The Maitland Mustangs under-14 girls have made club history becoming the first Maitland team to qualify for a national team championships.
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The girls are ranked the No.1 NSW country team and the club is hoping the under-14 boys can join them, with the boys needing to win one more qualifying game to progress to the titles in Dandenong, Victoria, in September.
Several players from this year’s team got experience at the national team titles last year when Maitland was invited to participate as joint host with Newcastle, who qualified in their own right.
Coach Mark Wawszkowicz said the team had grown in confidence from the experience and seven of the 10 members were returning from last year.
Wawszkowicz, who has coached the girls since under-12s, said Maitland qualified first from country NSW and had beaten arch rivals Newcastle, who qualified second, all three times they had met this year.
“I think those wins were really important for the girls, because Newcastle had won the 17 previous games since under-12s,” he said.
Wawszkowicz said he was delighted his daughter Mila had gone one step further than he had when the 1990 Mustangs under-14 boys fell three points short of qualifying.
Mila’s teammates Claudia Boyle and Olivia McGregor also have bragging rights on their dads Joel and Craig who were also part of the 1990 Maitland boys team.
Under-14 girls
Claudia Boyle, Sophie Williams, Olivia McGregor, Mila Wawszkowicz, Isabella McCort, Sienna Burgess, Jada Dodds, Charlotte Lucas, Isabella Jennings and Mercydes Metcalf.