The World Youth Cup will take place from the 19th to the 28th September with all matches available live and on demand on Netball Pass and the NWC YouTube Channel. The teams and match schedule can be found here.
It’s unsurprising that Cathy Fellows believes full court defence will be crucial for a successful tilt at the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar.
The defensive mastermind and Australian 21s coach said, “Our athletes have the ability to defend the whole of the court, which wins games.
“We have found that we will win ball, but it will then be about how we maintain possession and convert what we have control over.”
To achieve this, Fellows has bolstered her midcourt by selecting a squad that are fearless in hunting the ball, despite the loss of experienced defender, Ruth Aryang, to an Achilles rupture earlier this season.
Developing the next generation of Diamonds and winning the tournament are both priorities for Fellows, who is also enthusiastic about her team’s versatility, experience and speed on attack. She said, “We’ve got great options all the way down court, the ability for athletes to play different positions, and some varying styles of play.
“Some teams will have very similar styles no matter which athletes they have out on court, whereas we will have the ability to throw different combinations out there which is exciting.”
Of the final 12 athletes selected to represent Australia, all bar two have been in Super Netball training environments and played in the Super Netball Reserves competition. Of those, six have had significant court time in the senior ranks, and according to Fellows, that experience will be invaluable.
“We were also really pleased with the amount of exposure our players had at Super Netball this season, potentially more than we had anticipated when we picked the squad at the end of last year. If you’d asked me at the start of the year, I wouldn’t have expected them to have that much opportunity.”
While the wider squad has worked together across the past year, the final team had had just one short camp before leaving for Gibraltar. Working closely with Stacey Marinkovich and the Diamonds’ high performance team has helped accelerate the young player’s development.
Fellows says, “We aren’t trying to replicate exactly the Diamonds as we have different athletes, but we do look at building some of the game style and game sense around what the Diamonds are doing – the Australian way of playing.
“Most of the concepts are quite similar and we use the terminology of the next level so our athletes can progress more seamlessly. Stacey’s been at our camps, we’ve coincided with a couple of Diamonds’ camps, used their staff for our strength and conditioning, and performance analysis.
“(That integration is) such a strength of our programme.”
World Youth Cup team dress presentation. Image courtesy of Netball Australia.
With such limited camp time together, Fellows believes it’s been an advantage that so many of her athletes are familiar with each other. From time spent in state pathways, to the World Youth Commonwealth Games, Pacific Aus series and court time against several other nations, players will head overseas with some existing on court combinations.
“We played Fiji, New Zealand and Singapore last year, and England and New Zealand came to Canberra this year. 10 of the 12 English and New Zealand athletes that came out have been picked in their final teams, although New Zealand were without (Amelia) Walmsley at the time.
“So we do have some insights and intel on a few other nations. But in the preliminary rounds we will mainly focus on what we are doing.
“Consolidating combinations – with 20 teams there, is one of the main things we have control over. We won’t have much knowledge early on of what other teams will put out, although we’ll know more as the tournament progresses. So we can’t spend too much time worrying about our opposition.”
While Fellows lost three of her squad athletes to serious injury – Aryang, Nevaeh Matenga (knee) and Clara Wigley (knee) – the final team demonstrates the great depth of Australian pathway netball.
“The athletes we’ve picked are mostly experienced ones that have been in the Super Netball or Reserves environment. They are a group that Netball Australia and its pathways have and are heavily investing in, and if netball does get into the Olympics, a lot of these athletes are the ones that could be playing.”
Support has been given to the athletes who have missed out through injury, with Fellows in touch with them around announcement of final squads. Fellows explains, “We wanted to remind them they’ve been very much part of the build up to here, even though they can’t take part in the team. Keeping in contact to support their rehab.”
Scarlett Jauncey is another who has benefited from extra guidance. As the first Indigenous athlete to take part in the 21s in two decades, Fellows believes that it’s important that Jauncey feels well supported. She said, “Scarlett is a very confident and proud Indigenous athlete who is a real leader in that space. We get lots of support from Beryl Friday (First Nations Engagement Manager) who has come to a few of our camps.
“Scarlett gets support from Beryl and her own network, and we’ve encouraged her to take the lead in that area. She’s very confident, able to articulate how she’s feeling, and is a great leader already.”
Fellows will be working alongside assistant coach Kate Upton, along with Jenny Borlase, who is attending as an Australian Sports Commission scholarship coach. Australia last won the tournament in 2009.
