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Saunders is assisted as coach by her daughter and North Central open team representative Tegan Maddern, with Leticia Laurien on board as team manager.<\/p>\n
In the few years since its inception, the team has undergone a makeover, as under-age teams always do, and is not without its success stories.<\/p>\n
“Some of the originals have aged out, but some of the boys have been involved for a couple of years and we have some newbies coming in,” Saunders said.<\/p>\n
“Levi Mountford is one of them who has been there a while. His brother Caleb made the 17-and-under state team this year but has aged out, so Levi has moved into that older bracket.<\/p>\n
“Sebastian Pratt was there last year and is younger than Levi and is back again.<\/p>\n
“Jedd Oxley played last year as well. He and Levi have been involved in my development squad down here in Castlemaine for a while and have moved into the North Central team.”<\/p>\n
Previous squad members have included Ollie Ryan, a current Victorian men’s state representative, and Jack Davidge, a former state 17-and-under development team member.<\/p>\n
In a pointer to growing interest and competition for spots, North Central held trials for the boys team this year, ensuring spots were hard-earned and open to players beyond the Castlemaine-based competition.<\/p>\n
“It’s a real positive that we have been able to spread out and include some boys from the Central Vic competition and Echuca,” Saunders said.<\/p>\n
“They are going to be a younger team than previous years, but hopefully that means we are doing the groundwork for the following year or the one after that.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, there is not the pool of players like the girls.<\/p>\n
“There are \u2026 and I’m seeing more and more \u2026 a lot of really good male netballers, but we are still competing with cricket and basketball and that makes it very hard.<\/p>\n
“But the ones in the team are the one that want to really have a crack at playing at this next level.<\/p>\n
“It’s tough netball, so finishing mid-range or anywhere above that is great for our region.”<\/p>\n