Inaugural Capital Spirit coach Kate Carpenter expects the standard of the NSW Premier League to lift as players will no longer have to split their time between elite competitions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Australian Netball League season was cancelled last month due to financial strain and travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus crisis.
Five Spirit players were part of the Capital Darters' ANL program, including Georgia Clayden, Leigh Kalsbeek, Keely Rodrigo, Nalani Makunde and Millicent Boehm.
The ANL cancellation means they'll now be able to focus solely on the Spirit's campaign and have full availability for matches.
But the Canberra outfit aren't the only Premier League teams to benefit from the second-tier competition's cull.
NSW has two ANL teams with the Waratahs and Giants Academy, so those players will also be sprinkled across the state competition.
"I think a lot of teams will have their ANL players back so that will lift the consistent standard," Carpenter said.
"The ANL is a higher level so those athletes bring back more knowledge and playing experience, and share that with the rest of the group as well.
"[It's cancellation] was disappointing, [but] it refocuses the Premier League and hopefully the opportunity for ANL will present itself later. Whether that be next season or another high performance program for the athletes that missed out later this year."
The Spirit will launch their inaugural Premier League campaign against North Shore United at Netball Central on Wednesday, July 22.
A pre-season round is scheduled to be played in Homebush next week but club officials decided to skip the trial matches and continue their preparation in Canberra.
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
The Spirit played a trial match against the South Coast Blaze last weekend and have an intra-club match on Saturday.
Players will also gain match preparation from Netball ACT's State League competition, with the season scheduled to start on Friday, July 17.
"We're almost there. The girls will focus on the State League's start, that's where they'll get their match play and preparation for the opening Premier League round," Carpenter said.
"[The South Blaze trial] gave us readiness and to see what was going well. We've been working on some skill sets and some strategies, so the ability to put that against an unknown opposition was really helpful.
"We've got some things that went well and some others to work on. We were ahead of where we were in March, so I was pretty pleased with how the athletes went."
The Spirit had to modify their training program when social distancing restrictions forced them to stop training as a group earlier this year.
Players have had minimal game-time and contact training since March, creating a hurdle for the newly-formed team to prepare for the already established league.
"It is difficult but we're working with combinations," Carpenter said.
"The girls have playing relationships through their State League programs or previous ACT teams, so we're making the most of that.
"It's the same for everyone else. We'll lower our expectations around somethings but we'll just see how we go."
NSW PREMIER LEAGUE
Round one: North Shore United v Capital Spirit at Netball Central, Wednesday July 22. Under 23's: 6.45pm, Opens: 8.45pm.