Rising star Tia Crombie has her eyes firmly on the eventual reward of Australian categorisation when she steps onto the court at Netball Queensland’s Nissan State Titles.
Crombie is part of the Tigers team taking part in the 16U competition at Nissan Arena, which begins on Sunday and runs until Tuesday.
The 195cm goal shooter was selected in Queensland’s 17U squad following last year’s State Titles, helping her state claim bronze in the 2022 Netball Australia National Championships in April.
Crombie then played in the Tigers’ Ruby Series premiership win in July, defying her tender age to win the MVP in their grand final triumph over the USQ Jets.
It has the Canterbury College student on a quest for even higher honours, attempting to follow in the footsteps of players such as Tigers’ teammate Sophia Dobson – who was one of 10 athletes from last year’s State Titles who would go on to gain Australian categorisation.
“After attending Nationals earlier this year, the hunger I have to achieve selection and develop further is my absolute goal,” Crombie said.
“The work never stops. You just need to keep turning up every day, putting in the work now to reap the rewards later.”
The Tigers are one of 12 teams competing in the 16U competition, which includes teams from the eight Sapphire Series clubs as well as a team from the Capricorn Claws.
The Tigers also boast a team in the 18U competition which includes a PacificAus Sports Invitational team made up of athletes and coaches from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
The PacificAus Sports team will be eager to showcase the skills and lessons they have learnt after a week-long camp in Brisbane as part of the partnership in place between Netball Queensland and Netball Australia, with thanks to the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading.
Dobson is one of six athletes who earned Australian categorisation earlier this year who’ll be competing at the titles along with Jayden Molo (ACU Cougars), Gemma Hutching (ACU Cougars), Kaylin van Greunen (Panthers) and Lillyana Rennie (USQ Jets) and Elsa Sif Sandholt (USQ Jets).
Crombie is hoping the experience gained through her Ruby Series campaign will have her primed to make a big impact for the Tigers as they chase state glory.
“I loved my season with CLC (Carina Leagues Club) Tigers, it has seen me grow and develop as a player and receiving MVP was the cherry on top after such a successful season,” she said.
“I put this down to our great coaches and an awesome bunch of girls to play alongside. I walked into the final confident in myself, my team and the roles we had to get the win on the day.
“Coming off a successful campaign, it has definitely given me confidence going into this weekend.
“However, there are so many talented players, not to mention the bottom age coming through, so I am definitely not going to take it lightly and give it my all.”
The 2022 Nissan State Titles competition will feature 33 teams and a total of 244 athletes competing across both grades.
Netball Queensland will then select 17U and 19U State Squads at the conclusion of the event with the selected squads to trial throughout the month of November before a final cohort of 16 players is chosen in both age groups in December.
Those squads will then complete a final selection process in January where the final team and training partners are chosen for next year’s Netball Australia National Championships.
More information on the Nissan State Titles can be found at https://qld.netball.com.au/state-titles.
You can watch all of the action from Nissan Arena's showcourt across the championships with KommunityTV's exclusive live stream. Head to this link to sign up today and get access to a special discount subscription offer of $1 a week for the first 12 weeks. A subscription allows readers access to News Corp's full digital offering. (https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/live-streams/netball/netball-queensland-live-stream-acu-cougars-ready-for-battle-in-state-championships/news-story/b54ec4c45eebfa9de5cf21dc97b36228)
