Lizzie Chard and Emily Burton have added another accolade to their growing list of achievements on the netball court.
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The duo trialed for Netball NSW teams for the National Championships in April 2019 and made it to the pointy end of the competition.
Chard was aiming for selection in the 17 and under team while Burton was hoping to be chosen for the 19 and under team.
She will only just be 18 by the time the nationals competition rolls around making her one of the youngest to trial.
They made it to the second round of trials and Glen Innes netball coach Julie Fuller said it was a huge achievement to be recognised.
“They have three phases for the state team and then they pick a state team,” she said.
“They went to phase one, Lizzie went to Coffs and got through to stage two in Sydney, she didn't make the next one but we are hoping she makes the regional team which is a development squad that she was in last year. Emily went straight to Sydney one weekend and made it through to the next phase, the second weekend and we are just waiting to see if she makes it to the third. She is really young so to make it to that stage is really good.”
The pair making it into the sights of state selectors is just another feather in the cap for netball in Glen Innes.
“It is huge for both of them to get to this level,” Fuller said.
“It has been a long time since we have ever had anyone get to this stage.
“It means they are on track to what they are doing anyway, they are both in year 12 next year so here's hoping something will come out of it after that.
“They will keep plugging along and keep working hard.”
To put into perspective how successful the sport is in Glen Innes, only three others from the region made it to the same level.
Bri Donaldson and Sarah Mcilveen, from the much larger centre of Tamworth, as well as Gunnedah’s Eliza Perkins made it to the same level as the Glen Innes pairing.
Fuller believes it just paves a pathway for more local netballers in the future to make it to a high level, especially with the announcement of the $4 million facility set to be built in Glen Innes.
“There's not many in our region so for Glen Innes to get two, we were really stoked,” she said.
“They have a level of competition that we can't have at the moment, they have a Monday night twilight comp, we have nothing like that. Next year when we get the new indoor facilities, yes we will. We can actually work with the girls and do more so our other ones coming through, it is great for them.”
Fuller said although they exited the trials, the girls received evaluations on their performances to take back to their local coaches.
“They actually get feedback to say where they need to improve and things like that which is really good,” she said.