World Youth Cup team final hit out before leaving for Gibraltar. Image courtesy of Netball Australia.
The team
Jasmah Haywood (Fever Reserves) GS/GA
Olivia Wilkinson (Fever) GS/GA
Lily Graham (Vixens) GS/GA/WA
Kayla Graham (Thunderbirds) GA/WA/GS
Grace Whyte (Swifts) GA/WA/GS
Hope White (Giants) WA/C
Sophie Casey (Thunderbirds) WD/C
Lucy Voyvodic (Thunderbirds Futures) WD/C/GD
Tabitha Packer (Thunderbirds Futures) GD/WD/C
Frederika Schneideman (Swifts Academy) GD/WD/GK
Scarlet Jauncey (Fever Reserves) GK/GD
Charlotte Sexton (Vixens Academy) GK/GD
Reserves
Jada Delaney (Lightning Bolts)
Monika ‘Otai (Giants Reserves)
Tara Watson (Vixens Reserves)
Shooters
Jasmah Haywood, Olivia Wilkinson, Lily Graham, Kayla Graham, Grace Whyte
“Jas is a tall, high volume shooter who has come through the pathways in 17s and 19s, but had a significant injury in 2024 and that’s why people haven’t seen as much of her recently. She went to the World Youth Comm Games with this group of athletes, and to every 17s and 19s tournament.
“She was named in 2024 but unavailable due to injury, and to her credit she’s worked her butt off to put out what she did at SSN reserves. So I’m really pleased with the work she’s done and the reward she’s got for that.”
“Liv has played across goal shooter and attack, and had an outstanding ANC in 2023 playing with the Magpies mainly as a shooter. She’s really confident in her ability to play as a shooter, does a lot of training in that role but hasn’t played as much there for the Fever as she plays more goal attack out the front of Jhaniele (Fowler Nembhard).
“In this cohort she’ll play predominantly as a shooter, but we have the ability to run two talls (with Haywood) which is a combination we’ve seen in Reserves. Having that combination is a bonus.”
“Our other three options play across the shooting positions as well as sliding out to wing attack. They all play very different games.
“Lily had played more at shooter as a junior athlete and provides a different style there to Jas and Liv and as we have seen at SSN with the Vixens she has developed a very dynamic goal attack game.
“Kayla is really smart, and has different movement patterns from the others, while Grace is very dynamic and creative with her movement and ball use.
“It’s going to be quite difficult to choose a starting seven, and will largely come down to who matches up against opposition. The ability to put on different combinations in the circle and across the wing will be a strength.”
Midcourt
Sophie Casey, Lucy Voyvodic, Hope Whyte, Grace White, Kayla Graham
“The midcourt are all very smart and offer great variety. Sophie is consistent through the middle, Hope and Grace are very creative, and Lucy has great elevation and is freakish in the balls she can win.
“While they are strong on attack, they are great defensively too. Kayla, Grace and Hope at wing attack all win ball, and their ability to transition from attack into defence and vice versa is great.
“Sophie and Lucy will play mainly across centre and wing defence. While Hope has mainly played wing attack for Giants, she plays a really strong centre game too.
“Once we lost Ruth, our defensive end became our most inexperienced group, in comparison to the others, so our amazing defensive mids will support our back line.
“In the early rounds we will rotate the group to distribute the load, so that we have fresh legs for the later games.”
Circle defenders
Tabitha Packer, Charlotte Sexton, Scarlett Jauncey, Frederika Schneideman
“We will be facing some teams with a holding shooter, and that’s one of Charlotte’s strengths – how she plays as a goal keeper on a tall. She was very impactful in the Reserves. She’s one of our less experienced athletes, having come through the regional pathways and only come into the HP pathways quite late. But this year she’s been in the Vixens’ environment and improved exponentially.
“While Scarlett is a few centimetres shorter, she’s such a strong bodied athlete with great positioning. She’s had good playing experience for the Reserves and the Black Swans, done a lot of work off the court and improved considerably.
“Tabitha has been a standout coming through the pathway system, and had a really good Reserves campaign. She won 17s player of the tournament in underage, was in the World Youth Comm Games group that went to Jamaica. She’s currently in transition, she was a circle defender but has been moving across to wing defence and centre as well.
“Freddie is another who was outstanding at Reserves, consistently winning ball, and improving her attacking game which has been a focus for her. You never die wondering with Freddie, you always know what you will get.”
World Youth Cup team at training camp. Image courtesy of Netball Australia.
