Bundaberg’s rising netball stars 2022
With the Primary School’s Cup looming, there’s netball fever in the air. So, we’re celebrating by naming some of Bundaberg's rising netball stars under 18. FULL LIST HERE:
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Bundaberg is lucky enough to be home to some of the Wide Bay’s best netballers, competing in local and school competitions.
To celebrate Netball Queensland bringing its Primary School’s Cup to Bundaberg this year, we wanted to list some of the standout players under 18 making waves for their netball clubs.
The NewsMail will also be showcasing photos from the entire Primary School’s Cup Netball Competition.
See our talented list of Bundaberg’s rising star netballers:
Allie Geiger
Despite the Natives side losing to Brothers Thunder in this year’s final, Allie Geiger still managed to take out Player of the Final for her performance.
It doesn’t end there for Allie - the 17-year-old also picked up Bundaberg Netballs' representative Player of the Year for 17 years girls and Division 2 Defender of the Season.
After picking up three awards this season, we can’t wait to see what Allie does next!
Georgie Aslett
Georgie Aslett, 15, is so dedicated to her game she was selected as a Waves division 2 player, making her one of the youngest players for this division for Waves.
Georgie is often a recipient at Waves’ Netball awards nights and was awarded Bundaberg Netball’s 14 years representative Player of the Year.
This year, Georgie also coached a club team after spending a couple of years as an assistant coach.
According to Waves, Georgie had handled the higher playing level with confidence and ease.
“Georgie is a dedicated player who listens intently to her coaches and implements what she has learnt during games,” a Waves netball member said.
Her key positions are C, WD and GD.
Ashlee McLean
Awarded Bundaberg Netball’s division five attacker of the season, Ashlee is one of Waves’ young rising stars of netball.
The 13-year-old had already received recognition for her playing ability and sportsmanship prior to this year’s award, when she was the 2021 recipient of one of Bundaberg Netball’s Perpetual awards and The Schoolgirls Sportsperson of the Year award.
Waves Netball said Ash played a strong consistent game every week, was a positive team member and worked hard for her team.
Ash, a court centre, WA or WD, not only represents Waves proudly, but she is also a proud Bundaberg Netball representative player.
Jasmine Gill
A step up to division one in 2021 led to bigger things for Jasmine Gill.
The St Luke’s student was selected for the University of Sunshine Coast’s Thunder development squad and has since been selected for its under 16 state team.
The 16-year-old has played in a number of representative teams for Bundaberg, her school, Wide Bay netball and schoolgirls competitions.
Jasmine has continued to play division one this year.
Portia Hancock
While she mainly plays centre court, Portia is also a handy shooter and is known to play WA and WD; so you could say she’s a real all-rounder on the netball court.
The 14-year-old was the recipient of Bundaberg Netball’s division three Player of the Season award for 2022, a prestigious award decided by points given by coaches and umpires during the season.
The Waves player has also played representative netball for the Bundaberg Netball Association for the past few seasons and is a dedicated umpire and assistant coach for the club.
Imogen Anderson
Proud Brothers netballer Imogen Anderson, 12, was awarded the representative player of the year for 2022 after a stellar performance competing in carnivals in Hervey Bay, Rockhampton and Bundaberg for a Bundaberg Netball representative side.
The Shalom College student was also awarded Most Valuable Player for her efforts in the 12 years girls Wide Bay team when they competed at the state titles in Townsville earlier this year.
Last year, she was named Junior Sportsperson of the year for Brothers Netball Club.
Imogen has been lucky enough to be coached by some of Bundaberg’s most prolific netballers such as Kacey Lloyd-Jones, Sandy Baker and Sharyn Batt.
Imogen’s mum, Kylie, said she was proud of all of Imogen’s achievements.
“Imogen is an incredibly humble and kind young lady and will always put others before herself,” Kylie said.
“She loves playing in every team she is involved in and has been blessed to make such beautiful friends along the way. I am proud of all of Imogen‘s achievements on and off the court and I love watching her play the game she loves.”
Rakaia Kaye
Junior netball superstar Rakaia Kaye has had an impressive season.
When she’s not playing netball for Fusion Netball Club, she’s playing netball for school sports, where she was named School Girls Sportsperson of the Year for a person aged 12.
Rakaia also played in the 12 years Bundaberg representative netball side, and was awarded Division 7 Attacker of the Year.
Abby Stevens
Abby Stevens, 14, is no stranger to sport in the Wide Bay.
Her work on the court earned her Bundaberg Netballs' Junior Girl Sportsperson of the Year award for 13-14 years.
The Alloway Netball Club player also picked up division 4 player of the season and represented Bundy n the under 14’s rep team.
Abby is also a keen junior umpire for the association, and can also be found on a BMX bike, where she’s competed in several championships.
