Four members of the QBE Swifts Academy have been performing so well in the pathway program that they’ve been called up to train with the senior NSW Swifts squad.
Olivia Coleman (Eastwood Ryde), Kristen Kessler (Central Coast), Kelly Singleton (Manly Warringah) and Leilani Rohweder (formerly Lismore, now Penrith) have been pushing seasoned international players in the Swifts ranks as the club gears up for the revised 2020 Suncorp Super Netball season.
Coleman and Singleton are official NSW Swifts training partners for 2020 – alongside 2019 Premiership winners Tayla Fraser and Elle Bennetts – while Kessler and Rohweder have shown huge potential to merit their call-up to the senior training environment.
The development builds on the strong progress made since the Academy was started in late 2019. Earlier this year a number of pathway athletes were selected for a pre-season clash with local rivals Giants Netball in Goulburn. Coleman, Kessler and Rohweder made big impressions in that game, as did another Academy athlete – Sophie Fawns from Wagga Wagga.
During the Covid-19 lockdown the QBE Swifts Academy high performance team organised at-home conditioning sessions and Zoom meetings for the 20-plus athletes who gained selection for this year’s program.
NSW Swifts assistant coach Anita Keelan, who oversees the Academy, said it was a testament to the efforts of the performance team that the players were able to fit into the senior Swifts environment seamlessly.
“The QBE Swifts Academy has already started to show its importance to our high performance program and it is great to see so many young athletes come through and not look over-awed when they train with our Diamonds and other internationals,” she said.
“It is not just the players who have been called up that are showing huge potential, but many in our Academy. The is a very high standard being set and it is fantastic to have lofty goals to aim for.
“2020 has been a hugely challenging year for everyone but I am very impressed with the work that’s going on under the stewardship of Academy head coach Lenore Blades and conditioning coach Johann Ruys.”
Launched with the backing of Netball NSW and the NSW Swifts’ principal partner QBE Insurance, the QBE Swifts Academy looks to strengthen the foundations of Australian netball’s most decorated club by providing further pathway opportunities to aspiring players from across the state.
The Academy provides a daily training environment for home-grown NSW athletes who have the potential to play for the club in the future.
