Mandurah netball star returns from national camp

Ella Sigley said she was one of 30 girls in the country chosen to attend the week-long camp in Canberra. 

The squad trained each morning and played two games in the afternoon against New Zealand and England.

Ella said the pre-training had been intense, but helped to transform her as an athlete. 

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“I got selected in April and have been training with six other girls at the West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) ahead of the camp,” she said. 

“There’s girls from down south and some from up north”

Ella said she was lucky enough to be trained by WAIS coach Belinda Reynolds, who is also the West Coast Fever assistant coach. 

“It has honed definitely honed my skills,” Ella said.

“I was taught how to do things with precision and intensity, no matter how small the drill is.

“Nothing can compare to the knowledge and experience Belinda has of the game – it really was amazing.”

Ella said the facilities at the AIS were “insane”. 

“They have chefs, trainers – I have never seen anything like it,” she said.

“We had a recovery specialist who told us what we needed to eat and how to best refuel.”

But, the friendships Ella made from all over Australia added to the top-notch training experience.

“I roomed with a couple of girls from South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and WA,” she said.

“Everyone was split up, you meet all these new people.

“We all became friends instantly and just clicked.”

Ella said she had played against most of the girls in national tournaments and believes they will be life-long friends.

“When we go away, hopefully, for our next nationals, we will be able to see each other again,” she said. 

“We can say we knew each other since we were teenagers.”

Ella said she hoped to make the under-19 nationals team next year, be selected in the Australian Netball League Western Sting Squad.

After this she dreams of playing for West Coast Fever before being picked for the Australian Diamonds. 

“It would be amazing to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Games one day,” she said.