St Albans resident Maria Masei is a member of Australia’s Under 17 netball squad. 80590 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By MICHAEL ESPOSITO
WERRIBEE Centrals must be pleased that Maria Masei has continued to play for the side.
It would be understandable if she didn’t, considering she’s a regular player for the Southern Saints’ Under 19 team in the Victorian Netball League.
That means the St Albans girl plays every Wednesday night for the Saints and every Saturday for Werribee Centrals’ A Grade side.
On top of this she now has commitments as a member of the 17 and Under Australian netball squad, which she was selected for after an impressive display at the 17 and Under National Championships, representing Victoria.
Masei, who turned 17 last week, is taking it all in her stride.
“I was just hoping to do my best at the nationals and it was just nice to get noticed at the end of it,” she said.
“My tournament wasn’t perfect but I felt I did enough to make the (Australian) squad.”
As a part of the 17s squad, Masei will attend training camps later in the year to develop her game. It’s not until netballers make the 19 and Under squad that they play in international competitions.
The wing defender was named MVP for Werribee’s A Grade team last year and was selected in the Geelong and District league’s team of the year.
Masei said she wanted to play for Werribee Centrals again this year, despite her VNL commitments, because it was good for her game.
“I decided to play for both because they’re both pretty good competitions, and it’s good that I can develop my game with both of them,” she said.
“It’s just getting the balance between netball and school and making sure I do all of my schoolwork, especially now that I’m in year 12.
“The Victorian competition as a whole is really competitive and there are a lot of great players , so it’s really good to play against the best in the state, every week.”
