To say Mackenzie O’Dwyer has come ahead in leaps and bounds during the past six months would be selling her well short.
Shepparton’s emerging starlet has represented Victoria at the National Championships as a bottom-ager in the 17-and-under side, has led the line at club level to see her team reach the top of the ladder, and most recently has been called up to the 17-and-under Australian Pathway Squad.
While not named in the initial squad, O’Dwyer will head off to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra alongside Shepparton Swans gun Harriet Gall for an intense four-day camp this week.
Tracey Brereton, who coached O’Dwyer at the National Championships in April, labelled the opportunity as “fantastic” for the midcourter following her astounding growth period.
“There comes a point where you’re in these high performance teams and you can either go one way or the other,” Brereton said.
“You can either grit your teeth, have a go and understand what it’s all about, or you’re not sure whether this is for you.
“I think she’s probably one who’s gritted her teeth and realised she loves the high-performance level and is going to give it a really good crack and leave it all out there.
“I think that’s what we’ve seen from her in the past six months in terms of her development.”
O’Dwyer and Gall will be among 36 of the best young netballers from across Australia invited to the camp where they’ll gain access to elite level coaching on and off the court.
The young Bear caught Brereton’s eye at the National Championships, where the Australian Pathway Squad was selected, and is still young enough to have another crack next year due to her age.
“I think (O’Dwyer) had a really good week, and the thing that is more impressive is she’s bottom age, so she has an opportunity to represent 17s again as a top age athlete,” she said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for her, because there’s not heaps of kids who go through bottom age into TID (talent identification) because it usually takes a little bit to get used to that high-performance level.
“It’s another extra string to her bow to get that opportunity as a bottom age.
“Just being up at the AIS is a fantastic opportunity to see what it’s like to live a day-in day-out of a professional athlete.”