Northern Hawks stalwart Ann Pearce celebrates club's State League premiership win

The State League club nearly shut its doors for good.

“We were in disarray – we owed money,” Pearce said.

Debts racked up into the thousands of dollars were overdue to the Northern Tasmanian Netball Association.

Only generous loans from its grassroots clubs saved the Hawks from sure extinction.

One of them were Pearce’s George Town. Another was current assistant coach Kellie Woolnough’s Tamar Jets.

The pair, in 2000, joined the committee in the living room of then president Deb Mohr – and the rest is history.

“We couldn’t let it happen – in the North, that would have left one club for all our talented players to play for,” Pearce said, “and that licence would have most probably gone for a club in Hobart.”

Pearce was everything to the once-named Northern Saints, including head coach for two seasons when the club was on its playing knees.

“I was only a gap – I was filling in until the Tahiris and Woolnoughs came,” she said.

But never did the recent Hawks team manager ever think Saturday’s momentous grand final win would come.

Especially after two crushing defeats to AYC-Friends Arrows and a moment when a third was a real possibility.

“When we down in the third quarter, I was too scared – I was actually thinking, we didn’t have another quarter to go,” Pearce said. “That’s how involved I was and I wasn’t going to ask anybody.”

“But when that last quarter started, you could just tell the girls were going to do it.”

In a soaring year, Pearce and Danni Pickett took out two titles inside two months.

But the Tasmanian Magpies assistant team manager, looks at her Hawks winners’ medallion and quips: “This was my favourite moment”.

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