A TEAM of 10 junior netballers will travel to Melbourne to represent the Wimmera Netball Association in the Association Championships on Sunday.
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The 13 and under side qualified for the championships after it played in the grand final at the Northern Zone Championships at Echuca last month.
Coach Mary-Lou Boatman said the tournament had come around quicker than she realised.
“The girls have been looking forward to this for a while, although I’m not sure we ever thought it was going to happen,” she said.
The squad had its final training session on Wednesday night in Horsham by playing against a mixed group of 15 and under, and 13 and under players from Dimboola.
Previously the side had prepared against the 15 and under Warrack Eagles team and the Wimmera Netball Association representative squad.
“It’s always difficult with the 13 and under team because they don’t know each other. At first they are quiet, shy and they still have a lot of skills to learn,” Boatman said.
“They have been training against the older squads, so they are always up against it. But then when they go away, you get a better idea of how they’re travelling.”
She said the group had come together well since trials started during round one of the season.
The group had been training most weeks and performed well at the Golden City tournament in Bendigo and against the Murray Netball Association in Moama.
“They’re just like little sponges,” she said.
“If you give them an instruction they will take it straight out on court and try to do what you’ve asked.”
Other than coming together as a team the squad has also learnt better ball-handling and how to position themselves to play their roles.
“In the tournament at Echuca they really found their feet and were all there for each other,” Boatman said.
After playing for their clubs on Saturday the girls will travel to the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Melbourne.
There the girls will play five games before possibly progressing to finals.