THE Adelaide Thunderbirds swooped into town on Saturday to treat 200 excited young netballers to a clinic held at South Gawler Oval, despite some rough weather on Saturday morning.
Thunderbirds Matilda Garrett, Samantha Gooden, Latanya Wilson, Shamera Sterling and Maisie Nankivell ran the youngsters through their paces and taught valuable lessons about what it takes to make it to the elite level.
Nankivell is a country woman herself having grown up in Mundulla in the state’s south-east, and said the clinics were incredibly valuable for young netballers, particularly in regional South Australia.
“Hailing from the country myself, I know how significant these clinics can be for the local netballers and we certainly look forward to running them,” Nankivell said.
“Growing up, I looked up to the Thunderbirds athletes at the time and having the chance to meet some of them gave me the encouragement and drive to chase my netball dreams.
“We had so much interest in this clinic that we were able to add another session and meet more participants, so we’re really thankful to First National for making this possible.”
The Thunderbirds are right in the heart of their pre-season, and will take the court for round one of the Suncorp Super Netball season kicking off on May 2.