Tasmania was represented at the championships in Adelaide with a 17U team, 19U team, two umpires (Eloise Fox and Rachael Stebbings) and a Bench Official (Michelle Cooley)
Competing at Nationals is always a great learning experience for Tasmanian athletes. The pace of the game, the size of the bodies and the skill and athleticism of some of the players they come up against really allows them to see where they sit amongst the best of the best from around the country in their age group.
Our 17U had a tough campaign, narrowly missing out on two victories against Northern Territory and ACT and going down by six goals to NT in the plays off to finish 8th. Head Coach Alicia Sargent said it was really pleasing to see our athletes build their understanding of the technical and tactical components of the game and put them into practice over the week.
“They realised the value of repeated efforts in attack to keep possession and united defensive pressure to win the ball.”
“Our athletes demonstrated resilience, bouncing back after each defeat to improve individually and collectively in the following match.”
“The team will take away from this experience an appreciation of the levels of fitness, both conditioning and strength required to be competitive at nationals” Alicia said.
There was a big win off the court, with 17U Head Coach Alicia Sargent receiving her Elite Coach accreditation throughout the week.
17U Results:
17 April:
Tasmania (23) def by Queensland (35)
Tasmania (15) def by New South Wales (51)
18 April:
South Australia (47) def Tasmania (18)
Northern Territory (30) def Tasmania (28)
19 April:
Tasmania (20) def Victoria (40)
20 April:
ACT (33) def Tasmania (31)
Western Australia (47) def Tasmania (23)
Semi Final:
New South Wales (45) def Tasmania (11)
Play offs (7th & 8th):
Northern Territory (31) def Tasmania (25)
The 19U side, despite a few late withdrawals and injuries to the side during preparations managed to secure one win against NT during the regular fixture. However NT got the better of them during the play offs, resulting in the 19U’s finishing 8th. Head Coach Andrew Jackson said that the team had a really tough week away at nationals.
“We had some good results, particularly the win against NT in the preliminary rounds and although both games against VIC and SA were defeats, the girls really showed they could match it with the best.”
“The week was challenging with over half the squad on the physio table between games and eventually losing Jamie Symons to injury.”
“The girls were able to play against the best young talent in the country, including several SSN contracted players. This exposed them to the speed and physicality of the sport at the top level and will hopefully help them in their state league competition and future state representation” said Jackson.
19U Results:
17 April:
New South Wales (40) def Tasmania (18)
South Australia (35) def Tasmania (25)
18 April:
Tasmania (20) def by Queensland (34)
Tasmania (29) def Northern Territory (26)
19 April:
Victoria (39) def Tasmania (18)
20 April:
Tasmania (27) def by ACT (33)
Western Australia (44) def Tasmania (13)
Semi Final:
Queensland (42) def Tasmania (14)
Play offs (7th & 8th):
Northern Territory (43) def Tasmania (26)
