Regional athlete Charlotte Raleigh has been named captain of the QBE Swifts Academy team for the 2026 Super Netball Reserves competition which starts this weekend.
The Armidale & District defender, who has been part of the Academy setup for several seasons, will be joined in the leadership group by Swifts Training Partner Courtney Castle and attacker Lauren Woods.
All three players have played big roles in the wider Swifts’ training environment in recent seasons, while they have also excelled in the Netball NSW Premier League representing North Shore United (Raleigh and Woods) and South West Mounties Magic (Castle).
SN Reserves will run alongside the Suncorp Super Netball season, providing emerging talent with invaluable match play opportunities as a bridge between state-level competition and the world’s best netball league.
Teams will compete in a home-and-away format this year with 20 of the 28 regular round matches played at SSN venues on SSN game days, and for the first time, every match will be livestreamed on KommunityTV and CODE Sports with News Corp signing on as official broadcast partner.
The feeder team for the Swifts, the QBE Swifts Academy get their SN Reserves campaign underway against local rivals Giants Academy in a curtain raiser for the SSN Derby between the Swifts and Giants.
QBE Swifts Academy head coach Lenore Blades congratulated each of the athletes.
“This is a wonderful moment for Charlotte who has been a stalwart of the Academy pathway for a long time and developed as a real leader for our group.
“As a regional athlete, she’s had to make huge sacrifices to follow her netball dream and the role she plays not just at the Academy but at the Swifts as a whole should never be underestimated.
“It’s also a wonderful recognition for Courtney and Lauren who’ve been top performers for a long time. Courtney has come back from injury to get her netball dream on track, while Lauren has come up with big plays at crucial times to keep us in the running.
“All three are brilliant role models for the younger players in our squad and we can’t wait to get started.”
