Condobolin’s Brittany Jones had the chance to enhance her netball skills during a trip to the United Kingdom in late June 2019.
A week before the School holidays began, she boarded a 23 hour flight with 10 other girls from different parts of Australia as part of a squad selected to play netball against Golden Globe teams.
The aim of the trip was to develop skills, techniques and to improve overall, according to Brittany.
“Arriving at 7:15 in the morning and only 10 hours later we were on the court and in action,” she explained.
“Some would say this was chaotic. I barely knew anyone’s name or how they played but we had a crack anyway.
“After seven games together and a few one on one debriefs with the coach, we managed to pull together. Although we didn’t win a game we managed to get close and win quarters.”
It was all hard work during the trip, with Brittany and her teammates able to play tourist in their down time.
“During the ten days we visited many of the top tourist attractions such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the Guards, Cadbury World and Stonehenge in Birmingham, a tour of Manchester’s long history and the World Cup in Liverpool,” she stated.
“We got to meet a lot of the netball players including 6’8 Sri Lanka shooter Tharjini Sivalingam who towered above us. We also got to meet the Australia team.
“We were lucky enough to get front row seats in the middle of MS Banks Arena and being able to see both courts. This meant we got to watch Australia v Northern Ireland, Barbados v Singapore, New Zealand v South Africa and Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe.
“This was one of my highlights on the trip as there are so many amazing players and it was incredible to be just ten feet away from them.”
This opportunity is something Brittany will not likely forget.
“Travelling halfway across the world to play netball and represent Australia was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.
“I would like to thank Nikki Cooke my coach, my team manager Yvonne Porter, Netball Victoria and Horizons Group Travel for putting together one amazing trip. I would also like to thank my family and friends for the support throughout the trip, my coach Serena Richards for making me the player I am today and especially my mum for coming and experiencing a once in a lifetime experience with me.”