North Otago Under-18 netball coach Abbey McKenzie is excited about her team’s chances at next week’s nationals in Hamilton.

The squad of 12 drive north on Sunday, to compete with 33 other teams from around the country in the Netball New Zealand Under-18 Champs.

Abbey said the team had a great mix of experienced and fresh, but “more than capable”, players.

“This team has got the potential to do really well compared to other years. They’ve shown that in their two lead up tournaments.”

The schedule is a gruelling one, with two games a day for four days. North Otago needs to come out of its pool in the top two, to proceed into the final 16, Abbey said.

“In our pool to start with we have Southland Country, who we have played and beaten, Hutt Valley and Wellington A.

“We are aiming for top-16 first and foremost, but if that isn’t successful, we definitely want to be in that 17-24 bracket. I think that’s what this team is more than capable of.”

Seven of the squad were at nationals last year, and the build-up to the national competition had gone well, she said

“We’ve been really lucky, in our build-up we had a specialist session with (Silver Fern) Kate Heffernen and (former Silver Fern) Jo Morrison, which was really beneficial as a grounding for them.

“The thing I’m most excited about this year, compared to other years, is we’ve got strengths throughout the court. So every sub-group is covered with really strong players, and versatility, so we can really change up our game plan depending on what style the opposition’s playing.”

This season, Abbey, together with assistant coach Indy McLay, has been trying to create a “real performance environment” for them.

“Because so many of them are leaving next year to go on to bigger and better things. So, trying to make sure that they have a real good grounding, to know what to expect,” she said. 

“So we’ve done, you know, fitness testing with them, they’ve got really clear structures, and books and stuff, so they know what it takes to be at that really top level. 

“It’s probably the first time some of them have been introduced into that kind of environment, but this team’s ready for it.”

The team wouldn’t be able to get to Hamilton without their “incredible sponsors”, Abby said.

As well as each player collecting individual sponsorship through “got your back” t-shirts, where a number of people pay for their name to be on the back of a player’s top, they also had corporate support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Hoskins Transport, Tyreland, Ōamaru New World, and PGG Wrightsons.

They also had crucial support from players’ families and North Otago Netball, she said.

The team is staying at Hamilton Girls’ High School hostel, and daily results will be posted on the North Otago Netball Facebook page.