Nakita Singe

NAKITA Singe had a tough decision to make at the start of the year, but the talented netballer ultimately wanted to stay with her chosen sport.

The 17-year-old, who has also excelled in Australian rules football at school and representative level, is one of the region’s brightest young netball stars.

Singe’s stellar 2016 saw her finish runner-up in the Toni Wilson Medal for the Ovens

and Murray’s best and fairest player and was also named the league’s rising star.

The Henty product won North Albury’s A grade best and fairest and most valuable player awards, before capping off the season with selection into the Victorian under 19s state team as a bottom age player.

Singe’s achievements have seen her recognised as the eighth nomination for the 2017 Norske Skog Young Achiever of the Year Award.

The youngster recently returned from a 12-match netball tour in the UK with players from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne making up the squad.

Her attention now shifts to another busy season, including the hugely-important under 19 National Netball Championships in Canberra from April 19-24, where she will have a chance to showcase her talent to the rest of the country.

“I really want to go as far as I can, but still be able to enjoy it,” Singe said.

“This year I had to make a decision between footy and netball and went with netball.

“It was a tough decision. “I’ve grown up around netball and everything I’ve done has been towards it, so I didn’t want to leave it all to go to footy.

“The state program I’m in will give me exposure to higher grades. “If netball does fall out, I could have the opportunity to go back to footy.”

The North Albury star’s training regime will start to ramp up in the coming weeks to ensure she enters the season in the best possible shape.

“I’ve been pretty lucky with all the coaches I’ve had who have helped develop me,” Singe said. “When I was younger I played all positions, but then I went into shooting like most young girls did.

“It was at a school carnival where my teacher put me into defence because we didn’t have anyone to play there and I ended up making the state team.

“It’s just stuck from there.”

Singe has also been a representative of Albury Netball Association teams since 2011 and was in the Victorian Association championship- winning team last season.

Her performances also translated well at North East level, where Singe was named in the under 19 team of the year and voted best on court for the North East under 19 tournament.