WAIS Netballers Selected in Youth World Champs Squad
West Coast Fever defender Courtney Bruce and her WAIS training partners Kaylia Stanton and Numi Tupaea have been named in the Australian squad for the 2013 World Youth Netball Championships in Glasgow in August.
Their selections were finalised last week following a three-day camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
All three WA girls have come through the WAIS netball development program led by Institute head coach Michelle Wilkins.
Tupaea, along with South Australia’s Sarah Klau and Amehlia Schmidt and New South Wales’ Amy Sommerville, was elevated to the Championships squad after initially attending the camp as an invitee.
“While it’s a small step, it represents the next milestone towards our World Youth Netball Championships campaign now that we’ve got a finalised squad of 21 athletes to contest selection camp in three weeks,” Australian 21/U coach Carol Byers said.
“The selectors and I were very impressed with the 23 athletes at camp, including the invitees, but Amehlia, Amy and Numi were outstanding and thoroughly deserve their chance to compete for a spot on our Australian World Youth Netball Championships team.”
Illness prevented Klau from attending camp but Byers said her performances at the National Netball Championships warranted inclusion in the squad.
The 12-player team for August’s World Youth Netball Championships will be announced following a selection camp on May 21-23 at the AIS.
Australia has been named in Group A alongside South Africa, Fiji, Israel and Namibia with the tournament kicking off on 22 August at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
In other netball news:
The initial Western Sting squad for the 2013 Australian Netball League (ANL) competition has been selected.
The ANL, established in 2008, bridges the gap between State League competition and the ANZ Championship by providing a national pathway for players, coaches, umpires, score bench and technical officials.
The Western Sting will be part of a record equalling 11 teams contesting the competition, starting on Saturday, July 6, with the grand final to be played on August 25.
“We’ve looked at the Smarter Than Smoking State League competition and the performance of the WA 21U side and also the underpinning programs within our WAIS group,” Head Coach Stacey Rosman said of her squad selection.
“We have gone for our best talent as well as the best in the State League as far as the experience and guidance they can bring out on court.”
Rosman said the biggest challenge facing the Western Sting was identifying and managing expectations from the various arms of netball.
“We have three pillars of expectation,” said Rosman who is also the West Coast Fever assistant coach.
“There are Netball WA’s expectations, the coaching staff’s expectations and individual expectations from a players’ perspective.
“For the players that could be to continue their pathway through Netball WA, it could be to get recognition and put their hand up for ANZ Championship selection and hopefully take that step to the next level.
“Or it could be to be able to play at the highest level that people can make in their careers. That goes for coaching and support staff too.
“We have got all these expectations so we need to find a way to align them and make them work for us, to make Western Sting successful and by doing that we will tick off the other expectations around the perimeter.”
Seventeen players have been selected in the initial squad, but that will be subject to constant review of the Smarter Than Smoking State Netball League, allowing players to be added or deleted from the squad. West Coast Fever players may also be added to the squad subject to eligibility.
The final team announcement will be made on Tuesday, May 28.
The WA side finished third in last year’s competition after winning seven of its nine regular season games. Those results earned the WA girls a place in the second semi-final where they lost to eventual runners-up the NSW Waratahs.
WAIS athletes selected in the current WA squad include; Alice Coakley, Ingrid Colyer, Sarah East, Alicia Janz, Jess Penny, Lindal Rohde, Denise Shepley, Ellie Smart, Kaylia Stanton and Numi Tupaea.
Western Sting will open its 2013 campaign with a game against the AIS at the University of Sunshine Coast in Queensland on Saturday, July 6.
– Netball WA