TWO Inverell Netball Association teams will travel to Sydney on Friday to compete at the State Age Championships. The two teams will play in division four of the competition at Windsor, on the Hawkesbury Netball Association’s courts from June 27-29.
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The State Age Championships is a Netball NSW carnival with all zones represented. These days it is one of the largest female sporting events in the southern hemisphere.
Inverell association spokeswoman Jo Ireland said it had been some time since players from this town had been able to compete.
“We haven’t been able to field two full teams, with managers and coaches, and actually been able to get them down to the carnival for a number of years,” Ireland said.
An under 14s side and under 12s team will make the trip south, and Ireland is confident both sides will do well.
“This year we had such a wonderful group of girls who wanted to be selected and trialled, and such a huge group of talent in Inverell,” Ireland said.
“It was quite difficult to select both teams. We had such good quality coming through from the junior ranks.”
Ireland said netball was gaining strength in Inverell.
“Now we’ve got really young teams, really minor, little teams that get trained on Saturday mornings. So those girls are steadily coming through to the 12 and 14-year-old age groups,” Ireland said.
Ireland said the association fielded at least 22 assorted junior teams and about eight senior teams at the Inverell Sporting Complex each weekend.
“It’s terrific, and it means we have two to three hours of full-on netball every Saturday Morning,” Ireland said.
She said the association completed State Age Netball trials in September 2014. Since March this year the teams have trained every Wednesday afternoon, with fitness training most Monday afternoons.
Ireland said on Saturdays some team members play their games as juniors, and then play in the intermediate or senior teams later in the day.
“The state age teams and families have all made a tremendous effort throughout the netball season and all the girls have conducted themselves with great pride and joy,” Ireland said.
Inverell State Age under 12s: Emma McInnes, Indiana Timu, Annalise Crisp, Matilda Lewis, Miranda Hallam, Hayley Rodgers, Elloise Neville, Emma Hall, Georgia Ditchfield, Emily Johnson, Caitlyn Boland (coach), Maddi Hallam (assistant coach), and Laurel McInnes (manager).
Inverell State Age under 14s: Chloe Thompson, Gianna Migheli, Hayley Wyndam, Milly Green, Sienna Smith, Shaneah Leece, Maddi Lott, Kayla Sims, Aleisha Sleiman, Grace Kennedy (coach), Marleen Thompson (assistant), and Annette Murray (manager).