Eight Victorians have been selected in Netball Australia’s 2019 Netball Centre of Excellence 17/U, 19/U and Tall Athlete national squads.
Maggie Caris, Sussu Liai, Maddi Ridley, Emma Walters, Gabby Coffey, Sacha McDonald (Melbourne Vixens squad member), Uneeq Palavi and Allie Smith (Melbourne Vixens squad member) have all been selected based on their performances at the National Netball Championships in Brisbane over the last week.
Netball Victoria General Manager – Vixens, Performance and Pathways, Rebekah Webster said that while the results at Nationals weren’t as expected, is it pleasing to see some exciting, up and coming young Victorian talent selected in the National squads.
“The National Netball Championships are a great opportunity for our athletes and coaches to develop and challenge themselves on a national stage and remains an integral step of our athlete pathway,” said Webster.
“While we didn’t achieve team success this year, to have eight Victorians selected in these squads is terrific and we’re incredibly proud of the athletes.
“The opportunity for them to be exposed to the Centre of Excellence program and camp environment, providing exposure to some of Australia’s best coaches, is one we know will be valuable to their growth as athletes both on and off the court.
Netball Centre of Excellence Head Coach Michelle Wilkins said she’s excited to be welcoming some of Australia’s most up and coming netball talent into the next phase of the Netball Australia high-performance pathway program.
“The standard of skill and ability that has been on show at the National Netball Championships in Queensland this week has been outstanding – it really highlighted the depth of our young talent and that the future success of Australian netball is in excellent hands,” she said.
“Our national squad camps are designed to expose our next generation of elite netballers to a high-performance environment – this is just the start of these athletes being in a national setting, so we’re excited to see what this group bring to and learn at these three camps.”
The Tall Athlete program aims to foster and develop taller athletes and features specialist coaching and additional development and learning opportunities for both goalers and defenders, under the guidance of nationally appointed coaches.
The Tall Athletes squad camp will run from 16-19 May, the 17/U from 6-10 June and the 19/U camp from 6-10 July at the Netball Centre of Excellence in Canberra.
17/U squad
Maggie Caris (Melbourne University Lightning)
Sussu Liai (Peninsula Waves)
Maddi Ridley (Melbourne University Lightning)
Emma Walters (City West Falcons)
19/U squad
Gabby Coffey (Melbourne University Lightning)
Sacha McDonald (Peninsula Waves)
Uneeq Palavi (City West Falcons)
Allie Smith (Geelong Cougars)
Tall Athlete squad
Maggie Caris (Melbourne University Lightning)
Gabby Coffey (Melbourne University Lightning)
