Wodonga Saints' Bethany White is showing plenty of potential for her age

Having just turned 16 last month, the 18 and under Tallangatta and District Netball Association best and fairest winner is used to competing against players older than her, taking it all in her stride.

"It was a bit scary because most of the girls are two or three years older than me, so it was a big step," White said.

"It was definitely different to playing in the under-15s.

"It was a faster pace and there's so many good players."

White polled 24 votes throughout the season to claim the medal, with Kiewa-Sandy Creek's Laura Cook just two votes behind.

It's not the first time the young gun has taken out a league medal, having secured the honour in the 15 and under competition back in 2019.

She admitted the excitement didn't fade the second time round.

"It was very exciting and so unexpected," White said.

Not only did the talented centre impress with her skills, but she also captained the Saints' 18 and under side to a top place finish this season.

The natural born leader has now been a captain in every grade she's played in.

"It was such a good opportunity," she said.

"It was amazing to play with such a great group of girls and help them as captain."

White also received a taste of A-grade netball and was able to rub shoulders with TDNA A-grade best and fairest winner Beck O'Connell when the Saints took on Yackandandah in round 10.

"It was crazy but it was so cool to play against her," White said.

"She was really helpful on court as well.

"I got to play a couple of senior games this season which was an amazing opportunity."

Saints' A-grade coach Gina Skinner has seen White come up through the ranks and believes she has a bright future ahead of her.

"She's very talented, committed and focused," Skinner said.

"She's very team orientated and is always supporting her teammates.

"She doesn't miss a training and she's always doing things outside of netball to make sure that she's fit enough to take to the court."

The year 10 Wodonga Senior Secondary College student took up the sport when she was five, starting out in a Saturday morning competition.

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From there her love of the game blossomed.

"I decided to go to Saints and try something different and it's worked out really well," she said.

"I did Wodonga rep for a few years which really helped me build my skills as a netballer."

With the Covid pandemic derailing the 2020 netball season, it highlighted just how passionate White is about the game.

"Going from the year before having a full season to not being able to play, and then jumping back into it was really difficult," White said.

"We did a couple of things with the team on Zoom, but it was a lot of trying to keep yourself on track with fitness and eating well.

"It was great to be able to play this season because I missed it a lot."

The young gun has also played cricket.

White would like to one day play in the Ovens and Murray League, but isn't putting any pressure on herself.

"Obviously it's good to be competitive, but as long as I'm still enjoying it and having fun, that's all that matters," she said.

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