SEPTEMBER will be a big month for Inverell's Chloe Thompson who is taking her first trip overseas to hang out with some superstars of the sporting world.
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Chloe, 14, is travelling to New Zealand for 10 days with the Northern Inland Academy of Sport netball squad for a series of games and the chance to meet and train with the Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national netball team.
She is understandably delighted, having never been outside Australia and on a plane just once before, and getting the opportunity to spend time with - and learn from - some giants of the netball world.
"I'm really excited about the trip. I'm looking forward to learning some new tactics and meeting new people ... and (from the Silver Ferns) finding out how to make netball a career for me," Chloe said.
She has been playing netball since she was five and part of the NIAS netball squad for the past two years.
The Macintyre High School student, who plays in the wing attack position, trains or plays pretty much every day except Friday - "my rest day" - and her passion for the sport is evident.
When asked what she loves about it, she replies, "everything". "It makes me happy," Chloe said.
"I just feel really free when I'm on the court, and it's a lot of fun, and I enjoy the intensity of it. I love the competition side."
I just feel really free when I'm on the court.
- Chloe Thompson
The chance to join the NIAS squad, Chloe said, had brought a lot of opportunities, not the least of which is her first overseas adventure.
"I've learned a lot and really improved my game, and my confidence," she said.
"After all the training, I feel like it's really paying off."
The NIAS team will be based in Christchurch, from where they'll link up with the New Zealand's national netball squad and play a series of games against local teams.
The team is now intent on fundraising for the trip, the Year 9 student most recently selling hot chocolates at school to her classmates.
But, all the fundraising and the training in the lead-up to September will be worth it for the chance to test their talents against overseas competition and take in some of the unique sights of New Zealand.
And, for Chloe, it's just another step in a journey she hopes will take her all the way to the top of the netball world.
"My biggest goal is to get into the Australian squad one day," she said. "I just love (netball) and don't want it to stop."
