BENDIGO Strikers championship coach Tracey Brereton says she is proud and privileged to be appointed as coach of the newly developed Melbourne Vixens reserves squad.
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Brereton will take charge of a 16-player squad, which will compete in the pilot Super Netball Reserves competition, to run over five weeks from June 1 to July 7.
Seven of the eight Super Netball clubs will field teams in the competition, with the exception of newcomers, the Melbourne Mavericks.
Brereton's appointment, which was announced last week at the same time as the squad was unveiled, is the latest in a long line of high-performance honours for the widely-respected coach.
The coach of Victoria's 19-and-under team at last month's national championships in Melbourne, Brereton previously coached the state 17-and-under team and was an assistant coach of the Victorian Fury.
Appointed as the inaugural coach of the Strikers last September, she has led the championship squad to an ultra-competitive 3-5 record through the first nine weeks of the season, headlined by a win in their last match against Melbourne University Lightning last Wednesday.
Brereton is excited to be handed the reins of such a talented squad, which features Vixens training partners Emily Andrew, Maggie Caris, Gabby Coffey and Bendigo's Ruby Barkmeyer.
"I never take this stuff for granted. I feel quite honoured to be able to take this on," she said.
"It's that next step up again.
"The selection of the team was all done prior to me being appointed, but what the selection team have put together is pretty solid I would have thought.
"It's a very handy team and one I'm sure will acquit themselves well."
Vixens training partner Barkmeyer previously played in the BFNL with Kangaroo Flat, and was an A-grade premiership player with the Roos as a 16-year-old in 2016.
Vixens reserves fixture
Saturday, June 1: v GIANTS post-SSN match (John Cain Arena)
Sunday, June 2: v Swifts 11am (State Netball Centre)
Saturday, June 15: v Sunshine Coast Lightning 3.45pm (UniSC Arena)
Sunday, June 16: v Queensland Firebirds 11.30am (Nissan Arena)
Saturday, June 29: v Adelaide Thunderbirds post-SSN match (Adelaide Entertainment Centre)
Sunday, July 7: v West Coast Fever post-SSN match (John Cain Arena)
