PHILP’S JOURNEY FROM MARLINS TO THE WILDCATS
THIS is the opportunity Claudia Philp has been waiting for.
Last year, Philp took the court in the familiar pink of WGC Sharks and enjoyed the best possible Queensland State Netball League campaign, as her Marlin Coast Marlins went through the competition undefeated.
A total overhaul of Netball Queensland’s pathways means Marlin Coast will not be able to defend its title, but for Philp, a 19-year-old defender who plays either goal defence or goal keeper, it means a bigger opportunity has arrived.
The first Sapphire Series will start later this year, and Philp and fellow Far North netball product and Marlins teammate Rachel Fa’anana have earned a place in the QUT Wildcats’ squad.
The Sapphire Series is a new semi-professional netball league which will form a clearer stepping stone between local and regional netball players and the Suncorp Super Netball, Australia’s premier competition.
Being one step away from the Firebirds, Sunshine Coast Lightning or any other Super Netball franchise is something Philp never expected to enjoy.
“This is going to be such an exciting experience,” Philp said.
“Just being part of a semiprofessional netball team. It didn’t exist a few years ago so I never expected it.
“Professional netballers always had to have a second job but it’s good to see it turn so far.”
Philp has moved to Brisbane where she will study at the University of Queensland, but come the weekend she will swap UQ’s insignia for that of QUT as her Wildcats hit the court.
Before any game time, Philp and her new teammates will endure three more months of intense preseason training. It’s a wait that will not only make the players more excited to play, but provides ample time for players to get to know their new teammates.
When Philp finally wears the Wildcats’ uniform it will cap a journey which started in Cairns.
She’s played netball since she was about seven-years-old, but it wasn’t until she first made the Marlins squad she realised she might have enough talent to pursue her sport more seriously.
“(When I started) I think I was just taller than everyone else,” she said with a laugh.
“When I made the Marlins team, the training was harder, the games were tougher and that was the turning point for me.”
The Wildcats will start its inaugural campaign against the Cougars at the Queensland State Netball Centre on Sunday, June 23.