Get Cheya to Netball State Age Titles 2023

Hi! I'm Chéya (Shay-a). I'm 11 and I LOVE playing netball! I love the way it makes me feel, I love the way it helps me meet new friends outside of school and I love that it makes me feel like I learn about myself and helps me with my shyness.

I started playing Netball in Under 7’s, because my sister and mum both play, they always tried to make sure I was playing because I wanted to and not just because they played but I always knew I’d love playing, as I always sat on the sideline and all the big girls and women were always nice to me and taught me to throw the ball properly and to catch the ball right.

My mum started a Junior Netball Club just so I could play in the same club as her and my sister, and I love that we all play for the same netball club. My mum is also my Coach. My Netball club is called TeamSTELLAR Netball Club and we play our Saturday netball games at HDNA (Hinterland District Netball Association, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast).

This year, I was asked to trial for the LCNA (Logan City Netball Association) U12 Representative Netball Team, as they had a few injuries in their team and needed to find some players quickly. At first I was nervous, as I’d only ever played with one club and also the same people since I was little. I didn’t know if I should trial and I didn’t think I would be good enough, as well as I didn’t think I was old enough!

I talked to my mum and asked her lots of questions and she said to just ‘give it a go’ and to see how I felt after the first trial, which wasn’t really a trial, really I just got to train with them. The LCNA Coach was really, really nice and made me feel welcome and tried to take away my nervousness, which kind of worked - but not really.

At the end of the training session, the coach and I talked and she said she loved what she saw and would love to have me on her team! Me! She said I was definitely good enough and old enough! She said we would have to work really hard to catch up but that she believed I had it in me to dig deep to be the best player I can be for State Age Champs in June.

So I said yes too! I joined the U12 LCNA Representative team. I'm a REP PLAYER!

I still find that really hard to believe and I still get nervous before every training session but now I know the other girls on my team a bit better and I'm learning their names - I find it easier.

So now we drive up to Logan Netball Association two nights a week and train for 2.5 hours each day, so my days now with school, my gymnastics, dance, club netball & rep netball are long but it’s all worth it. I'm grateful to my mum and dad who are always happy to drive me all that way, even though I know it's a long way.

I had my first full day rep carnival yesterday and that was really fun and I didn’t play terrible - which I really like. I felt like I improved as the day went on, my feet really hurt at the end of the day though and I need to learn to not get tired so quickly but I'm working on that.

Our goal at REP is to be the best version of ourselves - individually and as a team - by the State Age Titles in Townsville at the end of June, 2023.

The 2023 Junior State Age Representative Titles this year, will be held in Townsville. This is the event every representative player in Queensland aims to be their best for. It's when every association in Queensland, all come to one place, in this case, Townsville, and we play 4 solid days of netball - against the best in the state!

I'll get to fly with the team to Townsville from Brisbane and then we (as a team) all stay together in a hotel, we eat together, we stay in the rooms together and we play netball together! We’ll be tired, we’ll be exhausted and we’ll laugh and probably tired cry together and it will be so fun! I literally can not wait.

I'm inviting you to support me on my netball journey to help get me to Queensland Netball State Age Titles in Townsville, in June this year.

It costs heaps to send me to Townsville with LCNA, $2650.00 to be exact. This is for the flights, accommodation, all my food (breakfast, lunch & dinners), uniforms, bus transfers and other things like strapping tape, first aid kits that sort of thing. Most other families have had since December to be able pay it off, but because I joined so late, its a big cost that my parents have to find so quickly. If you can’t, that’s ok, but even if it’s just a small amount, even $5 would make a different to helping pay for my fees to get me there.

I really want this. I love the way I feel when I reach a goal of catching better, or passing stronger, or learning how to get away from a defender. Rep Training has already made me such a better player and my team mates are so encouraging, they want me to be better too. I love that feeling of being around people that just want me to be better.

In return for your donation, I’ve set up a facebook page, that I will update regularly (probably on the long drives to training) with what I'm doing and snapshots of my trainings or carnivals, so you can share in my State Age Netball Journey too.

Love Chéya xx