Sexton raring to go in Gibraltar

STAR Bendigo netballer Charlotte Sexton says she feels ‘privileged and proud’ to be representing Australia for the second time at this month’s 2025 Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar.

Sexton, crowned last month as the Bendigo Strikers’ championship best and fairest for the second straight season, will head to Europe soon with the national 21-and-under squad.

The 12-player squad’s mission will be the World Youth Cup, which Australian has won four times since the tournament’s inception in 1988.

It’s the second time Sexton, who hails from BFNL powerhouse Sandhurst, has donned the Aussie green and gold.

She featured in the national 21-and-team that toured Fiji at the end of 2024.

The 21-year-old admitted being relieved to be picked in the final squad, after what she termed a long selection process involving multiple training camps.

“I am so excited. Fiji last year was such an experience, but to get to travel again internationally for a World Cup Youth is going to be so cool,” she said.

“Our team looks really awesome.

“It will be a lot of hard work from now until the start of the tournament (on September 19), but I think it will all pay off in Gibraltar.

“I’m proud to be a part of it.”

The team showcases a blend of emerging talent from across Australia’s elite pathways and will be up against 19 other nations.

For Sexton, Australian representation comes at the end of her busiest and most exciting season yet – her first as a training partner with Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) premier Melbourne Vixens.

Vixens training appearances were combined with a season with the Vixens Academy in the Super Netball Reserves competition and of course another stellar VNL season with her hometown Strikers.

Sexton described her Vixens appearance as a bit of a whirlwind.

“It was pretty intense, but awesome,” she said.

“The intensity was something I had to get used to pretty quickly, but once I was able to do that, I was better able to focus on what I had to improve and really capitalise on that.

“The coaches I had available to me at the Vixens was really to my advantage. I learnt a lot from Simone (McKinnis) and Di (Honey) and the Vixens girls. They are coaches within themselves – just so much experience.

“They won the grand final, so it’s literally the best team in the best league.

“I am so grateful to be a part of that.”

While Melbourne is now home, Sexton could not be prouder of her Bendigo and country roots.

“I still come home on the weekends and I am always craving to get back to Bendigo because I love being at home,” she said.

“Things are comfortable for me here.

“It’s very full on in Melbourne and doing all the training without any family there, so I love coming home.”

Those ties will ensure Sexton remains with the Strikers for a third season in 2026.

On the back of a defining second season in the VNL in which the Strikers notched up their first finals victory and qualified for the finals along with premiers City West Falcons, Hawks and Boroondara Express, Sexton feels the Strikers are on the cusp of something very special in 2026.

“We’re so close,” she said.

“I’m actually upset we didn’t get another opportunity to play (grand finalists) Hawks and Falcons.

“We lost by one (goal) to Falcons early in the season, and the last time we played Hawks, it wasn’t our normal tea,

“I don’t think they saw how good we can be.

“But next year, I think we can only get better from here and I can’t wait to see how we go.”

The Netball World Youth Cup will run for 10 days, starting Friday, September 19.