Mojo Pulse Head Coach Tanya Dearns has added two more development players to her 2016 ANZ Championship roster with the signing of utility midcourter Samon Nathan and 17 year-old shooter Blaze Leslie.
Nathan was a member of the unbeaten Northern Zone team, winners of this season’s U23 Championship. She has also played for MAGS Premier and Auckland’s NPC teams.
The former Westlake Girls High School student was motivated to try out for the ANZ Championship side after her U23 success. “It really motivated me to push myself to the next level. Playing in the ANZ Championship has always been a dream of mine,” she said.
The 22 year-old Aucklander was overwhelmed at first when she received the phone call from Dearns letting her know she had been picked for the Pulse. “I'm excited to learn from both Tanya and the experienced players I’ll be surrounded by: it's such a great opportunity for my development.”
Meanwhile across the ditch, New Zealand citizen Leslie also received a call from the Pulse coach. “It didn't really hit me until a couple of hours later and I am not embarrassed to say there were tears of joy, but I know it is going to be another part of my journey in netball, which I am sure will have its challenges,” she explained. “I intend to take those challenges on and hope to find my place on court.”
So far, Leslie has spent most of her netball career in Australia, representing Caloundra Districts Netball Association from U13 to U18 level, the Mount Franklin League Queensland at U16, as well as both the Sunshine Coast Regional School 19's and Queensland Māori U16 last year.
The Caloundra State High School pupil is looking forward to studying a tertiary course when she moves to Wellington, but she ultimately has her sights on being a Silver Fern. She recognises that this will involve a lot of hard work, starting at the Pulse. “I’m really excited to be part of a new team environment, and appreciate the opportunity to develop my game at the highest league of netball,” acknowledged Leslie.
“I’m looking forward to being coached by the most experienced coaches, and playing alongside and being mentored by many players that I respect as elite netball players. It’s an amazing opportunity to train alongside athletes I respect, to grow my netball game to maximum potential and to become a member of my new netball family, the Mojo Pulse.”
Dearns was impressed with Nathan’s safe pair of hands during last Sunday’s trials and was particularly taken by the midcourters vision on court. “Samon possesses great composure and control on court. She is strong on to the ball and circle edge and the stats from trials proved she is very safe with ball in hand too. She has great vision and is not afraid to lead the shooters with her pass into the right space.
“I first saw Blaze play at a coaching clinic in Caloundra back in 2013. I have quietly followed her progress since, and was impressed with what I saw at the trials. She is a clever player who reminds me of a young Jodi Brown at goal attack,” added Dearns.
The Mojo Pulse roster for the 2016 ANZ Championship is almost complete with the addition of Nathan and Leslie. This brings the total to eleven players and also includes Katrina Grant, Phoenix Karaka, Jacinta Messer, Elias Shadrock, Whitney Souness, Chelsea Pitman, Ameliaranne Wells, Kate Wells and Maia Wilson.
Follow @PulseNetball on twitter and Instagram for regular score updates and ‘like’ facebook/NetballPulse to keep up to date with all things Mojo Pulse.