By Tara Murray
Several netballers from Melbourne’s north-west have been named in the Victorian squads for the under-17 and under-19 National Championships in Sydney.
The teams of 12 have been named after a selection process since August, where squads of 50 were narrowed down to 25.
The squads have been involved in Netball Victoria’s elevate program, introducing them to aspects of high performance environments such as strength and conditioning, nutrition, athlete wellbeing and skill development.
Initially, athletes were talent identified at Netball Victoria’s pathway competitions, association championships and state titles, as well as through Netball Victoria’s talent academies across the state.
City West Falcons Holly Adams-Alock has been named in the under-19 for a second straight year.
Sahara Ball, who was part of Riddell’s A-grade grand final team in the Riddell District Netball League, is also part of the team.
Western Warriors’ Kiara Boyd and Haleina Tanoi have both been named in the under-17 team along with Sunbury Lions premiership player and City West Falcon Amalani Fauonuku.
City West Falcons coach Jacinta Todd will coach the under-17 team.
“For some of these athletes, this is their first state team selection, which is a fantastic achievement,” she said.
“They’ve all worked incredibly hard and are deserving of their spot, and we look forward to working more closely with them in the lead up to nationals and in their development in the pathway.”
Adrian Ballantyne will coach the under-19s.
“We were so impressed with the talent pool across the selection process, which has again demonstrated the strength of Victoria’s netball pathway,” he said.
“Selecting the final 12 was extremely challenging, but we’re confident we’ve landed on a squad that will give us a very strong chance for success at nationals.”
The teams will compete at Netball Australia’s National Netball Championships which will be played at Netball Central in Sydney in April and as well as Netball Victoria’s Gippsland Showcase in Traralgon on the weekend of February 8.
