Alice Springs big winners at their home NT Links Championships where plenty of NT talent was on show

DEVELOPING netball stars from right around the Territory converged on Alice Springs over the weekend to compete in the NT Link 2021 Netball Championships with plenty of talent on show

Katherine under 15s star Dallas Sherratt (GD) was named the players player of the NT Link Championships across all grades Photo: Paul Walker Photography

DEVELOPING netball stars from right around the Territory converged on Alice Springs over the weekend to compete in the NT Link 2021 Netball Championships with plenty of talent on show.

Alice Springs showed their strength on home courts winning three out of the four divisions including an undefeated under-19s outfit.

That under-19s side contains five players in the NT side heading to the National Underage Championships in July including Carly Wilson, Brooke Wilson, Lucy Nicolai, Matilda Baldwin and Ellie Herbert.

The Alice Spring contingent also took home the under-15s, beating Palmerston 37-30, and the under-13s beating Darwin 22-21 in a thriller.

However, Darwin managed to pull one back winning the under-17s 38-29 against Alice Springs.

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Netball NT pathway manager Penny Shearer was impressed with the weekend of netball action with some quality performances on show in each grade.

“It was great to see all of our associations come together and to see the talent on show leading up to some cracker grand finals,” Shearer told the NT News.

“I was also impressed to see the building pathways we have for coaches and umpires as well.

“When it came to players it was the level of resilience that most impressed particularly among the players who were there for the first time.

“It was interesting to see the team connections and link up play with some quality play throughout the tournament in each grade.”

The Palmerston association put in one of their best ever Championships showings reaching the under-15s final and seeing Molly Suradi take home the under-13s player of the series award.

Typically Alice Springs players also found themselves in the player of the series awards with Rania Shelford (under-15s), Isabelle Ross (under-17s) and Carly Wilson (under-19s).

But it was Katherine’s Dallas Sherratt from their under-15s side who was named awarded the Players Player trophy across all grades.

Katherine under 15s star Dallas Sherratt was named the players player of the NT Link Championships across all grades. Photo: Jacqui Paull

The Katherine sides may not have managed a win but their passion and sportsmanship shown particularly by Sherratt was an indicator of the sporting growing in the region.

“It was fabulous to see Dallas play. She’s a versatile player who plays both ends of the court and picked up the votes for her passion and hustle no matter the score,” Shearer said.

“The Alice 19s side were a strong team with five of them in our NT side and having come through the NT pathways system so we’re hoping that form continues for Nationals.

“There’s a lot of potential for us to keep building on and the performances of those selected for Nationals was particularly pleasing as they’ve taken on advice and are applying new moves.”