Macey Egan
Described as a “very talented and committed netballer” by her club, Macey Egan’s playing ability and netball skills saw her move quickly up through the lower decisions.
The 17-year-old Waves star has played representative netball for the Bundaberg Netball Association, schoolgirls and Wide Bay.
In 2018, aged 13, Macey played division 3 and there was no stopping her after that.
In the last couple of years Macey has been playing division 1 and this year was part of our premiership winning Waves Gold team.
Her key positions are WD, GD and GK.
Kaylee Hammond
Alloway Division two player Kaylee Hammond ranked high in the player of the season points from coaches and umpires.
It was these points that earned her the Intermediate Sportsperson of the Year award for the 15-18 age group at a recent ceremony.
Kaylee also represented Bundaberg on February 17 for the Central Premier League side and is an umpire for the association.
Jessica Hill
A quick and accurate goal shooter, Jess has represented Bundaberg Netball at state age carnivals and was a part of this year’s 17’s Central Premier League team.
Her club, Waves, described the 16-year-old as having a “calm demeanour on the court and is a positive influence to those around her.”
Jess is a division two player who also sits on the sidelines for division one to fill in from time to time.
Shahni Hassell
Shahni Hassell, 14, is another star on the rise; this year, she was awarded Bundaberg Netball’s prestigious Wan Man Trophy for 2022.
Last year, she won the Norris Junior Umpiring Award.
Shahni also holds a foundation coaches qualification to help coach younger players.
Ebony Baigrie
Savvy netballer and junior umpire Ebony Baigrie has had an award-winning year.
Playing for Native’s Rosella’s side, the talented netballer received three awards in a row, including Attacker of the Year and Player of the Grand Final for division three, and scored the Umpire of the Year award for under 18s.
Ebony has been described as someone who just “loves netball”.
Elsie Collins
This year was Wave’s Netballer Elsie’s first competitive year of netball after participating previously in the non-competitive GO division.
Being new to competitive netball has not stopped Elsie and has allowed her playing ability to shine.
The 11-year-old was selected in the Bundy Zone Primary School 11 years netball team, gaining selection in the Wide Bay 10-11 years team to attend the invitational QLD State Schools Championship 10-11 years competition.
Elsie, who loves playing centre, WD and GD, also gained a spot in Bundaberg Netballs’ 11 years Crackers representative team, with Waves Netball club saying that they know this is just the beginning of her achievements.
Indi Hodge
With two awards under her belt this season, 11-year-old Indi has had an exciting year.
The Brother’s netballer was awarded Bundaberg Netballs' Player of the Year for the 11 Years girls ‘Crackers’ team.
Indi was also named Player of the Final for her performance against Alloway Orange in a recent final against her team, Brothers Heat.
Lani Plath
Lani divides her sporting time between dancing and netball and succeeds in both.
As a division one season rookie, she took the opportunity in both hands as both a GS and GA in a strong and consistent season, representing both Bundaberg Netball and her school in competitions this year.
Lani’s club Waves described the 16-year-old as always giving 100%, and said she worked hard to improve her knowledge and skills.
Amber Meech
Amber worked her way up the ranks after starting netball in 2018 playing in division 10 and ending up in division 2 this year.
The 16-year-old was a player in the 16’s Bundaberg Netball rep team and Bundaberg Netball's 17’s Central Premier League team.
The Waves player took out Bundaberg Netball’s under 15’s Rep Player of the Year award last year.
Her club said her athletic ability and being able to defensively read the game as a WD, GD and GK owed to her successes.
Dakota Blackley
Natives Netballer Dakota is in her second year with the team and is enjoying competing.
One of her most recent achievements was at the Bundaberg Primary Schools Netball Competition.
The 11-year-old was part of the team when Avoca State School made it to the division 2 finals for the very first time in their history and won.
Her mum Terri, said she loved netball so much, she’s giving indoor netball a go this year.
“She gives everything 100%,” Terri said.
“I can’t wait to see where she’ll be a few years' time. She absolutely loves playing.”
Mia Atkinson
At 14, Mia, who loves to play WD GD and GK, is one of Waves’ youngest division 3 players, a big step-up from 2018-2020 when she was a non-competitive GO division player.
Mia has also been a BNA representative player since she was in under 12’s and is giving back to her sport by umpiring and assistant coaching.
Indianna Rumsey
Indianna has proven herself as a Waves division 4 player, jumping four divisions since last year when she was a division eight player.
She has represented Bundaberg Netball over the last couple of years and is a dedicated teammate, often turning up early to training or a game to practise her shooting.
The 13-year-old is most comfortable in shooting positions such as GS or GA but is also a handy WA.
A Waves Netball club member said Indi’s commitment to wanting to improve and her willingness to listen and learn was one of the reasons why she had been a recipient in individual team awards.
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