few inches of their knees before the match could commence.
![Prow - back row, right - in the Green Valley under 12s in 1968 wearing the box pleat tunic that was her uniform. Picture supplied Prow - back row, right - in the Green Valley under 12s in 1968 wearing the box pleat tunic that was her uniform. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156570134/5dd08533-9909-44c8-9a11-0080a7bb34a6.jpg/r0_0_1936_2147_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Wherever Prow moved - for university or for work - she would join a new netball team.
So when she relocated to Broulee in 1984, the Moruya High PE teacher joined the local competition, running the club for five years.
They played on a flat section of Moruya Golf Course before moving to new courts at Captain Oldrey Reserve, Broulee, where the Eurobodalla Netball Competition continues to play.
Some highlights of her career include winning the Eurobodalla A Grade grand final playing with her daughter, representing Eurobodalla at the state championships and playing in the Masters category.
![Cath Prow (right) with her daughter Ellie Prow (left) after winning the Grade A Championship in 2012. Picture supplied. Cath Prow (right) with her daughter Ellie Prow (left) after winning the Grade A Championship in 2012. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/156570134/7282cb1d-32a8-4673-a0ae-ca113ca42083.JPG/r0_0_1936_2590_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While the goal shooter accepts she may not be as agile as when she first started, she has maintained her passing skills, tactics and, importantly, shooting accuracy.
"The skills never leave you," she said. "You aren't depending on your running around."
She's hanging up the bib so she and her husband have more flexibility now they are both retired.
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Prow has been at a netball court nearly every Saturday during winter for the past 58 years, and said the reality of her decision wouldn't sink in until next year - when she should be starting to play again.
"I am pleased to be able to play, and that I am asked to play each year," she said.
"I am sad I won't go down there and play each week and see my team."
However she admitted she'll still go to the courts to watch every now and then.