Sport
14 March, 2024
Ella Patten plays a starring role for North Central netball team in Netball Victoria state titles
It was a weekend Ella Patten won’t forget any time soon. In one of her biggest statements that 2024 could be her year on the netball court, Patten put together a starring role for the North Central representative netball team in the 17-and-under...
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It was a weekend Ella Patten won’t forget any time soon.
In one of her biggest statements that 2024 could be her year on the netball court, Patten put together a starring role for the North Central representative netball team in the 17-and-under state titles, helping them come away with a fifth-placed finish in the competition, just percentage away from the semi-finals.
Playing in the goal defence position she’s made her own in Maryborough’s 17-and-under team, Patten put together some spectacular performances over the Labour Day weekend, standing out in the sweltering heat at Bendigo’s Red Energy Arena.
Patten says the competition took quite a bit out of her, but it was all worth it.
“It was quite tiring, the weekend. We played seven games on the Saturday, seven on the Sunday and three on the Monday, so it stretched across a few days,” she said.
“I felt pretty good, and I felt like I performed well, especially with the girls around me. I felt like we all helped to pick one another up and ensure we could all perform to our best ability.”
The state titles competition was different this year, with the dates moved from the end of the year to the start of the year, meaning Patten, and her teammates, had to adapt to their playing styles with less time.
Nevertheless, Patten was pleased that she was in a team that was able to adapt.
“It was tricky as the whole competition was moved forward, as it is normally at the end of the year,” she said.
“We only really had six weeks of training together, so that did make it difficult playing defence with someone I don’t play with on a Saturday, but they’re all great girls, so it made it quite easy to work with each other and fit in with one another.
“It helped to overcome some of the skilled girls we played who have been training with each other for a while.”
Patten says the first day’s play was a highlight — collecting five wins from seven games, which included results against teams the North Central team wasn’t able to beat last year, adding to the new-found confidence the entire team had.
“I think the first day was a highlight, having some draws and wins against teams who we played last year and lost or didn’t come as close to, it boosted the whole team’s confidence for the rest of the tournament as we could come out stronger than we did last year,” she said.
“We also had a great warm-up. We didn’t take things too seriously, we had a lot of fun, which helped us to connect and have a good time and relax.”
Patten’s individual form earned praise from Sandhurst’s four-time premiership coach Tamara Gilchrist, who was the coach of the North Central team for the weekend, singling her out in an interview with The Bendigo Advertiser earlier in the week.
Patten said those comments have boosted her confidence in knowing she belongs with the best netballers in the region.
“I’m grateful. I was stoked when I got to read what she said about me. It definitely helped reassure me and helped me know I was doing a good job with everything that I did on the weekend, so it’s helped to build up my confidence,” she said.
It now means Patten can take her form back to Maryborough and apply everything that she’s learned to the Magpies, and will be hoping to make the Bendigo Football Netball League interleague team again after experiencing some success in the 2023 season.
“I’m pumped for this season with Maryborough, and hopefully the BFNL interleague as well. It’s definitely set me up to perform well with Maryborough on weekends,” she said.