A family holiday to Bali was one of the things Christine Melnikas paid for with money she stole from the Banyule and District Netball Association between February 2007 and October 2012, the County Court heard on Tuesday.

Melnikas was a paid worker at the association, which runs competitions for about 1900 players across 176 teams in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs, but exploited her access to the organisation's funds to move money into her personal credit-card accounts.

Prosecutor Anne Hassan said Melnikas claimed on the association's computer system the cheques she wrote were for equipment, court hire, coaches and stationery, but were instead deposited into her own accounts.

Melnikas, 54, pleaded guilty to six counts of theft.

Defence counsel Paul Higham said his client had been devoted to netball from age 12 and had as an adult been instrumental in a community campaign to have a stadium built in Macleod. But disputes with the association's board members and a sense of entitlement prompted her offending.

Mr Higham said a psychologist found Melnikas had personality traits where she believed she had "set this up, this is mine", and that the association's funds and facilities belonged to her.

"Theft is always about need or greed or some combination of the two," he said.

"Whether it was revenge of self-justification, she fell into a pattern where money was misappropriated."

Association board members Kelli Lambert and Alan Watson said in victim impact statements they were saddened children had stopped playing because their parents could not afford registration fees, which the organisation had to raise due to its financial problems.

Ms Lambert had spent countless hours raising funds while not knowing Mernikas was offending, and said the betrayal left her angry, frustrated and asking "why the hell did I bother?"

Mr Watson said some coaches had spent their own money buying trophiesfor players after being embarrassed at having to re-badge old trophies.

The financial discrepancies he and other board members discovered had caused stress and a loss in faith in people, he said.

Mr Higham said Melnikas' offending ultimately meant she damaged the pursuit she devoted her life to.

She was now banned from any involvement in netball, the court heard, and was not permitted to watch her adult daughter play.

Melnikas was bailed to be assessed for a community corrections order.

Judge Rachelle Lewitan will sentence at a later date.