Netball glory in sight for Toowoomba
NETBALL: Toowoomba’s next generation of stars are out to mark their mark on the statewide stage.
Tomorrow the U18s will head to Caloundra for the finals of the Queensland Premier League, where they will face off with seven other teams.
“The girls have worked and played really well together,” coach Paul Elbourne said.
“They’re excited that they’ve made it through to the finals. It should be a good weekend and a good experience.”
Elbourne said having the core group of girls gelling so well together with newer faces in the team contributed to the success they had been able to experience so far.
“A lot of the team was in the U16s last year that made the finals and they stayed on and started playing 18s,” he said.
“It’s been good to retain some of them and they know each other on the court. It does help and some of the girls played at a higher level as well.
“They’ve retained what they’ve learnt there and brought it to girls to help out the new girls in the team.
“The team has really bonded well and the new girls don’t look out of place. You’d swear they’d known each other for a long time.
“They back each other on the court and are cheering for each other when they’re not on.”
After making light work of their regional rivals and going through the Darling Downs phase undefeated, the team knows they need to find another gear to come away with success.
“We fairly dominated every game we played which was good. It just goes to show the work the girls have put in at training, the bonding of the girls and them backing up each other,” he said.
“I think they’ll take confidence going into this weekend. At our last training session we spoke about it and the girls said they are confident they’ll do well and do the Toowoomba Association proud.”
Toowoomba will be missing Emily Stenzel this weekend, but Elbourne was confident the rest of the squad would be able to cover in her absence. TOOWOOMBA TEAM:
Mary Barac, Renee Clarke, Maggie Grigg, Hanlie Lubbe, Brittany Pascoe, Lily Sevil, Aleisha Somerfield, Tahlia Dawson, Meg Vinson, Paul Elbourne (coach), Norah Vinson (manager).