The Northern Inland Academy of Sport's Glen Innes and District Services Club Netball program is preparing for the final leg of their 2019 season.
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NIAS has named two teams that will compete this weekend in Orange at the Academy Challenge.
The Academy Challenge is the second competitive component of the Netball program from the Regional Academies of Sport with over 300 of the top athletes from around NSW coming together for the event. The first being the Your Local Club Academy Games in Newcastle in April.
Amber Barnden-Hyde was named in the Division 1 Merit team and Elian Cotter was named in the Division 2 Merit team at the Games, both girls will be leading their squads this weekend at the Academy Challenge.
The weekend will see Netball NSW coaches, selectors and mentors from across the Academy network attend the event to observe, educate and upskill the NIAS athletes, coaches and umpires.
The weekend takes on two different competitive structures. The first two days are an all-out Academy v Academy competition across two divisions. NIAS will be facing off against the Southern Sports Academy, the Sydney Netball Academy, the North Coast Academy of Sport and the Western Sydney Academy of Sport.
In the Second Division NIAS will face Far Western Academy of Sport, Western Region Academy of Sport, Illawarra Academy of Sport, Hunter Academy of Sport and the South East Sports Academy.
On the Monday the athletes and Academies will be split up, giving the athletes and opportunity to play alongside their opponents in an integrated development component where they will play games against teammates and under new coaches. This is a great development opportunity to play against styles you know and under game strategies that you're not used to.
This will be the first Academy Challenge for NIAS head coach Sophie Sincock.
She says this is exactly why she loved the idea behind the event.
"The opportunity for our athletes to explore other coaching styles and playing styles with quality athletes from the other Academies can really teach them a lot about their own game."
ATHLETE PROFILE: Kayla Sims
Sport: Inverell RSM AFL program
Hometown: Inverell
How long have you been involved with NIAS? This was my second year in the NIAS AFL program.
Age: I turned 17 this year.
Ambition: I'm enjoying the opportunity to be trained at a higher level and find my feet in the sport. I've only been playing AFL for 2-years but I'm loving the opportunities.
Hero: She's not from the AFL world but former Australian Diamond Shani Leyton. She won two gold medals at the Netball World Cups and a gold at the Commonwealth Games. In 2017 she jumped across to AFL and now plays for Collingwood in the AFLW.
Biggest influence: Richard Gleeson, the Inverell Saints coach.
