ANZ championship 2016: Kaitlyn Bryce goes from mascot minder to Swifts midcourter
FOUR years after she first volunteered for the NSW Swifts, Kaitlyn Bryce has gone from being a mascot minder straight in to the mid-court.
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KAITLYN Bryce knew what the roar of NSW Swifts fans sounded like well before she ran out on the court to make her debut for the club three weeks ago.
She’d heard it before from the stands as a fan herself and from the court as the escort for the Sporty Swifts mascot.
“She’s got quite a big head so needs a little help getting round,’’ laughed Bryce of her time as a volunteer with the club.
Four years after she first volunteered for the NSW Swifts, Bryce has gone from being a mascot minder straight in to the mid-court.
One of four rookies to have already made their debuts for the Swifts, Bryce’s road to the court has been one of the more interesting.
Now 20, Bryce was so determined to wear the Swifts uniform one day she spent every minute she could either playing netball or volunteering.
“I just loved the Swifts and just wanted to get involved,’’ said Bryce of the work she did to help out face painting fans at games, ushering ticket holders to their seats and looking after Sporty Swifts.
“It was always a dream of mine one day to be a player so I just wanted to be part of their culture.’’
After Bryce took the court in her first ANZ Championship game a fortnight ago she made a special shout out to her parents after the game.
From between the ages of 12 to 16 they had been the ones who had ferried her on the six hour round trip from her home at Shoalhaven, on the NSW south coast, to her Fairfield club in Sydney’s west up to five times a week for training and games.
“My parents were just amazing,’’ Bryce said.
“But all those sacrifices they made, it feels worth it now.’’
Bryce flew to Perth on Friday with the Swifts to prepare for their first away game of the year — and potentially their toughest outing against the undefeated West Coast Fever.
The Swifts, Fever and Queensland Firebirds are the only undefeated teams in the competition heading into the fourth round.
The Firebirds, matched up against the winless Adelaide Thunderbirds on Saturday, are likely to stay that way but either the Swifts or Fever will be recording their first loss of the year this round.
Key to the Swifts’ success will be a strong start and top defence on one of the most formidable shooters in the league — Caitlin Bassett.
Bassett is third on the sharpshooters list this season with an impressive 122 goals from 130 attempts at close to 94 per cent accuracy.
The Swifts, realistically, need to contain her to fewer than 40 to take the win and remain on the top of the ANZ championship league ladder.
Originally published as ANZ championship 2016: Kaitlyn Bryce goes from mascot minder to Swifts midcourter
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