Sport
18 July, 2025
Allora Netballers Shine at State Championships
Five young Allora netballers stepped out in style at the Sunshine Coast from Saturday the 5th to Tuesday the 8th July among around 3,000 competitors involved in the 2025 Queensland Netball Junior State Age Championships.
The event hosted by the Sunshine Coast Netball Association is the biggest State Age Netball event ever. Sixty Associations provided teams, 252 girls teams and sixteen 16 boys teams, the most boys teams of any previous championships.
An experience of a life time for the young ladies from the Best Little Town on the Downs; Katelyn Peters, Bailey Darmody, Lucy McMillan, Chelsea Masters & Kyah Hoey.
Katelyn, Bailey, Chelsea & Kyah were all proud members of competing Warwick teams, while Lucy wore the colours of Toowoomba.
Lucy’s Toowoomba Blue team finished an admirable 13th in the statewide Championships top division.
Team assistant-manager Brad Chapman rated Lucy’s efforts very highly given she played a number of games in the event latter stages while ill, “but still played brilliantly.”
The Championships from age groups 12yrs – 14yrs hosted players from right around the Sunshine State and overseas, including invitational teams from Norfolk Island, Northern Territory and Fiji.
All members of the competing teams would likely be aware of Allora’s fame relating to netball, the town that introduced former Champion Laura Geitz to the World Netball stage.
Warwick Netball sent four teams to the Championships, 12yrs Blue, 12yrs White, 13 yrs and 14yrs.
The 14yrs side is the only team that has competed at a State level carnival previously, and the 12yrs Blue was the only team put into the Championship competition. All other teams played in the Challenge competition.
Players from the Allora/Clifton region were: 12yrs White - Scarlett Chalmers, Peighton Hetherington and Matilda Skillington.
12yrs Blue - Bailey Darmody, Kyah Hoey, Chelsea Masters, Annabelle Morris and Katelyn Peters.
13yrs - Indy Atkinson, Olivia Axiak and Emily Nolan (from Gladfield).
14yrs - Bree Darmody, Isabelle Hetherington, Lailah Murphy, Daisy-May Roberton and Eve Skillington.
Warwick team Championships results:
12yrs Blue - Championship - Division 5, finished 5th
12yrs White - Challenge - Division 5, finished 6th
13yrs - Challenge - Division 4, finished 15th
14yrs - Challenge - Division 4, finished 4th
Along with other umpires from around Queensland, Warwick umpire Piper Atkinson received recognition awards at the Championships for their outstanding contribution.
- Glyn Rees
