Alocal teenage netball star has just returned from Western Australia after competing in the School Sport Australia Netball Championships.
Mount Gambier’s Chloe Peacock was one of two country netballers selected for the South Australian Under 15 state team and the only player selected from the Limestone Coast.
Peacock, who plays Under 15 and A Grade for Kalangadoo in the Mid South East Netball Association, has spent the last three months training for the national competition.
As well as playing two games a week for Kalangadoo, the 15-year-old has also travelled to Adelaide for trainings each week in preparation for the School Sport Australia netball championships.
As part of the selection process, Peacock participated in three trials in Adelaide where she competed against netballers from across the state in search of a selection in the South Australian team.
Peacock played mid-court positions throughout the tournament, including centre, wing attack and wing defence.
“I loved every moment of being in Perth playing for my state, as well as playing against an incredibly talented group of girls as well as playing in a team full of superstars,” she said.
“We won five out of seven games in the minor rounds which led us to finish in third place.
“We then played against a strong NSW team, beating them by 12 goals on the Thursday to secure our place in the grand final.”
“On Friday we played against a very talented and physically strong Vic team, going goal for goal up until the last quarter, where they won by four goals.”
The final score was a narrow 36-32 loss, in favour of the Victorian side.
“The final was very intense, as it was the last game of the tournaments with all the teams watching in the stands, as well as a lot of people back home watching it on live-stream,” Peacock said.
“The atmosphere was so crazy, with both teams and our support crew cheering ‘Go SA!’”
Despite the loss, the talented netballer returned home with a silver medal.
“The most challenging thing about the whole experience was playing one to two games of netball daily for a week, while also at some stages feeling very tired and sore,” she said.
Peacock’s dedication and commitment to the competition undoubtedly led to her selection for the All Australian U15 team, a select team whose members were judged to be the best 12 players within the U15 division.
Five out of the 12 selected players from the All Australian U15 team were members of the SA team, including Peacock.
“It’s still so surreal to me that I was chosen in the All Australian U15 team,” she said.
“It’s been my dream to play state netball and I cannot believe I was chosen for the All Australian team.”
Peacock expressed her gratitude for her support networks both in and out of netball.
“I would not have been able to get where I am without my parents, amazing coaches and teammates, both at Kalangadoo and in state,” she said.
