A four-year-old from southern New South Wales has caught the eye of some of the biggest netball clubs in the country after donning pink heels and an upside down bib for her first game.
Hazel Flinn took to the court for her first match with The Rock Yerong Creek Football Netball Club (TRYCFNC) on Sunday.
Despite her team not scoring a goal, the game was a huge success for Hazel.
An image snapped by her mum, showing Hazel in the pink shoes and a dress with her hands in the air, has gone viral on social media.
Katherine Flinn said the Net Set Go game was the day before her daughter's birthday.
"Hazel, who usually comes along and dances around like a fairy, decided to get involved," she said.
"She popped on the dress with her birthday click clacks and went out and held her arms in the air."
Ms Flinn said a photo she took and posted online as a "Happy Birthday photo to Hazel" had been extensively shared.
"We don't usually get Hazel out of a dress," she said.
"She's quite a little old-fashioned lady and we gave her those shoes that morning for her birthday so there was no chance she wasn't wearing them to netball on Sunday."
A wobbly start
Ms Flinn said that while Hazel understood to put her hands in the air, she forgot to put them down to catch the ball.
"She ended her first game with a ball in the face and having a few little tears," she said.
The image of Hazel has since been shared on Twitter by Super Netball clubs the Melbourne Vixens and NSW Swifts.
Ms Flinn said it was "refreshing" to get such a positive response on social media.
"I was really stoked because so often on social media we see so many negative things," she said.
"Every single comment, share, everything that's been said has just been people going, 'This is the best thing I've ever seen'."
Raising awareness
TRYCFNC junior netball coordinator Allana Duncan hoped the photo would encourage more people to play the game.
"It puts a smile on my face," she said.
"Bringing awareness to young girls playing netball and wanting to get in and have a go is fantastic.
"If you can start them young and get their interest in the game, they want to keep playing and want to continue on through their junior years."
Ms Duncan said it could be challenging to encourage girls to play netball beyond the age of 14.
"We lose a lot of numbers so we're hoping that if we can keep getting these girls at a young age [and] we can keep them interested, our junior club will follow through and we can hopefully have good healthy numbers in those older years."
