Leader: Tongala premiership coach Grace Hammond was announced as the inaugural under-23 Bendigo Strikers captain on Monday. Photo: Aidan Briggs
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Aidan Briggs
Tongala premiership coach Grace Hammond is set to play a prominent role in the inaugural Bendigo Strikers Victorian Netball League season, having been announced as captain of the under-23 squad on Monday.
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The 22-year-old was appointed skipper of the side following a vote by teammates and coaches, and said she was humbled to be given the opportunity in the team’s maiden season.
“It's such an honour, especially in our inaugural season. It’s unexpected, but I'll definitely take it on board and try and do the job justice,” Hammond said.
“We've got such a great group of girls and it's really positive to see there's so much talent around the area, a lot of the girls are from a small country club not just in Bendigo, so I'm really looking forward to taking the role on.
“I've got some great support in a leadership group as well, so it's very exciting and I'm very honoured.”
The three-person under-23 leadership group includes Moama’s Abby Larkin, who has asserted herself as an up-and-coming star in the netball scene.
Larkin enjoyed a stellar 2023 season with the Magpies, claiming the under-17 league best-and-fairest before helping her team to a thrilling grand final win against Deniliquin, while also featuring numerous times for the A-grade side.
Inaugural captains: Grace Hammond (right) and Meg Williams were unveiled as the Bendigo Strikers captains on Monday, with the pair set to lead the under-23 and championship squads respectively in the club’s maiden VNL season. Photo: Bendigo Strikers
The Strikers championship side also boasts one of Hammond’s Tongala premiership teammates, with Milly Brock also assuming a leadership role, having been selected as vice-captain.
For a country club like Tongala to have two representatives at the VNL outfit, and to have both voted in to positions of responsibility, means a lot to Hammond, who said the club and town as a whole is starting to build something really special.
“Milly is very deserving of the position of vice captain,” she said.
“We’re a small country town in Tonny and we’re just starting to really build something special within not just our netball but our whole club.
“So to have players like myself and Milly that are able to take the name of Tongala to the next level and get the recognition in some leadership roles, it’s really positive and exciting.
“Not only for us as players, but to represent our club and to be able to show what we can do from a small country town.”
With the Strikers’ first match against the Wilson Storage Southern Saints just a week away on Wednesday, March 6, Hammond said the group has made significant progress despite not recording a win in any of its practice matches so far.
“We’ve had a few practice matches, both us under-23s and the champs girls with Milly,” she said.
“We never went into the practice matches with the goal to be to come away with the win. We went in to see what we’re capable of as a team and where we can go forward from them and what we can take into our first VNL season as a group.
“They were really positive hit-outs regardless of the score to see where we're at and what we need to do to be that one better than who we come up against, but really, really excited with the group that we have stepping into the season next week.”
And while the positivity is high, Hammond also tempered expectations, knowing that her side will be facing some established opposition teams.
“We’re aware that there's clubs in the VNL that have been there for as long as it's been going,” she said.
“We just want to make sure that we make a stamp for Bendigo Strikers being their first season, and we want to take the court and show netball Victoria and everyone what we're about as players from small country clubs, that we can put it to the bigger cities like girls from Melbourne and what not.
“Obviously you play with the goal to always win, that’s why we play sport, but for the moment the conversations we've had isn't so much based around that.
“We know if we put our best foot forward, we definitely can challenge some teams, but it’s about setting up the Bendigo Strikers for what’s to come in the years (ahead) and making that mark now in our inaugural season.”
