Junior 12 years netballers break Illawarra's 23-year drought at State titles

But thanks to this year's 12 years team, the podium drought is over.

And if that's not enough, the team even had the backhanded delight of beating eventual winners Liverpool - by a single goal on the buzzer at the Camden championships.

Read more: South Coast Blaze make single home game of the season count

But over the course of the three-day, 19-game competition it was a matter of first past the post, and Liverpool edged out the Illawarra team.

That left the team, under the guidance of head coach Ashlee Scofield, ahead of 72 other teams in the division.

"We had a loss and a draw on day one," Scofield said. "Then managed to win 13 or 14 in a row - it was amazing."

The build-up to the titles in July began back in October 2022 when trials were held.

A month later a squad of 24 was determined and by December that was split into the rep and development squads.

On top of the twice-weekly training, the team also competes in Saturday's comp - in the intermediate age group for 13 and 14-year-olds.

In the ensuing months, Scofield's young charges focused on strength training and court play. It paid dividends.

"They are little sponges," the former Illawarra Academy of Sport head coach said.

"We concentrated on doing the basics well and making sure we focused on one game at a time."

Read more: Do you recognise these Illawarra junior sport stars from July 1989?

Coaches always make it sound so simple but, of course, it's not.

"The support crew over the three days was sensational," Scofield said. "We had a lot of club and association support, plus the parents were just terrific."

Scofield, who doubles as the South Coast Blaze open's assistant coach in netball's Premier League, is yet to make a decision about next season's rep duties.

Illawarra's 12 years squad: Amelia Rutledge, Darcie Wise, Indianna Atkins, Indy Bradley, London Campbell, Miki Kerr, Olivia Borg, Rosie Durrant, Savannah Wiki, Teyah Michalowski

The coaching staff: Ashlee Scofield (head coach), Shaye Wilkinson (assistant coach), Ella Brooks (trainee coach), Karen Clark (manager).

Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play