The QBE Swifts Academy team will have experience in their ranks when they head to Victoria to contest the 2022 Australian Netball Championships (ANC) next month.
Head Coach Lenore Blades has named a strong team of 12 athletes, which includes Teigan O’Shannassy, Sophie Fawns and Lili Gorman-Brown – who all made their NSW Swifts debuts this year – as well as Training Partners Audrey Little, Chelsea Mann, Dakota Thomas and Laura Towell.
The other Academy athletes selected are former Swifts Training Partner Ali Miller, Brooke Patterson, Charlotte Raleigh, Jess Conlan, and Lauren Woods.
A new-look pathway competition for emerging national talent, the ANC will be fought out between 10 teams from State and Territory Member Organisations and Super Netball League clubs from Monday to Sunday, August 22–28, at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium in Traralgon.
Latrobe City Council, in partnership with the Collingwood Magpies, will host the tournament-style event.
It will be the first of its kind after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and replaces the Australian Netball League to provide a key transition pathway for athletes to Super Netball.
Alongside the QBE Swifts Academy, which underpins the NSW Swifts, the confirmed teams that will compete in the championships include; Collingwood Magpies, Tasmania, Capital Darters, Queensland Sapphires, Victorian Fury, Giants Academy, West Coast Fever Reserves, Sunshine Coast Lightning and Southern Force.
The QBE Swifts Academy (formerly known as the Netball NSW Waratahs) was launched in 2019 with the backing of Netball NSW and the Swifts’ Principal Partner QBE Insurance. The Academy works to strengthen the foundations of Australian netball's most decorated elite club by providing further pathway opportunities to aspiring players from across the State.
It also provides a daily training environment for home-grown athletes who have the potential to play for the Swifts in the future.
Blades also has a top-class support team to call on with successful NSW 19U State Team coach Jen Wright and former Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch making the trip to Victoria as the team’s assistant coaches.
“After two years of COVID cancellations we are so excited to finally be taking part in our first competitive tournament next month,” Blades said.
“It has been so pleasing to see some of our athletes like Teigan and Sophie make the grade with the Swifts at Super Netball level, so to have their experience in our ranks is a huge boost.
“It is also wonderful to include players like Audrey Little who really stood out at this year’s National Netball Championships where NSW did the double.
“Picking this team was exceptionally difficult due to the depth of talent we had to choose from and those selected will be representing the entire Academy athlete group, who all played a vital role in getting us to this point.
“As a team we will look to build on the Swifts’ legacy and we hope to bring our own piece of silverware to the Club’s trophy cabinet.
“The Waratahs only just missed out on national honours in 2019, and we want to go one better in 2022 with this side.”
The Swifts would like to thank QBE Insurance for their continued support of the Academy Program and the athletes.
2022 QBE Swifts Academy Team
- Ali Miller (Eastwood Ryde/ERNA Hawks)
- Audrey Little (Manly Warringah/Manly Warringah Sapphires)
- Brooke Paterson (Randwick/ERNA Hawks)
- Charlotte Raleigh (Armidale/North Shore United) - injured, replaced by Charlotte Smith (Sutherland Stingrays)
- Chelsea Mann (Manly Warringah/GWS Fury)
- Dakota Thomas (Newcastle/Central Coast Heart)
- Jessica Conlan (Barellan & District/ERNA Hawks)
- Laura Towell (Sutherland Shire/Sutherland Stingrays)
- Lauren Woods (Blacktown City/GWS Fury)
- Lili Gorman-Brown (Sutherland Shire/Sutherland Stingrays)
- Sophie Fawns (Wagga Wagga/ERNA Hawks)
- Teigan O’Shannassy (Manly Warringah/Manly Warringah Sapphires)
Coaching & Support Staff
- Head Coach: Lenore Blades (Sutherland Shire)
- Assistant Coach: Abbey McCulloch (Sutherland Shire)
- Assistant Coach: Jen Wright (Eastwood Ryde)
- Strength & Conditioning Coach: Daniel Johnson
- Team Manager: Mele Tiauli
- Physio: Kandice Goodwin
- Performance Analyst: Nat Waterson
