Paige Hadley realises teenage dream with NSW Swifts Super Netball win
More than a decade ago a young netball fan made a promise to herself. That fan was netball star Paige Hadley and that vow has just come true.
More than a decade ago Penrith netballer Paige Hadley sat in the stands of a NSW Swifts match and made a promise to herself.
The teenager, watching the NSW Swifts win the now defunct Commonwealth Bank Trophy for the best domestic team in the country in 2008, vowed she would one day be on the court herself with the trophy in her hands.
While she never expected it would take so long, the wait has been worth it.
“This is my fairytale,’’ Hadley said after helping the Swifts to a surprisingly emphatic win over the fancied Sunshine Coast Lightning in Brisbane on Sunday.
“When the Swifts won the last one I was in the stands watching and I said ‘I want to win in the red dress’. Now I have.’’
Hadley and her teammates captured the Swifts first major title in 11 years when they defied the odds to record a 64-47 victory against Lightning.
The midcourter who was part of the Australian team which finished second at the recent world championships, has only just regained a voice lost during the game.
“To much screaming during and after,’’ she said from her home in Sydney’s west.
“There were so many feelings. There was so much emotion.
“We are so proud of each other. We fought for so long to win.
“It was just so special to do it with these girls.’’
OTHER NEWS
Hadley has already signed on with the Swifts for their title defence in 2020 along with nine other members of the team.
Also returning is Swifts captain Maddy Proud who was forced to sit out most of 2019 after a season-ending knee injury which requried surgery.
Beanies, bear suits, boiled-in-the bag food for Sydney to Hobart
T-shirts and shorts have been crew uniforms on Sydney to Hobart racers in the past but they are being replaced by beanies, bear suits and boil-in-the-bag food for the 79th race.
‘You have to be courageous’: Keen as teen all aboard for first Sydney to Hobart
His first memory of the Sydney to Hobart is watching a start from a harbourside beach at age four. Now this teen with Olympic sized sailing ambition is about to join the fleet for a “wild” ride