Capital Spirit find silver lining at end of NSW Premier League season

The Spirit finished their inaugural campaign with their first win last week, beating the Penrith Panthers by one-goal in a play-off.

It put a silver lining on a season riddled with adversity, with Kate Carpenter's side staying winless during the regular rounds.

But seven of those matches were lost by 10 goals or less, while the Spirit dealt with adversity off the court.

Outside the usual injuries and illness, there were a number of players who missed matches due to coronavirus restrictions. Some would have had to self-isolate on their Canberra return under ACT Health advice for high-risk workers during parts of the season.

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It meant players in the under-23's side were brought up to first grade and more athletes became part of the Spirit program.

"I think being able to participate in the end was a huge success. At one point we didn't think we'd get through the full season," Carpenter said.

"That in itself was a success, we used a number of players because of Covid restrictions and built across the season.

"That placing match we won, that rewarded a lot of hard effort and work that had been put in across the months.

"Our group is very flexible, adaptable, committed and resilient. There's a lot of words that describe this group of players."

The Spirit will look to build on their debut season with the same core group of players, but some will likely be juggling Capital Darters duty as well next year.

Netball ACT has opened nominations for the 2021 Spirit program, with trials to begin on November 23.

Spirit goal-attack Olivia Clark hopes to continue her Premier League career, saying it's helped her grow into a better player.

"It was amazing. It was good to get out there and verse different players in a new level of competition," she said.

"I feel like every game for us was a stepping stone, to cap off with a win was amazing. All of our hard work, we got a win to kind of show it.

"Yes, I definitely [want to be part of it again]. I think it just helped me grow my game.

"Especially given I was a shooter growing up, I went into goal attack and moving a bit more was something different to look at. It gave me something new to work on in the future."