By JARROD POTTER
From a chance encounter with netball to making the state team, St John’s Regional College sporting superstar Abuk Kenyang has shot for the stars in quite a short time.
Kenyang, 14, from Dandenong, has shot up the netball ranks since starting at St Mary’s Netball Club as a nine-year-old on the suggestion of a family friend.
Ever since then, her hard work on the court has shone through and rocketed her towards the peaks of junior netball after she made the School Sport Victoria (SSV) under-15 team, despite facing huge competition for her beloved spot.
“I feel really privileged as there were a lot of great goalers at the tryouts – and I just couldn’t believe at the last trial the amount of great goalers they got rid of,” Kenyang said.
“I just burst into tears and I couldn’t believe it.
“Penny from St Mary’s, who is the president, she came to school and told me and I’m like ‘stop lying to me’ but it was real.”
The St Mary’s powerhouse goal shooter was originally a defender but her switch from defence to attack panned out brilliantly as she looks to impress in the forward arc for the Victorian schoolgirls side next month.
“I started in 2011 – so about five years – my family friend asked me when I was about nine years old and I agreed to it,” Kenyang said.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this big, I just did it for the fun of it and to get fit.
“I started off as a goal defence and then I was like ‘let’s start shooting – that looks like fun’.
“I like goal-shooter but I just feel useless when the ball is at the other end and just ask ‘please can I run around’ and go be more of a goal attack.”
She splits her time between St Mary’s and the Victorian Netball League (VNL) side Peninsula Waves and really enjoys the intensity of the state-wide competition.
“It’s a whole different story,” Kenyang said.
“The competition is a lot more competitive and once you miss that goal, the rebound has already been taken away from you so it’s a lot different and much harder.
“It’s not fun if you’re winning by 30 goals and there’s no competitive play, so I really like the competitiveness of it (VNL).”
But for now she’s hoping to make her mark on the championships, make a lot of new friends and improve her netball skills while pushing for selection in the Australian squad.
She has a GoFundMe page set up to help her on her trip to Adelaide at https://www.gofundme.com/282ak9g8.
