Eleni Lolesio selected in the South Coast Blaze senior talent identification program

The daughter of the Queanbeyan District Netball Association president Kelly Lolesio said she could not wait.

"It's really exciting and is a great opportunity for young Queanbeyan athletes to train with the caliber of players from the team," Eleni said.

"I'm excited at the prospect of being trained by former elite players and playing at the next level will hopefully improve my game.

"A lot of the girls are much older than me, so I don't know many of them."

Her selection comes as no surprise as she had made the South East Sports Academy for the past two years.

"That had a major impact on my game as it helped me improve physically and mentally in high pressure situations.

"That helped me do well at the trials for the Blaze."

The team is a new franchise in the Netball NSW Premier League competition and created the program for 14 to 18-year-olds to develop future elite netball players.

This provides them with an opportunity to train with other talented players and receive specialist coaching in a high performance environment.

"I commend all the players that trialed for the program and encourage those who missed out to trial again next year," South Coast Blaze chairperson Karina Franke said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season which was supposed to begin on March 24 has been postponed, the South Coast Blaze Exhibition Day was cancelled and the Talent Program was also delayed.

Eleni was one of 24 girls selected in the senior squad.