Marie Little Shield

Marie Little Shield Team Selections

The Tasmanian Emeralds team selections are coming up soon and selection registrations are now open. 

The selections will take place on the 3rd of May at Motivity Fitness in Longford (8 Burghley Street, Longford) and will run from 11am to 1pm. 

The Tasmanian Emeralds are the state representative all-abilities team that competes in the Marie Little Shield each year. Marie Little Shield provides the chance for female athletes with an intellectual disability to compete at the national level across three days of competition. 

 

Sign up for Selections Here

Tasmanian Emeralds 

The newly appointed Tasmanian Emeralds 2026 Coaching team bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our all-abilities team: 

Head Coach - Rani Milne 
Assistant Coach - Shannon Hill
Team Manager - Caitlin Grant 
Umpire - Rebekah Illingworth

Our Marie Little Shield Story

The Marie Little OAM Sheild (MLS) is an annual tournament that provides women 16 years and older, with an intellectual disability the chance to complete at a national level.

Marie Little OAM was the founder of Sport Inclusion Australia in 1986 and dedicated her working life to improve the lives of people with an intellectual disability, using the medium of sport. Renaming the event in her name was in honour of her work within the netball community.

The inaugural MLS was in 2013 with three teams contesting the title and in 2016, Western Australia and Queensland were invited to enter teams into the competition. Since then, Netball Tasmania joined the tournament with our very first team in 2024.  Our inaugural Netball Tasmanian team entered the tournament, and our MLS team name, decided by the team’s first members is now known as the Tassie Emeralds.

Tassie Emeralds are defined as Bright Green and represents balance, harmony and growth! This statement resonates with all of our Tassie Emeralds team members.

In our first tournament, all of our participants, coaches and support staff displayed an outstanding acts of sportsmanship, spirit and friendship.