When Sharnee Behr came agonisingly close to making the NSW Under 15 All Schools netball team in 2018, she set herself the goal of ensuring she was picked when the 2019 team was selected.
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A year down the track and 12 months of hard work has paid off, with the 15-year-old selected alongside fellow Illawarra youngster Mia Evans in the NSW team.
Given how close she came last year, Behr said it felt even better to find out she had made the cut in 2019.
"I was very honoured to be selected and be in the top four defenders in NSW," Behr said.
"I thought I trialled really well this year, with the different shooters and adjusting my style and showing the selectors all the different ways I can play.
"I was hoping I would get picked, last year I trialled and came close, so I really wanted it this year. It felt good that all the hard work paid off."
Behr and Evans will travel up to Queensland for the Australian Championships in July, with the team set to take on the country's best in a week-long competition in Caloundra.
Given it's her first national championships, Behr is feeling a mix of nerves and excitement ahead of the event.
A developing talent, the goal defender recognises there is much still to learn about the art of defence and she's hoping to learn a few new skills from both her teammates and coaches.
"I'm very nervous, but excited to see the different defending ways and seeing how our coaches coach us.
"We should go really well, we have quite a lot of height down both ends of the court and we're very fit and blend in very well with each other."
Both Behr and Evans are members of the Illawarra Academy of Sport's netball program, with Behr crediting the Academy for helping her develop her netball and open up different pathways for representative honours.
"It's great having Mia in the team as well, it's good that I will know someone.
"The Academy has been great for us, it's shown me different pathways and helped me learn different ways of defending and helped with my attack down the court as well."
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