TWO Wimmera Netball Association representative teams will travel to Melbourne on Sunday to compete in the Netball Victoria Association championships finals day.
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The association’s 15 and under and 13 and under sides qualified for the finals day after winning at the Northern Zone Championships in May.
Cassandra Haskett and Donna McKenzie will lead the 15 and under side, while Ant Toet will lead the 13 and under side.
Haskett said she expected her side to perform well.
“We just want the girls to do their absolute best but the girls have their own expectations as well,” she said.
“I’m pretty confident that the group that we have is very tenacious and it will perform well above what we had initially expected.”
She said that in past teams had had a tendency to be overwhelmed when they travelled to the finals of the championships but said this group had the experience to do well.
“We have a number of girls who were part of the 13 and under side that went down last year,” she said.
“There are also others in the team that have attended similar tournaments.
“I certainly think that means they won’t be as overwhelmed.”
A few nerves will also be settled because the two young squads will share the experience.
Haskett said she expected the two squads would likely feed off each others energy.
“It won’t be just one tiny group going down to the big championships,” she said.
“I think the 15 and under side will be particularly helpful for the 13 and under side because they’ll be able to share their experience and knowledge.”
Both squads will hold their final training sessions on Wednesday evening in Warracknabeal. The championships on Sunday will be the end of a long journey after selection processes initially started in late March.
“We were training weekly on Wednesday’s right up until the Northern Zone championships,” Haskett said.
“Since then its been every fortnight but its been a really big commitment for the girls and their parents because they’ve come from all over the Wimmera.
“Playing in these championships is a really great opportunity for a couple of squads from the Wimmera and it has taken a lot of support and help to get them there.”
The association initially had plans to also send an open team to the championships but had to withdraw in recent weeks due to a number of injuries to squad members.