Tegan Caldwell was 20 when she made her first representative netball team. Five years later, she was named MVP of the ANZ Championship grand final and is about to make her debut for the Diamonds at the Commonwealth Games.
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The Melbourne Vixens’ goal attack scored 30 from 33 in their win over the Queensland Firebirds last weekend, announcing herself as the rising star of Australian netball.
Having played netball for fun, she made her first Victorian team, which led to selection in the Australian under 21s and then the Vixens.
“I had quite a quick turnaround in my netball and everyone was like ‘Where did you come from'?”
In Glasgow Caldwell will be the only debutant in the Diamonds team, which is gathered in Canberra this week at the Australian Institute of Sport for a training camp.
“Making the top Australian team was exciting enough, let alone being in a Commonwealth Games year,” she said.
“It’s as high as you can go in your netball, so it’s what I wanted to do and it’s proving that I’m getting there.”
It will be a baptism of fire, going straight in to the top international competition for the sport, but the self-described “late bloomer” says she’ll take it in her stride and “see what happens”.
Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander said the team’s preparation has been “a little all over the place” with the ANZ Championship season having only just finished, but the team turned up in Canberra switched on.
“This team is very focused on achieving a gold medal, but we know it’s not going to be easy,” she said.
Pride is on the line in Glasgow, with the Australians having not won gold since 2002, losing the last two gold-medal matches to arch-rivals New Zealand.
“We’re all aware of it, we know that this is our chance and our opportunity to redress that situation,” Alexander said.
While Caldwell will be on debut, the rest of the team has played a World Championships, Commonwealth Games or Constellation Cup series, something Alexander said is “good planning” for the team which has lost retirees Natalie von Bertouch and Catherine Cox in the past year.
Making sure there is more talent coming through for future years will be Andrew Collins, who was on Tuesday named as the new head of high performance for Netball Australia.
Collins will take the reins this month after 14 years with the Australian Sports Commission in Canberra, something he says will serve him well in the new role.
“I’ve worked with a lot of sports in the country … and I’ve had the opportunity to see what makes them successful, but also what’s led to failure on occasion as well, and I’ve had the benefit of being able to learn from their experiences,” Collins said.
