GROWING up in Shepparton and dreaming of a WNBL career, Shelby Britten would never have envisaged her debut season would be played in its entirety inside a hub in Queensland.
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But that's what lies ahead for the 23-year-old point guard as she edges nearer to her national league debut with the Bendigo Spirit.
Far from daunted, Britten is embracing the unique circumstances of her debut season and insists she has a good idea of what to expect.
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"I have a few friends, who play in the AFL and the Super Netball league, so to hear from them what it was like, I'm really excited," Britten said.
"Nothing like this will ever happen again in the WNBL, so I'm glad to be part of it.
"I'm not going in with any expectations, I am just going to take whatever opportunity arises and do my part for the team.
"I guess that's all you can do in a situation like this."
The first step in that adventure came with the Spirit's departure for Queensland on Sunday, ahead of two-weeks inside a quarantine hub.
Britten, who grew up playing with the Shepparton Gators, is another in a long line of players to complete the Victoria Country pathway by joining the Spirit.
But she is by no means a stranger to the Spirit, having trained as a development player in past years, most notably during the 2019-20 season.
That followed an accomplished US college career at the South Carolina-based Newberry College, where she averaged 15.1 points per game and 4.4 assists per game with the Wolves and became their all-time single-season three-point record holder with 86.
Britten is proud of what she achieved at college level and expects the experience to hold her in good stead in the WNBL.
"I think nowadays because it's so common to go to college, which I did for four years, you come back with a bit more experience of playing at that next level," she said.
"I had great coaches and a great team there - they fully believed in me.
I felt my game really grew over there.
"I had a lot of responsibility, a lot of leadership. I feel like that helps today coming into the WNBL."
After soaking up plenty of knowledge during her development role last season, Britten is relishing the opportunity to take a step up and is eager to repay the faith shown in her by Spirit coach Tracy York and her assistant Mark Alabakov.
Her earliest observations lead the former Australian under-17 representative to believe the Spirit will only get better with each passing day.
"The team chemistry we have already after two weeks together is incredible," Britten said.
"We are all getting along so well and reading each other on the court, so I can tell that's only going to grow the longer we're together and learning off each other."
"I've looked up to girls like Tessa Lavey and Carley (Ernst) for a long time.
"Being around them and getting to train with them and now they are going to be my team-mates is really exciting."
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