ORANGE is gunning for three Central West State League titles in 2014.
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The State League draws were released yesterday, unveiling the new under 17s competition along with the traditional division one and two fixtures.
Designed at providing a stepping stone between junior and senior representative netball, Central West regional coordinator Mardi Aplin said the under 17s competition will give Orange another avenue for development.
“Orange is very strong at the moment netball-wise, and people miss out because of that,” she said.
“In the past a lot of girls who hit the oldest junior age have missed out on selection for the Orange B team, so this provides them another opportunity to play.
“Our players develop, and hopefully it will give some other associations a way to stop losing players once they finish in under 15s. They can move up into this division and continue playing representative netball before they hit seniors.”
For the past three years Orange has fielded two teams in division one, Orange A and Orange B, but that is set to change in 2014.
“We’re hoping to field a division one, division two and under 17s team,” she said.
“That does depend on what other associations nominate in division one as to whether Orange will stay in division two or move up.
“Regardless, Orange will definitely field three teams.”
Predictably, Orange heads into the State League as unbackable favourites for the division one title.
A dominant force in the region’s netball ranks for the better part of two decades, Orange has won 18 consecutive division one titles.
Aplin said she expects Orange B to perform well regardless of division, and predicted Orange’s under 17s unit to surprise several after an under whelming state championships campaign.
“Some of that state championship 17s team will play for Orange B I think,” she said.
“But regardless, we have strong 15s and strong 17s who will do good things for Orange. This is about providing the next generation of Orange netballers with more experience.”
All of Orange’s State League fixtures will be played on Sundays, on August 3, 17 and 31 with finals to be played on September 14.
