WENTWORTH star Christie Becker has thrown her support behind plans for a new junior netball academy in Sunraysia, describing it as an “essential” pathway for the region’s brightest young talent.
SFNL board members Kyra Nathan and Yelena Richardson are the driving forces behind the much-needed program, with Becker and Lisa Mangan set to also play key roles.
Nathan said she was aiming to have it up and running by next year as the league tried to emulate the successful junior football academy.
It would focus on 13- to 15-year-olds, with a squad of about 30 to be separate from the Sunraysia junior netball representative teams where registrations are at an all-time high of 150 for three teams this year.
“I saw a big pathway gap in our region and an exposure to high-performance netball,” Nathan said.
“We have so many knowledgeable and skillful netballers in our league.
“Why are we not utilising them?”
Becker, who runs a private Fast Feet netball program for juniors, said she was looking forward to supporting the new junior netball initiative.
“This will be really good for developing young players in the region,” said Becker, who is one of the premier A Grade netballers in north-west Victoria.
“There’s been this missing middle ground where we can further develop our best junior players from clubs, which will feed into our representative program.
“At the moment we’re choosing kids for rep teams but we don’t have enough time to train them.
“The academy will be the pre-training before they play in the representative teams.
“Kyra’s got a lot of experience so she’s the right person to be leading this but I’m more than happy to play my part with it.”
She said it was clear to her that the 13- to 15-year-olds had missed the key developmental years of playing due to the COVID pandemic.
“It’s not that they are not good but they are just lacking a few fundamental skills that need to be worked on,” Becker said.
She said the new rolling subs rule which came into effect from round 1 would be highly beneficial for the junior ranks.
“It’s a good inclusion in the game, especially for junior teams, because it’s often hard to get all the girls court time,” said Becker, who was best on court in the Roos’ commanding opening-round win on Saturday.
“For us at a senior level, it’s already been a seamless transition.
“I got to have one on and off against Red Cliffs.
“Aside from giving players a rest it can be used tactically for coaches.”
As for her Fast Feet program, which is supported by Mangan, it resumed for Term 2 on Wednesday at Mildura Sporting Precinct.
Catering for Under 11s, 13s, 15s and 17s, there is strong focus on the fundamental skills of footwork and ball handling.
For more information and to register, visit fastfeetnetball.com.au
