Albany young gun Keely Berry impresses for WA to earn spot in Netball Australia 17s National Pathways Squad

Outstanding Albany netballer Keely Berry has been identified as one of brightest prospects in the country, after a standout performance for WA at the recent national championships. Last week Berry was one of eight WA young guns named in the Netball Australia 17-and-under National Pathways Squad. The 17-year-old was selected for the 17-and-under and 19-and-under national training squads, and will head to the Australian Institute of Sport for a training camp in July in a further boost to her hopes to one day play for her country. “My State coach called me and he said congratulations, check your email, and there was an email from Netball WA saying I’d been accepted,” she said. “I didn’t even know how to react honestly, I called my home coach, I called my mum, we were honestly all just so excited.” Berry trained with West Coast Fever’s under-17s futures team and then the WA State team before flying to Sydney for national competitions, where both the 17-and-under and 19-and-under teams placed fourth. Netball WA talent coach Guy Keane said Netball WA and West Coast Fever were “very proud” of Keely’s performance at a State level and were excited to see where national selection took her in future. “Keely has demonstrated strong values in her commitment and dedication to the State team program which saw her develop and transfer her skills and learnings on to the court at nationals,” he said. “As a regional athlete, Keely has shown that with the right opportunity, mindset, attitude and support from the Great Southern Regional Academy of Sport and DLGSC you can thrive in the netball pathway and achieve your goals.” Keane said Netball WA couldn’t be prouder of their athletes. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see so many homegrown WA athletes recognised nationally, which is a significant milestone that reflects the strength of our high-performance pathway,” he said. “It highlights the depth of talent we have in WA and the effectiveness of the structures Netball WA has put in place to ensure a thriving pipeline.” Berry said she was excited to be part of a national squad and the wealth of experience it would give her on and off the court. “I’m probably looking forward to the overall experience most, you don’t get to do this often,” she said. “Especially being from a small town as well, these opportunities don’t come around all the time and it feels pretty good to be able to go and represent the Albany kids.” Berry was selected along with Charli Hynes, Amelie Markovic, Skyla Payne and Halle Richards for the 17-and-under team while Ava Buselich, Kate Cunningham and Clara Wigley are in the the 19-and-under team.