NSW 19/U Team set their sights on Nationals glory

Monday, April 11, 2011

The NSW 19/U Team is setting their sights on National Netball Championship glory when the competition commences in Brisbane on Friday.

With eight championship titles in this age group, including back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009, the 2011 team will be coached by Lenore Blades and Megan Simpson, with Manly-Warringah representative Brooke Miller and Penrith’s Paige Hadley named Captain and Vice-Captain respectively.

The blend of youth and experience will be one of the keys for this team, boasting five returners from 2010, including AIS scholarship holder and shooter Alix McDermott, as well as five players who were members of the NSW 17/U Team in 2010.

Head Coach Lenore Blades is quietly confident about her team’s chances heading into the six-day competition, highlighting the team’s versatility and depth.

“It makes it much easier for a coach when you have players that can play a variety of positions and you have a team that is so well-rounded that you can slot players in according to the opposition. It makes the decisions harder for me, but these decisions and options can help the team,” Blades said.

“Victoria, as always, will be a tough opponent. Queensland won last year, but I tend to benchmark against Victoria because of their maturity of play. This year we’ve factored in a lot more match play so hopefully that will mean that we are even more prepared.

“I’m aiming for best performance. If every girl puts their best performance out on court and sticks to the game plan then I think that will result in best performance for the team.”

NSW 19/U Team Page

2011 19/U National Championships Fixture and Results

NSW Match Schedule

Friday, 15 April                      
Round 1   NSW v TAS              11:30am
Round 2   NSW v VIC               6:00pm

Saturday, 16 April                  
Round 3   NSW v WA              1:30pm
Round 4   NSW v QLD             7:30pm

Sunday, 17 April                     
Round 5   NSW v ACT              12:00pm
Round 6   NSW v SA                6:00pm

Monday, 18 April                   
Round 7   NSW v NT               3:00pm

Tuesday, 19 April                   
Semi-Finals

Wednesday, 20 April             
Finals