Netball Fast5 World Series 2023: Defender set to make international debut after learning from idol at Diamonds camp
Sunshine Coast defender Ash Ervin will go from “fangirl” to Diamond when she makes her Australian debut, less than 12 months after first appearing in Super Netball.
Netball
Don't miss out on the headlines from Netball. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If Ash Ervin is pinching herself now at the thought of what she’s achieved in her first 12 months in senior netball, she and fans should hang on, because the ride’s only going to get wilder.
Ervin will make her senior Australian debut at the weekend when she dons the green and gold for the Fast5 World Series in New Zealand.
Less than 12 months after she made her Super Netball debut and just months after her 20th birthday, Ervin now has a season in the world’s best competition under her belt and was invited into camp with the Diamonds last month as they prepared for international series against New Zealand and South Africa.
“When I got that call (to confirm I was in the Lightning squad) and I was in that environment, there were just so many times I would look to the players around me like (Diamonds shooters) Steph (Wood) and Cara (Koenen) and ‘Shez’ (former Diamonds midcourter Laura Scherian) and (South African great) Karla Pretorius and I would just think, ‘what am I doing here?’,” Ervin said.
“Even when I went to the Diamonds camp I would look at those women and I was just so in awe and always in amazement of where I was.
“Really just lucky is probably the only feeling I could think of.”
Luck doesn’t have much to do with it though.
Ervin made an immediate impact in her first season in Super Netball where she turned out as a goalkeeper for the Lightning, soaking up plenty of lessons from the likes of Pretorius and injured Diamonds defender Tara Hinchliffe.
In 11 games throughout the 2023 season, the 192cm ‘keeper finished with 10 intercepts and 19 deflections for only five turnovers and established herself as one of the rising stars of the sport.
Pretorius may have left the Lightning, along with Jamaican defender Kadie-Ann Dehaney but it will certainly not stop Ervin’s learning curve.
Arguably the best defender in the world is set to join the Lightning once netball’s messy pay stoush has been resolved and Diamonds ace Courtney Bruce is a player Ervin is keen to learn plenty from.
“Karla is going to be a really big loss for the community and the team, everyone at the Sunny Coast loves her,” Ervin said.
“But this new chapter is really exciting. The people that are going to be there – especially for me – it’s going to be really good to learn off them and Courtney (Bruce) and Tara (Hinchliffe) are really good at helping young ones and working with other people, so I’m really keen to have that in my teammates. I’m really excited.”
Ervin got a taste of the mentorship she can expect from Bruce while in Diamonds camp, although she had to stop “fangirling” long enough to soak in the lessons from the woman named best defender of the World Cup earlier this year.
“She probably didn’t know it but I was fangirling so hard and anything she’d say I was just soaking up like a sponge,” Ervin said.
“Especially knowing that she was going to be (at the Lightning) next year, I was paying extra attention to what she was like and I was so pleased that she’s going to be a really good teammate.
“Everything she does is for the team and I think she’s going to be really beneficial in that sense and I’m really excited to have her in the same team, I think she’s just a really good player and person.”
Bruce turns 30 next month and will be almost 34 By the time Australia makes its World Cup defence in Sydney in 2027.
Coach Stacey Marinkovich has said age alone is not a factor in selecting her team but the national mentor is always on the lookout for depth and the next generation of talent and Ervin definitely fits the bill.
“It was a really exciting thing to get invited (into Diamonds camp) but I just didn’t want to let it get to my head too much,” Ervin said.
“It’s just it’s something I’ve got to be really grateful about and then I’ve got to work extra hard now because (reaching that level) is a possibility.”
Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds was the first to alert Ervin to the fact she was on Marinkovich’s radar, a fact that had the beanpole “jumping”.
“I was so excited and to get invited (to camp), I was like, oh my god, what’s happening? But I’m not going to let it get to me too much, I’m just going to keep working at it.”
That’s what Ervin will be doing under the watch of Diamonds assistant coach and Fast5 mentor Nicole Richardson this weekend in Christchurch when Australia defends the title it won for the first time last year.
“I’m so stoked I get to play for Australia officially,” Ervin said.
“In terms of defending the title, a lot of the team is very new and I think in a way that releases a bit of the pressure because we’re all new in this – there’s only three that were in the team that won it last year – so we’re all just still jumping into this new experience and I think that makes it feel a bit lighter.
“And ‘Richo’s’ presence is sort of calming in a way because I got to know her a bit at that camp and having her over here has just made it a little bit easier.”
NEWEST DIAMOND CAPS METEORIC RISE WITH FAST5 ROLE
Matilda Garrett has capped a meteoric rise through the representative ranks by being named captain of Australia’s Fast5 team for its world series defence in New Zealand this weekend.
Garrett, who made her international Test debut against South Africa last month to become Diamond No. 191, will lead Australia alongside Adelaide Thunderbirds teammate Hannah Petty, who has been named vice-captain.
The Aussies will defend the Fast5 title they won for the first time last year at Wolfbrooke Arena in Christchurch when they face teams from New Zealand, Jamaica, England, Malawi and South Africa in the condensed version of the game.
Garrett has had a rapid rise this year. She helped the Thunderbirds to a Super Netball premiership before being named in the Diamonds’ team for the series against South Africa, where she impressed on debut in Cairns before backing up that strong performance with two more in Hobart.
Her efforts on and off the court have impressed, leading to her being name the leader of coach Nicole Richardson’s Fast5 side.
“We are delighted to announce Matilda as captain and Hannah as vice-captain ahead of our Fast5 campaign this weekend,” Richardson said.
“Matilda has demonstrated immense growth over the last year and we feel her exposure to the Diamonds environment will be a strong asset in this captaincy role.
“Both Matilda and Hannah were outstanding from a leadership perspective during camp and I look forward to seeing them lead this amazing group of athletes.”
Garrett will lead three strong defenders in Christchurch, including rising Sunshine Coast star Ashleigh Ervin, who was invited into Diamonds camp before the Constellation Cup and South Africa series, and NSW Swifts ’keeper Teigan O’Shannassy.
Garrett and Petty are among six members of the Thunderbirds’ 2023 premiership team in the Fast5 side.
Goalers Lucy Austin and Tippah Dwan, and midcourters Georgie Horjus and Tayla Williams, will join the pair in Aussie colours.
It’s likely to be Dwan’s final fling with her former teammates for a while.
The shooter will not be returning to Adelaide after two years with the Thunderbirds.
While she remains uncontracted – as are all Super Netball players because of the Collective Player Agreement standoff – she is likely to end up back in Queensland with the Firebirds next season.
Adelaide has lost several players, including Dwan, Eleanor Cardwell and Maisie Nankivell, for next season but with so many rising stars and outstanding Jamaicans Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson all but certain to return, the side will remain a force.
The Aussies headed to New Zealand on Tuesday after a camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, where they prepared to defend the inaugural Fast5 title won in Christchurch last year.
Australia will open its campaign against Jamaica on Saturday, before games against South Africa and New Zealand on the same day.
The side will then face Malawi and England on Sunday before a playoff later in the afternoon.
More Coverage
Originally published as Netball Fast5 World Series 2023: Defender set to make international debut after learning from idol at Diamonds camp
‘Intensity and ferocity’: Male training partners an upward trend
As Super Netball looks to lift its “intensity and ferocity” across the league, the signing of male training partners are increasing in popularity, with West Coast Fever coach Dan Ryan leading the way.
The First Nations program saving netball talents from footy raiders
Tierrah Miller is one of five potential debutants for the Black Swans in their PacificAus Netball Series after her footy defection was halted by the First Nations program.