Mitchell Drummond’s return to Nelson to play for the Tasman Mako has proved a real bonus for the Nelson netball competition.
His wife Charlotte is also a sporting centurion, with 113 ANZ Premiership matches for Canterbury’s Tactix and the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, and now she is lighting up the local club competition.
Charlotte came off the bench for Jacks OPD in her second match, against Nelson College for Girls last Thursday night.
“I am still finding my feet within the team while the rest of the girls have done the hard yards this season,” says the 30-year-old.
She made an immediate impact when she subbed on at centre and her slick partnership with Jess Drummond was a feature in a close tussle.
Charlotte was later switched to wing defence where she disrupted NCG’s flow of ball.
“That was the coach’s call. I have played a lot of wing D in my time. I just try to go out there and help where I can.”
NCG led early and only trailed by two goals at three-quarter time, before Jacks pulled away to win 66-58.
“We made it hard on ourselves, but we ground it out in the end. The Nelson girls had a good skill set which was really good to play against.”
While the Drummond family is living in Stoke, Charlotte was always going to play for Jacks.
“Jess is the reason I came to this club. When I first moved from Westport to Saint Andrew’s College in Christchurch I played with her, and it’s awesome to be playing together again,” enthuses the mother of one.
The two were first together in the Tactix wider training squad way back in 2013.
Charlotte’s son Teddy was born last September, and seven months later she returned to netball for the Technical club in Christchurch.
She is dual registered so can play in both competitions and plans to turn out again for Technical next month.
“Netball is my time away from Teddy, and Mitch is a good dad. I am out there having fun. I just love playing netball. They are an awesome bunch of girls and that’s why the team is producing good netball.”
She confirms the body is in good shape, while Mitch is “a bit broken at the moment” after a serious shoulder injury.
“But he’s not far away from a return for the Mako.”
Meanwhile Charlotte hasn’t ruled out a return to the ANZ Premiership.
“I last played in 2024 and would love to get back there, although it is scary for the girls not knowing whether they have a competition to play in next year. It is quite daunting for them,” she concludes.
