Region’s junior netballers show potenital

A Tara Bryant Dsc 0296  TBW Newsgroup
SKILL: Tara Bryant is one of an 18-player squad set to represent the South East against some of the best netballers in the state between the ages of 14 and 16.

A Tara Bryant Dsc 0296 TBW Newsgroup
SKILL: Tara Bryant is one of an 18-player squad set to represent the South East against some of the best netballers in the state between the ages of 14 and 16.

THE region’s brightest young netball stars will get the chance to shine at the Netball SA Academy program competition in Adelaide later this year.

From September 29 to October 1, 18 players aged between 14 and 16 will represent the South East against the state’s best.

All three Limestone Coast leagues are represented with six Western Border, four Mid South East and eight Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Netball Association players named.

The 18-player squad will be divided into two sides in the state-wide program run by Netball SA and they will face eight academies on the court.

The end goal for the players is to achieve selection in phase two of the Under 17 state trials, with the prospect of being picked in either the South Australian state or development teams.

Last year Millicent’s Lucy Denton was included in the development squad and her sister Abby now has the chance to the same.

The four-person coaching panel is led by Jane Gould, who has eight years of experience in the competition.

Gould said her players have been carefully picked after a long and precise selection process interrupted by COVID-19.

“We started during our trial days in February and then slowly selected players for development,” she said.

“At academy level we looked for players who showed potential to develop and grow into a hopefully a high-level netball player.

“This year was interrupted with COVID-19, so trials took a long time to complete.”

But to negotiate around the challenges created by the pandemic, Gould said Netball SA set up a creative program for the players.

“Normally we would start training around March with a camp, but this obviously went out the door with COVID-19,” she said.

“We were lucky to have Roz Fraser – who is head of netball development in Netball SA – set up an incredible program for the players.

“All players in academies from across the state were mixed together and divided into nine groups and ran ‘virtually’ from Gawler to Sydney.

“They had to mange a budget, book accommodation, complete tasks, visit attractions at each town and buy new shoes along the way.”

Thanks to the initiative training regime, Gould said the squad is shaping up nicely.

“I think our squad has lots of potential to develop,” she said.

“We have some great raw tall players mixed with some experienced names in the mid court, who have amazing on-court skill and proven tenacity – Tara Bryant is one of these.”

In the three months leading up to the event, the squad will complete two training sessions per month with a focus on skills and internal match play.

Despite the overall aim of development, Gould has high ambitions for the young side at the three-day competition.

“Our focus is to develop each player’s individual skills, but we will definitely aim to be among the top teams,” she said.

“It is always satisfying to win against an Adelaide-based team.”

SOUTH EAST SQUAD

MSENA: Lacey Haines, Indiana Howell, Tayla Rowe and Sophie Wrightson; KNTNA: Ellise Berkin, Chelsea duRand, Brooke Ewer, Erin Ewer, Jemma Kavanagh, Melanie Makin, Poppy Moyle-Read, Rose Pfitzner, Tess Porter and Indi Venables; WBNA: Tara Bryant, Abby Denton, Annelise Janssen and Sarah Ritter.