Australia’s best emerging netball talent will converge in Hobart next July for the 2021 National Netball Championships.
The Hobart Netball and Sports Centre is set to host the 17/Under and 19/Under tournament from July 4 to 11, bringing together teams from each age group from all states and territories.
The tournament is a key event within the Netball Australia pathway, with almost all the nation’s top netballers, coaches, umpires and officials having been a part of this event earlier in their careers.
Newly-appointed Origin Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich is looking forward to watching the talent on display.
“The National Netball Championships is an incredibly important part of the Australian pathway for athletes, coaches, umpires and officials, and an exciting and valuable experience for all involved,” she said.
“This tournament gives Australia’s emerging elite netballers a great opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities in a high-performance environment and it’s an opportunity for our sport to come together to develop our next generation of stars.”
Netball Tasmania CEO, Aaron Pidgeon, welcomes the decision to bring the tournament to Tasmania.
“Netball Tasmania is extremely pleased to be partnering with Netball Australia to bring the National Championships to Tasmania, and to Hobart for the first time in many years,” he said.
“We’re excited for the Tasmanian community who will get to see the brightest new talent in the country, and we’re proud to be able to share with all participants our beautiful state.”
Adelaide Thunderbirds rising star Georgie Horjus, who has had a standout year in the Suncorp Super Netball league, represented South Australia at the National Netball Championships most recently in 2019.
“I felt an enormous amount of pride representing my state each year at this tournament and I’m grateful for the opportunities it has provided me in being able to pursue my netball further,” she said.
“The tournament gives all up and coming players the chance to experience an event format that has us playing on consecutive days so we can show what we are capable of bringing into the elite competition environment, while making lifelong friends.”
All athletes, coaches and officials will take part in Netball Australia’s new learning and development leadership program during the first two days of the event.
More information and details on the tournament will be available closer to the date.
