Five of South Australia’s most promising young netballers have been selected as Adelaide Thunderbirds training partners for the 2021 season.
Chelsea Blackman and Tayla Williams return as training partners from 2020, while emerging athletes Lucy Austin, Tyler Orr and Molly Watson have been named for the first time.
Blackman, 20, travelled to Queensland with the Thunderbirds as a replacement player for Layla Guscoth, for the start of the 2020 season. She made two SSN appearances before returning to Adelaide once Guscoth was cleared to play.
On return, the athletic defender rejoined Contax Netball Club, lining up for the Blues in the Netball SA Premier League and helping her side to its sixth-consecutive grand final appearance.
Williams, 20, also travelled to Queensland ahead of Round One, 2020, and remained in the Hub as part of the Thunderbirds’ extended squad of 12.
The Contax star made her SSN debut in Round One and went on to appear in five games, collecting 19 assists and 10 deflections as she swung between centre and wing defence.
Austin, 19, solidified her place in Matrics Netball Club’s Premier League side in 2020 after being a key member of South Australia’s 19U side who won gold at the National Championships in 2019.
The 193cm shooter was also named Most Valuable Player in her side’s Premier League grand final victory last October.
Orr, 21, made a name for herself in 2020 after joining the Collingwood Magpies as a replacement player ahead of Round 10.
She made her SSN debut on familiar ground as the Magpies took on the Thunderbirds at Netball SA stadium in Mile End.
Watson, 19, rounds out the training partners for 2021 after being selected for the first time.
The defender was a key member of Contax’s Premier League side that finished minor premiers in 2020.
In December last year, all five training partners were selected in the 2021 Australian 21 and Under Squad ahead of the Netball World Youth Cup set to take place in December this year.
All five have also come through the South Australian Sports Institute pathways, earning scholarships with the institute in recent years.
The Thunderbirds have officially returned to the training track ahead of the 2021 season.
