Bingara Gorge developer Metro back our rising netball stars

Written on the 7 April 2022 by South West Voice

SWSAS Netball Umpire Piper Steed who recently gained her National Level C Badge, Academy Netball athlete and NSW17s State Train on squad member Ellie Hart, Bingara Gorge Project Director Jeff Atkinson, Academy athlete and Premier Netball League player Lilyana Talanoa, and Academy athlete and NSW 17's State Team athlete Nevaeh Matenga who were on hand for the announcement. 

You couldn’t get a more natural fit than Metro Property Development and the netball program of the South West Sydney Academy of Sport.

Metro, the big company behind Bingara Gorge in Wilton, have joined forces with the academy to provide corporate sponsorship of local netball.

“Over the past 25 years, the academy has done an outstanding job by creating a flagship sport organization focused on fostering young talent,’’ says Jeff Atkinson, project director at Metro property development.

“Many of the netball players have achieved incredible success both personally and professionally, resulting from the holistic education approach adopted at the academy,’’ he said.

The academy’s netball program currently comprises 20 female athletes aged between 15 and 16 and five young umpires.

They have all been selected from the representative associations of Wollondilly, Campbelltown, Camden and Liverpool.

The academy also has two athletes competing at the Suncorp Super Netball level, an additional three at the NSW Swifts and Giants Academy level, five in current state programs, and two in national squads.

The program coaches are guided and mentored by the best in Australia including head academy netball coach Van Nguyen, Anita Keelan, Netball Australia’s pathway head coach, and Jaqua Pori-Makea-Simpson, head coach for the Tongan international netball team.

“Metro is a community minded business that supports local sports associations in the areas where we develop,’’ Mr Atkinson said.

“Sport plays an important part in shaping young minds and helps lay the foundations for success later in life.

“We are a strong advocate for creating communities that place an emphasis on health and wellbeing by providing hundreds of hectares of wide-open spaces for recreational and sports pursuits.

“Keeping active plays an integral role in assisting both physical and mental wellbeing,” he said.

The partnership support provided by Metro will assist with camps, education seminars, academy games participation and specialist coaching.

“The academy focuses on building a holistic athlete, by providing education seminars and specialist coaches, including mind experts to assist players both on and off the field,’’ says academy CEO Gerry Knights, pictured above with academy netballers and Mr Atkinson .

“In future years we expect to continue to develop even more representative athletes,’’ he said.

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