Maggie’s netball hat-trick

By Ben Hope
CRANBOURNE North teenager Maggie Taumaoe has completed her hat trick after being selected to represent Victoria in the 17-and-under state netball team.
Taumaoe made her state debut last year in the School Sport Australia 15-and-under Netball Championship in Canberra where she helped the Victorian team win all their nine games.
Following the championship she was selected into the under-15 Australian team for the 2010 International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge.
After her experience playing in the under-15 competition Maggie is now looking forward to the opportunity to test her skill against girls in the under-17 age group.
“It’s been really good so far, I am making a lot of progress,” she said.
“I am training four times a week. It’s a challenge playing against the older girls, they are bigger, taller and have more experience.”
However, the New Zealand-born Lyndhurst Secondary College student, now 16, has no trouble keeping up, having played the game since she was seven.
She started in the sport for a bit of fun, but she moved to Australia from Wellington and in 2007 it started getting serious.
“I started playing netball at school as something fun to fill in my weekends,” she said.
“After I was selected to play in the under-15 state team everything got serious.”
Maggie’s dream is to play with the Melbourne Vixens and with her recent successes, a spot in the team doesn’t seem far off.
The under-17 Victorian team will travel to Adelaide next month to compete in the national finals.
The 2010 International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge will also be held in Adelaide, this May.