THERE will be a double dose of representative netball for the Northern Netball League in 2016.
For the first time the league will field both a senior and under-19 team in its two representative fixtures.
The league will first square off against the Southern Football Netball League on Friday May 13 at Parade College.
It will be the second successive year the NNL plays against the SFNL, after last year recording two commanding wins in the league’s first foray into representative netball.
The following Saturday the NNL’s senior and under-19 will travel to Rye to take on the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football Netball League on May 21.
The matches against the MPNFL will be played in conjunction with the NFL’s senior football representative match at Rye’s R.J. Rowley Recreation Reserve, in the 2016 WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships.
The NNL senior netball team will be coached by Bundoora Comets mentor Jacinta Tonkin, while Greensborough’s Sharon Ashworth will coach the under-19 team.
Ashworth last year coached the NNL B-Grade team in its victory over the SFNL.
Brooke George will assist both coaches after coaching the NNL’s A-Grade team to its 13-goal win over the SFNL last year.
Northern Football League chief executive Peter McDougall said the addition of more representative matches on the netball calendar was a pleasing result for the NNL.
“Representative matches allow the league’s best talent to display their skills on a bigger stage and to a wider audience,” McDougall said.
“It’s fantastic that the NNL’s best players will again play together to showcase the immense talent playing in our league.
“It’s especially pleasing that the league’s youngest stars will also have the opportunity to represent the league this season.”
The NNL has asked all clubs to nominate players to trial for both the senior and under-19 teams. To be eligible to be selected in the under-19 team, players must not be turning 20 this year.
The NNL will conduct tryouts for those nominated in the trial squads. The tryouts will be held at RMIT Bundoora from 1:00pm to 3:00pm on Sunday April 10, Sunday April 17, Sunday April 24 and Sunday May 1.
In 2015 the NNL’s A-Grade team recorded a 47-34 win over the SFNL, while the B-Grade triumphed by 20 goals in a 45-25 result.
