Local netballers earn state selection

Seven players from the Greater Geelong region are part of the Elevate program squads across the U/17 and U/19 age groups. Photo: SUPPLIED

SEVEN of Geelong’s best up and coming netballers have been selected in Netball Victoria’s high-performance Elevate program.

Indiah Madden, Indi O’Connor, Abhi Sanjeev and Lily Sherman are part of the Under 17 squad, while Mia Aitken, Charlize Bellette, and Alexandra Whatley have earned Under 19 selection.

Over the past two weeks, the top 50 players in each age group trialed and were reduced to squads of 25.

Elevate provides athletes with the delivery of holistic skill development, strength and conditioning and court work sessions within a controlled daily training environment.

Since its inception, the program has seen significant improvement in athletes’ strength and conditioning ahead of selection, creating a more competitive and prepared field for Netball Victoria’s state selectors to choose from.

Athletes will have targeted physical preparation before they are narrowed down to teams of 12 set to compete at the National Netball Championships next year.

This year, Elevate will be led by pathway coaches including Adrian Ballantyne, Belinda Lees, Kath Knott and Monique Lenehan-Moustafa.

Victorian state teams will be announced in December.