Celebrating Stanhope’s Under-15s netballers

Majority of our Under-15 girls are bottom-age players who came up from our Under-13s last year.

Six of our 10 girls in our squad this year played in the Under-13s Stanhope premiership team last year.

From the start of the year, the girls have had a positive attitude, strong friendship and have been enthusiastic to learn and develop which has made our coaching role a dream.

We can’t wait to watch these girls continue to develop as Stanhope Lions.

We started off our season with a two-goal win over Girgarre.

We knew there was a lot to work on with our girls, with many position changes occurring, due to our large squad numbers.

We had a very strong start to our season winning all games up until round seven where we lost to Tally on a wet day.

After that, we played some of best netball, beating Merrigum mid-season by over 30 goals.

We then took on an undefeated Dookie on the road and walked away with a nine-goal win.

After only losing one game for the year, we were lucky enough to play our first final at home.

Overcoming Dookie again, sent us straight through to the grand final.

From the beginning of the year, Shanae Fisher and I both had a very strong winning mindset.

We expressed that to the girls from the beginning.

Our main goal, was for our team to improve together and individually, with the success coming as a bonus.

At times throughout the year, we pushed the girls very hard, which included training with our A and B-grade squad, practice matches and pushing them to do extra work outside of netball.

Because of this Shanae and I both believe this is the reason they made it to the grand final.

Shanae, my co-coach, has played a major role in the development of the girls.

‘Fish’ is a strong B-grade midcourter, who brings a wealth of knowledge to our young junior Lions.

Bec Schubach, who is our team manager, has also played a major role in the success.

Bec is a very experienced ex-player and coach who has supported Fish and I throughout the year.

We look to Bec in our tough times for guidance.

Also, to our senior squad who made our Under-15s feel apart of the club, encouraging and supporting them at training and on game day.

Matilda Schubach – Tilly is our co-captain, who has played a major role in our attacking end. Tilly began playing for Stanhope in Under-11s and captained the Under-13s in their finals series last year. Hungry for more success this year, Tilly has put in the work on an off the court to lead the team this year.

Ava Turner – Ava is our other co-captain, who is a fierce, strong and loud defender. Ava has been around Stanhope for many of years, with her whole family being past lions. Ava plays a key role in our defence end, as she is tough, passionate and doesn’t let anyone get in her way.

Jenna Quattrocchi – Jenna is another junior who has developed through our Lions club. Jenna is strong, fast, patient and reads the play better than any junior we have seen. Between Jenna and Ava our defence end was ranked number one in the competition this year, due to how hard these girls work.

Melia Child – Melia is a fast and exciting midcourter. Melia is always willing to learn new things and wanting the best for her teammates. Melia’s speed helps us to drive the ball out of our defence end quickly.

Brooke O’Shanassay – Brooke has stepped up from Under-11s, straight into the Under-15s team. Brooke has taken this change in her stride and with her determination throughout the year has had significant improvements. Brooke’s speed is like no other on the court and her netball awareness is very exciting to watch.

Taylah Gray – Taylah is always aware of what is going on around her. Through the midcourt, Taylah always has hands over everything. She slots in nicely at wing defence to work with our defenders. Taylah loves to make comparisons between netball and football, taking her thinking to a different level.

Bella Davis – Bella has a never die attitude. Her main position is centre and she doesn’t stop all game. She is also an option for out attackers, always an option when our defenders need her and she is always out looking to hunt balls to create turnovers and opportunities for our team.

Amity Wright – Amity is another one of our junior players hunting for a back-to-back premiership. Amity is our other main goaler, who works hard to own the goal ring. Watching Amity and Tilly build their connection this year has been great. Amity also a cheeky long bomb.

Elliot Porch – Elliot is a very quiet achiever. Another premiership player, she flies under the radar in our midcourt going about her own business. El is always looking to create a lead, drive hard to the ring and her ability to pass into our goalers is one of her strongest attributes on the court.

Annisa Giddings – Annisa is a member of our squad who is always bubbly, encouraging and willing to learn. Nissy played multiple games this season (before heading off on a trip of a lifetime) where she was thrown from one end to another.