The program, that has been made possible with the support of Commonwealth Games Australia, is made up of a team of 14 athletes that will face New Zealand A and England A in a tournament in Auckland next month, along with an additional six athletes that round out the squad.
Four promising GIANTS have been included in the squad, with Kiera Austin, Kristiana Manu’a and Amy Parmenter all heading to New Zealand, as well as Sam Poolman who has been included in the extended list.
The squad, which will be coached by GIANTS own Julie Fitzgerald and supported by attacking coach Stacey Marinkovich and defensive coach Michelle Den Dekker, will gather for the first time at a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from the 2nd to 4th October.
Following the camp, the team of 14 will depart for New Zealand where they will play against the New Zealand A and England A teams in a double round robin format competition from Saturday 5th October to Wednesday 9th October.
Australian Development Squad head coach Julie Fitzgerald said she couldn’t be happier to be leading the group that has been selected.
“The calibre of athletes we have in this squad really demonstrates how bright the future of Australian netball is and I’m so excited to be involved in the development of this exceptional group,” she said.
“We’ll be working closely with the Diamonds high-performance team to ensure there is strong alignment between the two programs, giving our emerging talent the best opportunity to shine on the world’s biggest netball stage in the future.”
The athletes within this program will be selected annually by the Netball Australia National Selection Panel with input from the development program head coach.
2019 Australian Development Team:
Jess Anstiss (West Coast Fever)
Kiera Austin (GIANTS Netball)
Cara Koenen (Sunshine Coast Lightning)
Sophie Garbin (NSW Swifts)
Kim Jenner (Queensland Firebirds)
Tara Hinchcliffe (Queensland Firebirds)
Emily Mannix (Melbourne Vixens)
Kristiana Manu’a (GIANTS Netball)
Maddy McAuliffe (Sunshine Coast Lightning)
Jemma Mi Mi (Queensland Firebirds)
Kate Moloney (Melbourne Vixens)
Amy Parmenter (GIANTS Netball)
Gabi Simpson (Queensland Firebirds)
Alice Teague-Neeld (West Coast Fever)
2019 Australian Development Squad:
Tayla Fraser (NSW Swifts)
Matilda Garrett (Collingwood Magpies)
Olivia Lewis (West Coast Fever)
Hannah Petty (Adelaide Thunderbirds)
Sam Poolman (GIANTS Netball)
Gabby Sinclair (Collingwood Magpies)
