The experienced Drum said she was excited for the opportunity to work with promising young netballers.

“It will be great to work with the young kids that are coming through,” she said.

The northern zone incorporates the Wimmera-Mallee, North Central, Murray and Sunraysia netball regions.

Drum will work under head coach Swan Hill’s Madeleine Nalder with Wodonga’s Bianca Mann coming on board as the apprentice coach.

She said it would be good to learn from other coaches.

“Some of the girls I used to play against are coaches or assistant coaches in other regions,” she said.

“I’m really looking forward to the knowledge sharing between the coaches and an opportunity to develop the juniors so that they have a good chance to meet their potentials.”

“It’s exciting to give those girls a chance - if you look at who has come through from the Wimmera in the past I’m sure they’ve appreciated the opportunity whether they have gone on with it or not.”

Noradjuha-Quantong’s Abby Hallam and Harrow-Balmoral’s Ella Rees are both part of the squad.

Drum said the squad trained one Sunday each month on average.

“We start this Sunday at Echuca,” she said.

“We’ll meet the girls for the first time then. I had induction session in Melbourne when we met everyone, learnt what was going and received our uniforms.”

Training sessions will also take place at Swan Hill, Bendigo and Warracknabeal, with each centre set to host multiple sessions.

Drum will be continue her role as the Burras A Grade coach for the 2018 Wimmera Netball Association season but has stepped away from her role guiding the B Grade side.

“I look forward to being able to share whatever I learn from each training session as we work throughout the season toward the academy tournament in October,” she said.

“I’ve coached there before when I used to help Leesa Gallard out in the central east.

“She is now the Victorian Fury coach so it can be a pathway into elite coaching.”