However, my focus this week has not solely been on the Diamonds. I had the pleasure of head coaching, along with Fast5 Head Coach Jane Searle, the Emerging Talent Camp at Netball Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Canberra this week.
The Emerging Talent Camp gathers our next generation of athletes, most of whom are not in the Diamonds Squad but show real potential for representing our country. The camp provided an opportunity for these athletes to get a feeling of what it is like at the top tier of our high performance system, and what it takes to get there. For those athletes already in the Diamonds Squad, it provided an opportunity to fine-tune their skills and take part in valuable court work.
I cannot help but get excited during Emerging Talent Camp; the depth we have in our sport is phenomenal and the future looks bright.
The Diamonds and National Support Staff will gather in Melbourne on Sunday for our Pre-Departure Camp before the Netball Quad Series begins in Auckland. Pre-Departure Camp is crucial, as it sets the tone for our Test Series tour, providing an opportunity for athletes to settle back into the Diamonds environment after the ANZ Championship season.
Our Diamonds have trained with intensity in their home states with the assistance of our state-based ANZ Championship coaches and Member Organisation staff. For this, we cannot thank them enough for their support. The nature of our decentralised national program means that we put great faith and responsibility with our Member Organisations and athletes, working hand in hand with our National Support Staff to be ready to play international netball.
We’ve put in the hard work and are ready to show the world that our success is here to stay.
Our Camp will include court sessions, match play, performance analysis and wellbeing sessions. We will depart for Auckland on Wednesday, ready to play our first Test of the Series against South Africa on Saturday.
Limited tickets are still available for our first Test on Australian soil this year, at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on August 31 against the England Roses. We are looking forward to seeing our fans out in force, wearing green and gold.
