Bella Rasche keeps memory of mum alive on netball court

Born in a lucky country, the 26-year-old beamed under a grey sky about to turn nasty.

At age 26, Rasche's fulfilment is bountiful. She adores being a teacher, she has started a new relationship and she has continued her lifelong love affair with netball.

Certainly, the Taree-raised, Tamworth-based Swans White joint player of the year (A-grade) has an enviable existence.

How sad is it, then, that her mother Karen is not here to witness it.

"I lost my mum eight years ago," Rasche said after a day's work as a year 4 and 5 teacher at St Michael's in Manilla. "And our greatest passion together was netball.

"Like, we coached together, she coached me, she umpired me. So, netball: I've always loved it. But now I love it a little bit more because that's my connection to my mum."

Dealing with her mother's death, Rasche said, was the biggest challenge of her life.

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"But like I said, playing netball, or even watching my sister play [netball], or whatever it is, I just feel that connection with her," she said.

Rasche - who said her guiltiest pleasure was watching "trashy" reality TV shows - graduated from the University of Newcastle and has been a teacher for three years.

Her mother lived in Tamworth. "I just had a lot of family here [Tamworth], so I wanted to be with them," she said, adding: "I love my job. Love my job."

Rasche's player of the year gong was shared with Dakota McRodden and Emily Tudman.

It capped off a bitter sweet season for her: Swans White were undefeated over 14 regular-season games, but were eliminated in the finals without winning a match.

"I wasn't really expecting it," Rasche said of the award. "I thought that my season was pretty ordinary, but I must've been doing something right."

When asked to whom she would like to apologise, Rasche said: "I'm sorry to anyone that I've had to play against that I've ran into ... sorry."

As for the most important lesson life has taught her, her response was perhaps indicative of someone who has suffered great grief.

"You can try to plan things, but life has a different plan for you," she said. "So, you just have to kind of go with the flow, I think."

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