Everyone loves an underdog story and some young Highland netballers can certainly lay claim to that title.
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The Southern Highlands Netball Association Under 17's side swept all before them at the Senior State Titles in Bankstown over the long weekend.
Fourteen wins and a draw were enough to secure the Division 3 crown and a promotion to Division 2 next year.
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Representative coordinator and coach Renae Lewis said while she was confident in a strong showing, the performance blew her away.
"[It was] very successful," she told the Southern Highland News.
"We sort of went in quietly confident but didn't think we would go undefeated and certainly didn't think that we would win it. We thought we'd get top five so it was just a fairytale really.
"The defence did what they were supposed to do. The shooters, all the training came together. The 'mid-courters' worked really well so it was a great effort, we couldn't have asked for anything more."
Despite winning all their games on the first two days, the Highlanders found themselves neck and neck with Lismore, instantly raising the stakes for their showdown on Monday.
In front of a large crowd the two sides played out a thrilling 16-all draw and after winning their remaining four games the Southern Highlands were crowned champions by two points.
Lewis said there were more than a few sighs of relief at the full-time whistle against their nearest challenger.
"We were holding our breath on quite a few games especially with the team that finished runners-up," she explained.
"They only had one loss and we ended up drawing with them yesterday. I think we had every Netball NSW official watching our game so it was like the grand final was Game 1 yesterday."
Also playing on the weekend was the Under 15 side who won six games to finish mid-table in 13th.
Lewis said the weekend was extremely rewarding for the effort multiple coaches had put in over the years.
"As a coach it's extremely rewarding," she said.
"I coach with another lady, Kylie Gillespie, and we have put in countless hours. When we teach them the skills and they look at us with blank looks then we re-teach it, for it to finally come together when it needs to is extremely rewarding.
"Our coaches really put in the time, they know what they're talking about."
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