Western Sting to Make 2013 ANL Bow
The Western Sting takes on the AIS and the Territory Storm in their first two games of the Australian Netball League season, which starts this weekend.
The games will be played at the University of Sunshine Coast in Sippy Downs, Queensland.
The 12-player Sting team flies out to on Friday with an accomplished list of names that includes players who took to the court for West Coast Fever this year such as Andrea Gilmore (WAIS) and Lisa Millman, as well as Alicia Janz (WAIS), Ingrid Colyer (WAIS) and Lindal Rohde (WAIS) who all took to the court as replacement players for Fever.
Goal shooter Sarah East (WAIS), who played two games for the Fever in 2012 and is on the comeback from a major knee injury, is also in the travelling party.
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 2013 competition. They will play three games at home at Challenge Stadium on Friday, July 19, Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21.
“The ANL program is about aligning with what the West Coast Fever is all about and introducing them to the training and intensity that is required to take another step forward,” said Western Sting Head Coach and West Coast Fever Assistant Coach Stacey Rosman.
“Both programs are honing in on the skills that we need to develop West Australian/West Coast Fever players as well as having an extremely successful side and taking another step forward to where we finished last year.”
The Sting’s first opponent in this year’s competition, the AIS, is likely to contain WA products Courtney Bruce (WAIS) and Kaylia Stanton (WAIS) who are currently in camp in Canberra with the Australian 21U squad that is preparing for the World Youth Championships in Glasgow in August.
Bruce made her debut for the Fever this year, while Stanton has been based in Canberra at the AIS.
“We know the two WA girls are very talented, but when it comes to the rest of the AIS team and other opposition teams there’s not a lot of video analysis we are able to do,” Rosman said.
“So we really have to concentrate more on the way we want to play and work on taking the intensity we have had at training into the games.”
WA 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 went down to eventual runners-up the NSW Waratahs.
– NetballWA