YOU'RE going to Darwin - they were the four words which confirmed to Mia Baggett she had achieved the biggest moment of netballing career thus far.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They were words that came from New South Wales under 19s head coach Jen Wright. They let Bathurst talent Baggett know she'd be representing her state at the 2023 national championships in Darwin.
"She rang me and said 'What are you doing in April?' I said 'I don't know, what do you mean?'," Baggett revealed.
"She the told me 'Well, you're going to Darwin', it was like oh my god.
"When I rang Mum and told her she screamed, it was so cute. This is the biggest goal I've set, for sure it was.
"It feels amazing, it's probably the achievement I've wanted to accomplish most so far in my netball career. It feels unbelievable."
Having turned 18 in June, this year was Baggett's last chance to make the state representative outfit.
The talented goal shooter had come agonisingly close to making the cut for the 2022 side - she made the final 15 - so was determined to go one better this time.
But whereas her first attempt at making the side she felt under prepared as COVID-19 had a huge impact on her season, this time she was ready.
Baggett was had trained with the Netball NSW regional emerging talent team, she'd played representative games for West Central West and club games in Bathurst for Scots All Saints' College and in Orange with LIFE Studio.
She had also spent a busy two-week period trialling for premier league clubs, which helped her "get back into the zone" after doing her HSC.
"I felt like a baby last year, this was the last year for me to make this team, it was a team that I really wanted to make," Baggett said.
Baggett impressed in the first phase, which involved pitting potential players against each other in match situations.
She got the nod to advance to phase two, but she was nervous.
"At the last phase you kind of suss out who you are up against for your position and there were at least eight amazing shooters, it was amazing quality I was up against," Baggett said.
"All these girls in Sydney, they've been known, they're making a name for themselves. But when it came to phase two this time, I was like 'Come on, it's my last year'."
The second phase was a lot more involved than the first as Baggett explained.
"The second phase involved two hours of testing, so like skills testing, how flexible you are, how high you can jump, how long you can jump, running tests, sprinting tests, all of the above," she said.
"They measured how long your big toe is and how flexible that is, it was just crazy.
"So that was in the morning then we had a break and got into some match play, that last little bit to show what you've got. I was pretty tired from the morning, but it was good, I felt I played well."
Play well she did as while away on schoolies celebrations, she got the call from Wright telling her she was in the final 12.
"Now I feel like next year can be my year," she said.
Making the under 19s state side was not the only good netball news Baggett has received this month either.
She's also signed a contract to play in the 2023 New South Wales Premier League competition.
She was give offers from the South Coast Blaze, Sutherland Stingrays and UTS Randwick Blaze and eventually decided on the latter.
"It was really hard to make a decision between them all, it was a real emotional time actually," she said.
