The Queensland Gems’ Marie Little Shield campaign will be boosted with the addition of a very special member to their support staff.
The 12-player group taking part in this week’s competition in Sydney will be joined by the familiar face of Development Coach Jack Matthews on the sidelines.
Having become a member of the Gems family shortly after moving to Brisbane from a regional area, Gems coach Merrin McCulloch enabled Jack to complete his coaching qualifications to enable him to travel with the team for the Marie Little Shield.
It means the Gems are the only team competing at the tournament with an inclusion coach.
“Our name for him is Hi-Jack, as everywhere we go people know Jack and call out ‘hi Jack!’,” McCulloch said.
“Growing up Jack went to his local YMCA and there he learned to play netball.
“When he moved to Brisbane he heard about the Marie Little Shield being played here and came to watch.
“Afterwards Jack and his mum contacted us and asked if there was a chance for him to get involved in our program. As it turned out we were just going to start playing at Wests on a Monday night – so we asked Wests if Jack could play with the team and they agreed.
“So Jack became a member of the Gems family – as did his mum Tanya – but with the Marie Little Shield being a women’s only event we got Jack qualified as a coach so he can join us as our Development Coach in Sydney.”
Starting on Wednesday, this year’s Marie Little Shield is the first time the competition has been held since 2019 after COVID-19 prevented the tournament from happening in the past two years.
Named in after Marie Little (OAM), a netballer who dedicated her life to those with an intellectual disability, the Netball Australia-run competition provides female athletes with an intellectual disability the chance to represent their state at a national level.
This year’s tournament is being hosted in partnership with Netball NSW from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 October at Netball Central, Sydney Olympic Park.
The Gems will face the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia in the tournament with seven rounds plus finals to be played across the three days.
“It is so exciting to be going back to the Marie Little Shield,” McCulloch said.
“Since last time we have had a couple of players retire but this means we have some first-timers going to nationals which is very exciting for us all.
“For this team the travelling is also such a triumph. For many of the players this is one of the most independent things that they do, being away from families and support services for a week, this is building such important life skills - not only netball.”
The 2022 Marie Little Shield is a free event that will be open to the public to watch and support and will also be streamed live on Netball Australia TV here.
GEMS SQUAD: Wilhemena Thaw (Co-captain), Lisa Lenton (Co-captain), Jasmine Catterall, Mason Dare, Katelyn Mitchell, Emma Mangan, Alice Dunkley, Zoe Gauld, Hanri Smith, Jennifer Collins, Lorelei Page, Olivia Page.
