Bendigo and North Central netballers have been named on Victoria's elite state squads that will prepare for the 2021 National Netball Championships.
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Shae Clifford and Kiralee Collings have been chosen for the under-17 squad.
Meanwhile, Ruby Turner, Chloe Langley and Claire Oakley will play with the under-19 team.
In addition, North Central netballers Ella Harvey and Eloise Ritchie have been chosen for the under-19s.
The players will undertake rigorous training between now and the National Championships that will be held in June.
"We're so proud of the hard work the girls have put in over many years to get to where they are now," AFL CV netball operations manager and North Central Netball Region state title officer Jan Mannes said.
"Many of the of the girls have been trying for state teams since primary school which makes it a very big achievement."
Mannes said it was testament of the quality of the players from regional areas.
"We have such great players from our region who continue to excel and are capable of competing at an elite national level
"They can sometimes be at a slight disadvantage as they have to travel those extra miles to attend training sessions and can be overlooked as they aren't playing in the Victorian Netball League.
"It proves we have a good quality standard of players."
Mannes was very pleased to see North Central players Harvey and Ritchie selected.
"For Ella and Eloise it really is a huge effort," Mannes said.
"They already need to travel around two hours to make it down into Victoria from Deniliquin, let alone all the way to Melbourne.
"On the back of last year with all of the border interruptions related to COVID they faced big hurdles but have come out the other side."
The teams will now train together in the lead-up to Nationals, with the final line-up to be announced on April 26.
The Nationals will be held in Hobart and will feature both under-17 and under-19 teams from every state and territory.
The tournament is considered as one of the main pathways for players to gain national experience.
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