Netballer Lori Barron will be finishing the year with a bang.
The 13-year-old Jimboomba Netball Association player has been selected to represent Australia in the 2017 Junior Indoor Netball World Series, and has less than 200 days to prepare for the trip to South Africa.
The Under 14s Australian team – along with the female Under 15s, Under 16s and Under 17s teams, and the mixed Under 17s team – were announced earlier this month at the INFA Junior Nationals Presentation Dinner.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Lori said.
“It has always been my dream to represent Australia, so when the opportunity presented itself, I just had to give it a shot.
“I was playing for the Queensland team ‘Blaze’ at the 2016 INFA Junior Nationals the week before our team was announced; so it was the perfect ending to the tournament.”
Seven girls from Queensland, including Lori, have been selected to represent the country in the Under 14s indoor netball Australian team, along with four players from New South Wales and two from Victoria.
Lori has competitively played outdoor netball for about seven years; however, has taken to the indoor sport the last few months.
“It’s definitely different to playing outdoor netball and a lot more tricky,” she said.
“You can use the nets indoor to bounce the ball, so I really want to build my skill set to use the nets properly so we can do well in South Africa.”
Lori’s dad, Richard Barron, was thrilled to learn of his daughter’s achievements and thanked the Jimboomba Netball Association for the club’s ongoing support.
“Indoor and outdoor netball tend to clash, because each sport is a little different and they have their games about the same time throughout the season; but, regardless of this, the Jimboomba Netball Association has truly gone above and beyond to back Lori,” he said.
Lori, who aims to professionally play for the Australian outdoor netball team later on, will train individually for the 2017 Junior Indoor Netball World Series over the next few months.
“Details of when we’ll be training as a group or a few of us together are yet to be released, so I’m just going to focus on becoming the best indoor netball player I can be,” she said.
“I’m just really excited because it’s a lot of fun, and hearing the crowed cheer you on – motivating you to be the best – is an aspect of the 2017 competition I’m really looking forward to.”
