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U14 Netball Team wearing their game faces. Photo sourced: Whitsundays Netball Association.
Whitsunday Netball Association's U14 representative team capped off a successful campaign at the 2026 Junior State Age on the Gold Coast, finishing seventh in their division after four days of high-quality competition.
Junior State Age is Queensland's largest participation netball event, with 252 teams from 58 associations competing across the four-day carnival. More than 2,300 matches were played, bringing together the state's best emerging junior netballers.
Whitsunday took to the court for 20 matches, recording 13 wins to comfortably achieve the team's goal of a top-10 finish. The side also claimed victories over two teams that went on to finish inside the top five, highlighting the team's ability to match it with some of the state's strongest opposition.
“It was a great team effort,” said team coach Ellie Palmero.
“The girls have started their pre-season training at the start of January, so they've been working towards this big carnival for a long time.
“From center court to defenders to our shooting accuracy, they were incredible, which was awesome.”
The players consistently demonstrated resilience, camaraderie and sportsmanship throughout the tournament, responding well to the intensity of State Age competition while proudly representing the Whitsunday region.
Beyond the competition, the carnival gave the girls the chance to build friendships with players from other associations, experiencing the supportive atmosphere of netball.
“It's really awesome to see so many of the junior players supporting each other on and off the court, which was a lot of fun,” Ellie said.
Whitsunday was well supported throughout the event, with more than 20 family members and supporters creating a strong sideline presence to cheer on the team across all four days.
“We had a lot of support from the community with sponsors and everyone,” Ellie said.
“That helped us get down there too, which is always greatly appreciated.”
Travelling with the team was association umpire Kendra Shields, whose performances on court received positive feedback from officials and participating teams.
The seventh-place finish was a fitting reward for the commitment shown by the players, officials and supporters throughout the representative season, with the players returning home having gained valuable experience against some of Queensland's strongest opposition.
While State Age may be over, the season is far from finished. The squad will continue travelling to Mackay each week for competition, with several more carnivals on the calendar before their representative campaign wraps up in late August.
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