After two years without a competition, Louise Cooper had no idea how Hunter would fare at the NSW Primary Schools Sports Association (PSSA) netball championships.
But the Cooper-coached side "smashed it out of the park" to be undefeated on the way to securing the state title at Sydney Olympic Park's Netball Central last week.
Hunter played 13 matches over three days from July 26 to 28 and cruised to victory in most. Their closest scorelines were in beating Polding 32-18 and Sydney West 31-17.
"Going into the tournament, I didn't know how we would go," Cooper said.
"The competition had not been held for the past two years and this was my first time coaching the Hunter team.
"But the team just smashed it out of the ball park. It was a team of no super stars, just a cohesive group that worked together, came together and played for each other.
"And, honestly, it was just about playing."
The team was led by captain Raya Prestwidge (Hillsborough Public School) and vice-captain Mackenzie Bohan (Wirreanda) and also featured Bowey Manning (Soldiers Point), Chloe Eyles (Mount Hutton), Penny Vogt (Wallsend South), Samson Nathan (Wallsend), Alexis Kearney (Singleton), Amelia Wells (Glendore), Grace Mueller (Valentine) and Kaila Stringer (Floraville).
Nathan, the first boy to compete for Hunter at the NSW PSSA netball titles, Bohan, Vogt and Wells all earned selection in the 12-player NSW team headed to the Australian championships being staged in Wollongong from September 10 to 16.
Nathan and Bohan play in the defence end, Vogt midcourt and Wells is a goal shooter.
"Two years ago they allowed boys under 12 to trial but because of COVID we hadn't seen a boy at a competition before," Cooper said. "Samson has already made the state basketball team. He trialled and made the Hunter PSSA team and also made the state netball team as well."
