A crop of the Mandurah Netball Association’s finest will hit the courts in Perth for the opening round of the inaugural Metro League season this Friday night.
The MNA will field teams in the open, under 18s, under 16s and under 14s divisions under the “Mandurah Waves” banner across the pilot season for the new Netball WA competition, which was designed to bridge the gap between local associations and the WA Netball League (WANL).
Played across nine weeks, the competition will see the best players, coaches and umpires of each association hit the courts at the State Netball Centre.
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Spearheading the Waves’ four sides will be coaches Kylie Kulij (open), Kelsey Fitzpatrick (under 18s), Nat Woodley (under 16s) and Bec Kinnington (under 14s).
The competition aims to give club-level players the chance to shine in front of WANL selectors, with MNA Metro League director Lisa Bermingham labeling it a “great opportunity” for the association’s locals.
“[The competition] is going to give our girls the chance to play at a higher level than most have played at before,” she said.
“It creates another pathway and enhances the chance of Mandurah players getting to the WANL and beyond, and that’s what we’re all about.
“If we can get a few more of our players into the WANL it will show younger girls in Mandurah what you can achieve if you stick with netball and keep to the pathway.
“It’s really exciting.”
MNA development officer Alex Shorter expects the four Waves teams to all be competitive across their divisions after putting in plenty of preparation on the training track.
“We basically launched right into trials and training for the Metro League on the back of our last local season, so we really haven’t stopped,” she said.
“All the girls have been working extremely hard and putting in all the right preparation, and we’ve got some great coaching teams leading the way so we’re excited to see how our girls go.
“I think we’ll be really competitive and hopefully we can come away with a few wins.”
The MNA’s Metro League campaign kicks off this Friday night, with their open division side taking on the Southern Districts Netball Association.
Meanwhile the under 18s battle it out with Wanneroo as both the under 16s and under 14s go toe-to-toe with Success Netball Association.
Visit wa.netball.com.au/metro-league to view the full fixture.