Effort deserving of gold
IT might be the silver medal hanging up in her bedroom, but there is no stopping Townsville teenager Remy Arnold from feeling like a winner.
The Townsville Grammar student was embroiled in a Netball Queensland controversy last week after her Bond University Bull Sharks team was comprehensively beaten in the under-18s state championships gold medal match.
The only issue was that the team that beat them was the Queensland under-18 state men’s side.
Arnold, who is one of the first players in the silver medallists to break their silence, said it was a “disappointment” to finish their tournament in that fashion.
“We were not exactly keen going into the final but we were going to give it a red hot go,” Arnold said.
“They hit us early. Our normal game was aerial and up high, we had a tall and athletic team but the boys took that away from us straight away.
“It was a different, physical style and there was not much we could do to stop it. I am disappointed they were included in the finals. It would have been good if they were an invitational team or if they gave us both gold medals and we played an exhibition game to finish.
“We still consider ourselves the best female team in Queensland.”
Arnold has refused to have her first state championships finals experience be ruined by the controversy surrounding the finish.
The aspiring medical student said she was proud to make it that far with a Bull Sharks side that had accepted her as one of their own.
The determined Townsville teenager had used the state titles as an opportunity to get her foot in the door at the club, as she plans to relocate to the Gold Coast for university and further netball opportunities next season.
She travelled down to trial for the squad, and then spent every weekend for the past two months travelling down for training sessions before being given the nod for the titles.
Despite a broken finger and a shock illness in her family, with her grandfather and number one supporter suffering a heart attack on the eve of the finals, Arnold started every game for the Bull Sharks at goal attack.
The Bull Sharks were undefeated through the tournament before the final, with their smallest margin an 11-point win in the pool games.
“I am still proud of the achievements we made going away,” Arnold said. “I would rather it be a gold medal, but it still holds the memories of everything we achieved.
“It was really good, I was so excited to be given the opportunity to play with the Bull Sharks. It was so exciting and a great bunch of girls.
“That was why I put in the effort to go down, I was keen to see if I could mix it with some of the best girls in the state. I want to play in the Ruby or Sapphire Series next year and I have been asked to go down in December for their Ruby and Sapphire trials.”
But for now, the Year 12 student has been ordered back into her studies by mum, Leanne, ahead of her senior external exams next month.
Netball Queensland selected a 26-woman Queensland 19 and under state squad at the end of the state championships for 2022.
Northern Mendi Rays rising star Estelle Moceletu was included in the Queensland squad.
An invitational list of players will be added to the squad for development and growth opportunities later on.