Four Dunedin netballers have been named in the New Zealand secondary schools team heading to Australia for the first time since 2023 next month.
St Hilda’s Collegiate netballers Charlee Farquhar and Ruby Hore and Columba College netballers Kiana Brown and Shanti Kara have been selected in the 14-strong squad.
They join Twizel Area School shooter Hazel Mason to round out the crew representing the Netball South zone.
There is a further Otago link in New Zealand secondary schools head coach Jo Morrison, who has been a key figure for years and previously coached the Southern Blast, was an assistant with the Southern Steel and was a Silver Ferns selector.
Hore is a nippy midcourter, as is Kara — who can also cover goal attack — while Brown is a defender and Farquhar is a goal shoot.
They all came through the Dunedin Netball centre pathways — apart from Hore, who joined the centre from Ranfurly when she started boarding school — and Brown, Kara and Hore were part of the Dunedin side that finished second at the national under-18 championships last year.
There have been some helpful hands to help guide the crew through the years.
Brown is the daughter of former Silver Ferns shooter Jodi Brown, and Hore is the daughter of former Silver Ferns captain Belinda Colling.
Farquhar’s great-aunt is Adrienne Ensor, who is a life member of Dunedin Netball and Netball South, and has a Netball New Zealand service award for more than half a century of work behind the scenes.
Dunedin Netball general manager Lee-Anne Anderson was delighted to see the region’s rising talent getting representative call-ups.
‘‘I think it’s an incredible achievement from those players,’’ Anderson said.
‘‘But also I guess it shows the wider sort of Otago region work in terms of development, and the development pathways, that both Dunedin Netball and other centres have got around providing pathways for these girls.
‘‘Full credit to our coaches for what they’re doing in the development space because it’s creating some pretty incredible talent.’’
It is a big year for the national secondary schools side.
They travel to Australia — after two domestic campaigns — where they will be involved in the Australian under-17 camp and play international games from July 6 to 10.
