A trio of local teenage netballers and one enthusiastic umpire will travel to South Africa this July after they were selected to represent Australia at the Indoor Netball Junior World Series.
14-year-old Emu Plains local Tegan Dunn along with 14-year-old Brittney Archer from St Clair and 13-year-old Kyah Vaeila (shadow player) were each chosen to represent their country following outstanding performances at the recent Indoor Netball Junior Nationals in Melbourne.
Speaking with the Weekender, Tegan and Brittney said they were over the moon to be selected in the national team.
“It was pretty special when my name got called out,” Tegan said.
“I honestly didn’t expect to get chosen, I was really surprised and thankful,” Brittney added.
“I’ve always wanted to go out of the country, so this will be very exciting for me.”
Glenmore Park resident and long-time netball official Corey Tauariki will also make the trip to Johannesburg as an umpire.
The 20-year-old, who also plays netball himself, said it was a proud moment to be chosen.
“Umpires get selected similar to the way players do,” he revealed.
“You umpire for the whole week of Nationals and then you nominate to tour. And then if you get chosen, you get chosen.
“As a male umpire it’s a big honour to represent your country in a predominantly female sport.”
The Indoor Netball Junior World Series will be contested among three nations from July 9 to July 15 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Competing in a number of different age groups, Australia will do battle against netball giants South Africa and New Zealand for junior indoor netball supremacy.
All four members – Tegan, Brittney, Kyah and Corey – currently play out of St Marys Indoor Sports and Recreation for local side the St Marys Scorchers.
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.
